Math should be taught in kindergarten partly because it helps children gain certain skills that help them function during daily activities. For instance, learning math goes hand in hand with learning how to tell time. Using these activities to teach basic math skills and using the skills to help them with the activities provides a natural teaching methodology.
During kindergarten, much of the learning that students undergo is directed by their natural curiosity about the world around them. A child's mind at this age is an awakening mind, and the natural instinct is to be curious about everything. Basic math skills help children understand concepts such as how one group of toys might contain more blocks than another. It also helps them understand important principles such as sharing, such as if there are six children and six toys, then each child should get a toy.
Teaching science in kindergarten is important because it teaches children to use their five senses to make sense of the world around them. This is something that most children of this age are still figuring out, and science lessons help them progress in the area. For example, students should observe something like a class pet, such as a fish or hamster. Then, have them describe what they observe about the animal, such as what it looks like, sounds like or even smells like. This helps children learn communication as well as observation.
Science is the primary underlying type of knowledge that allows people to make sense of the world around them. Purdue University researchers helped create the Scientific Literacy Project which is designed to encourage kindergarten teachers to devote more time to science instruction in the classroom. The program is designed to correct a deficiency that was noted in the amount of standard kindergarten instruction, where less than 10 percent of the time in the classroom was given to working on science-related activities or lessons.