The Andrews Labor Government is helping Dandenong pre-schoolers and their families improve their maths skills through a new early years program.
Let’s Count helps early years educators engage families and their children in counting, measuring and identifying patterns. The program helps parents and carers introduce maths to their children in a fun, simple way that can be incorporated into everyday life.
More than 14,000 pre-schoolers (aged three to five years old) and 5,500 families will benefit from the program across Victoria.
About 500 educators in funded kindergartens will participate in the program over three years including Dandenong Primary Kindergarten, Doveton College Early Learning Centre, Dandenong Day Nursery and Dandenong West Primary Kindergarten
Let’s Count was developed by Charles Sturt University Professor Bob Perry, Monash University Associate Professor Ann Gervasoni and The Smith Family to help children develop skills and a positive attitude towards maths before they begin primary school.
The knowledge and skills that children develop in the early years are crucial for later in life.
In 2015, a longitudinal evaluation of the Let’s Count program showed it dramatically improved children’s maths skills, with children who participated in the program performing better across a range of mathematical tasks than children not involved in the program.
We are making Victoria the Education State – this starts with giving every child a strong start in life.