Patterns and sorting
Maths · Early Years · The School
What comes next?
Red, blue, red, blue, red. What comes next? Blue! A pattern is something that repeats in the same order. Say the pattern out loud as you point at it. Hearing it helps your brain find the repeat. Make patterns with buttons, socks, claps or jumps. Clap, clap, stamp. Clap, clap, stamp.
Sorting by a rule
Tip out a box of toys. Put all the RED ones here. Put everything else over there. That is sorting. Your rule was colour. Now do it again by size. Big ones here. Small ones there. Same toys. A different rule. Different piles. Always say your rule out loud. That is what makes it sorting and not just tidying up.
Why this is maths
Patterns and sorting are how mathematicians start. First they find the rule. Then they group the things that behave the same way. Later you will sort shapes by how many corners they have. You will spot that 2, 4, 6, 8 goes up by two each time. That is the same job you are doing today with buttons.
Take six buttons. A big red one. A small red one. A big blue one. A small blue one. Another big blue one. Another small red one. Sort them by COLOUR. Three red, three blue. Now mix them all up. Sort them by SIZE. Three big, three small. The same six things made quite different piles. The RULE changed, so the piles changed. That is why you say your rule out loud first. If you do not, nobody can tell whether you sorted them right.