Whatever costume you wear, put on your ‘sorting hat’ after trick-or-treating to help children lay the foundation for higher-level mathematics. (Shutterstock) ...

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Sorting items by different properties and comparing them is a skill that you can observe the children learning to use with increasing sophistication, as Sheila Ebbutt and Carole Skinner demonstrate.

Sorting is part of the early school math curricula. By sorting, children gain deep understandings, including the attributes of objects and inferences about them.

Counting and sorting Halloween treats — and other forms of household sorting that caregivers could lead, like sorting socks in the laundry — allows children to learn important skills that lay the ...