But, what is early childhood refers to?
Perry and Dockett (2002,p.82) outlined several definition;
- The period of a child’s life between birth and 8 years age (C. Ball, 1994; Bredelcamp & Copple, 1997; Organisation Mondiale pour L‘Education Prescolaire, 1980; Schools Council, 1992).
- The first two stages of Piaget’s cognitive development; the sensorimotor stage and preoperational stages. (Piaget, 1926, 1928)
- Children who have been considered lacking in logical representational ability and incapable of using logical and abstract thought, resulting in the perception that children in the early years are “cognitively deficient’’ (Berk, 1997, p. 232)
- A time in which “children rely on increasingly effective mental as opposed to perceptual approaches to solving problems” (Berk, 1997, p. 235)
- Recognised as a vitally important period of human development in its own right, not as a time to grow before ’real learning’ begins in school” (Bredekamp and Copple, 1997, p. 97)
And how do children learn Mathematics??
Reys, Lindquist, Lambdin, & Smith (2007) mentioned that the vision for mathematics education promoted by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) is for all children to learn mathematics with understanding.
- Learning comes from experience and active involvement by the learner (John Dewey)
- Learners actively construct their own knowledge (Jean Piaget)
References
Reys, R., Lindquist, M., Lambdin, D. & Smith, N. (2007). C 1: School mathematics in a changing world; C 2 : Helping children learn mathematics with understanding. In Rey et al, Helping children learn mathematics (pp. 1-36).
Perry, B. & Dockett, S. (2002). Ch 5: Young children's access to powerful mathematical ideas. In L. D. English. (Ed.), Handbook of international research in mathematics education (pp.81-111).
Wall, E. S., & Posamentier, A. S. (2007). What successful math teachers do, grades preK-5: 47 research-based strategies for the standards-based classroom. Oaks, CA : Corwin Press.
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