Patterns, patterns everywhere

This term we are learning about the concept of patterns - this is a very important part of mathematics. We have introduced the basic ideas of a pattern. These are that patterns involve something that repeats, like ‘clap, shout, clap, shout…’ or ‘red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow…’ Now because patterns repeat there must be a rule that describes the repetition. We have been trying to work out the rules.

As children move through school, they will meet number patterns like 5, 8,11, 14, 17… and will be able to predict the next term by knowing the relationship between the numbers. This is the beginning of algebra and coding!

In this photo your child is learning to create, describe and continue their own pattern using materials in the classroom.