Project Rationale
The current Kindergarten Program in Ontario is centred around a play-based learning environment. Educators in the Kindergarten classroom are being expected to view the children in a more complex way (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016), while promoting mathematical thinking. Using this transdisciplinary approach to learning, educators must find ways to ‘mathematize’ the play-based learning environment (Clements & Sarama, 2013). The term ‘mathematize’ means to find, represent, and elaborate mathematics both in and from everyday activities (Clements & Sarama, 2013). “Research supports the understanding that mathematics experiences occur naturally as children play” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 17) and “[r]eading books aloud and in shared reading contexts provides real links between literature and mathematical ideas” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 82), Because of these findings, we have developed this resource to demonstrate how mathematics can be integrated into the play-based learning environment, while using children’s literature as a starting point.