Measurement is the most widely used area of mathematics. It permeates our everyday existence. How our lives would change if we did not measure time! Could we get through the day? We measure distance and length during our drive to work and in many of the tasks we do both on the job and at home. We monitor weight through daily activities such as buying produce at the market, mailing a package, or the ever-present quest to lose a few pounds. How often do you check the weather to find out the predicted temperature for the following day so that you can make or alter plans? Do you cook? If so, you use the measurements for volume and capacity with each recipe. Hobbies, arts and crafts, sports—the list goes on and on for the many ways that our lives are affected by measurement. You probably take measurement for granted and never stop to think of its importance in your life. It’s just there.

Skills and Activities for Grades Pre-Kindergarten to 2

In the early grades, children should recognize the characteristics of length, volume, weight, area, and time.

Young children begin to learn about the different properties and characteristics of the various measurement units by looking at, touching, and comparing objects. They decide which stack has more by looking at them and seeing which is larger. They decide which object is heavier by lifting two objects and feeling the difference. To see which toy truck is longer, young children line them up and compare. Adults help with this process of recognizing measurement characteristics each time they say, “That is a large book” or, “That ribbon is too short.”

As a parent, you should also initiate the concept of time in activities that are related to your child. Simply pointing out the time on the clock in relation to what your child is doing is the first step—for example, “Look, it is twelve o’ clock. It’s time to eat lunch.” When reading bedtime stories, a discussion of the time of year, season, or month that is in the story will help your child develop time concepts. Finding the sequence (what happened first, next, and last) of that same story is good for teaching both measurement concepts and reading comprehension.

These are all examples of children learning through exposure—through the physical manipulation of objects and the comparison of those objects. Most important is the mathematical language and vocabulary that parents and, later, teachers provide in conjunction with that exposure.