When they enter pre-K, children are already thinking about science in the form of cause-and-effect relationships, Mazzocco said. If they do x, then y will happen—the universe has an order and a logic to it. Kids also begin exploring early math and science concepts by observing comparing objects. They’re intuitively drawn to quantities, patterns, shapes, rhythms, symmetry, ratios—“A lot of the informal aspects of math that appear intuitive,” Mazzocco said. Kids are really good at spatial reasoning, she added; they appreciate the ratios and patterns when building with blocks like Legos. These ideas are not as complex as the theory of relativity, obviously. But these concepts that connect the tangible to the abstract lay the foundation for scientific and mathematical thinking that later education can build upon.

This is where adults can start to help, by giving kids a way to express these concepts. “Kids are less intuitively drawn to the symbols we use to communicate math and science,” Mazzocco said. As a child starts to understand the concept of the number two, for example, a teacher or parent can connect that concept to the written symbol: 2. Even though kids can’t read or write out a math problem, parents and teachers can start helping them draw those connections and give kids the tools to use in the near future in school.

Written communication is only one way mathematical and scientific concepts are articulated. “Exposure to oral mathematical language early in life enhances children’s vocabulary growth,” Mazzocco said, just as it does with reading. When kids explore cause-and-effect relationships or spatial reasoning, adults can merely observe and suggest the language for what the child had already discovered. “You’re providing the child with lots of language to explain principles they might not have overtly noticed,” Mazzocco said.

A more general way that parents and teachers can foster a child’s interest in math and science is just by being careful of how they portray these topics to kids, even subtly. “We have to be very cognizant of the attitudes we convey about math and science,” Mazzocco said. “Kids pick up on that.” Adults who say that they’re bad at math or science around kids show that these are skills they do not value highly, showing kids that they shouldn’t value them, either.

So, how early is too early for adults to start teaching kids about math and science? “It’s never too early,” Mazzocco said. “The question is the mode of delivery as opposed to the content [of these lessons.]” It’s too much to expect for an infant to solve an algebra problem, of course, but children start absorbing a lot of information from their environments early on—and they’re picking up a lot more than we give their credit for, Mazzocco added. Giving them the right environments and presenting them with the right attitudes toward math and science could go a long way toward their future success.

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