🔢Numbers & Shapes for Little Learners (FYP)

Early maths goes wrong when numerals are taught before quantity. A child can chant to twenty and still not know that seven biscuits is more than four. This course does it the other way around: quantity first, symbol second, and always with things your child can physically move.

Every week has one household 'maths moment' — laying the table, sorting socks, filling cups at bath time — so number talk becomes part of ordinary family life rather than a separate subject.

What your child will be able to do

By the end of this course, a learner working at the expected pace will be able to:

• Count objects accurately to 20 with one-to-one correspondence
• Recognise numerals 0–20 and match them to quantities
• Sort and classify objects by colour, size and shape
• Continue and create simple repeating patterns
• Compare length, weight and capacity using everyday language

How the course is structured

Numbers & Shapes for Little Learners (FYP) is organised into 4 units covering 48 lessons in total, designed to run across 18 weeks at roughly 1.5 hours a week. The unit outline below shows 16 representative lessons.

Counting things that matter

• One-to-one counting with buttons and blocks
• How many steps to the door?
• Counting songs to ten
• Subitising: seeing three without counting

Numerals and quantity

• Writing 1 to 5
• Writing 6 to 10
• Teen numbers and the tens frame
• One more, one less

Shape, space and pattern

• Circles, squares, triangles in our house
• 3D shapes you can hold
• Repeating patterns with pasta and pegs
• Positional words: on, under, behind

First measuring

• Longer, shorter, tallest
• Heavier and lighter on a coat-hanger balance
• Full, empty, half full
• Sequencing our day

How it is taught

Lessons alternate between a short demonstration video for the adult and a hands-on task for the child. You will not need a printer for most weeks; where a printable helps, there is always a no-print alternative using kitchen items.

What is included

• 48 video lessons with an adult-facing script
• Printable ten-frames, number cards and pattern strips
• Household-objects shopping list (nothing costly)
• 10 short observation checklists

Who this course suits

This course sits in the FYP track and follows a oxford-aligned sequence. It suits families who want a complete, sequenced mathematics year rather than a set of loose practice activities, and it assumes no teaching experience — every lesson includes a short method note for the adult. If your child is comfortably ahead or behind the beginner level described here, use the placement check in lesson one and start at the recommended point instead of lesson one.