STEAM - CBS Primary School Ennis

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Each of STEAM’s fve subjects share a common approach and focus. They require gathering and using evidence to create knowledge or solve problems. STEAM learning happens naturally everyday as children explore, play, and try new things.

What is Numicon?

Numicon is an approach to teaching maths that helps your child to see connections between numbers. From Oxford University Press, it supports your child as they learn early maths skills in nursery and primary school. It is a multi-sensory way of learning, which means your child learns by seeing and feeling.

Physical resources like the colourful Numicon Shapes are an important part of Numicon. The holes in the Numicon Shapes represent the numbers 1 to 10. When they are arranged in order, as in the picture below, children can easily see connections between numbers, such as ‘one more’ or ‘one less’.

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Numicon illustration

Later on, your child will be able to see more complex mathematical ideas, like how two fours make eight, three twos make six, and so on. This lays the foundation for their understanding of number all the way through school.

Teachers use worksheets, physical shapes, online activities, and more to teach using Numicon. As well as mainstream maths teaching, Numicon is also sometimes used as an intervention programme to help children struggling with maths.

How can I help at home?

There are lots of ways you can help your child learn with Numicon at home. Download our free Numicon activity sheets, watch our Numicon videos, or browse our selection of Numicon kits for parents to find inspiration.