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SPRINGER BRIEFS IN EDUC ATION
Peter Stuart Westwood
Teaching
for Numeracy
Across the Age
Range
An Introduction
123
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Teaching for Numeracy

Across the Age Range
An Introduction
Education Researcher
Taipa, Macao
ISSN 2211-1921 ISSN 2211-193X (electronic)

SpringerBriefs in Education
ISBN 978-981-16-3760-5 ISBN 978-981-16-3761-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3761-2
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Preface
Some years ago, Steen (2007) claimed that ‘Being numerate is one of the few essential
skills that students absolutely must master, both for their own good and for the benefit
of the nation’s democracy and economic well-being’ (p.16). That statement is as true
today as it was in 2007. The digital age and easy access to handheld devices for
calculation have not made it any less important for the general population to be
competent in understanding and working with numbers.
It is widely accepted now that developing the ability of every individual to under-
stand, utilize and create numerical information in different contexts has to be a
priority during the school years and beyond. Poor numeracy skills are known to
affect a range of everyday competencies such as the ability to understand daily news
bulletins, workshop manuals, medical reports, invoices and household expenditure
accounts (Thomson et al., 2020a; Tout, 2021). When students leave school with a
poor standard of numeracy this can have devastating social and economic conse-
quences, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds (Learning Sciences
Institute, 2016). Clear evidence from research suggests that there is a large positive
effect on students’ achievement in the curriculum and in their quality of life when
competence with numbers is well developed (Cason et al., 2019).
Today, possession of functional number skills is viewed as absolutely essential for
all members of the workforce in every industry (National Numeracy Organization,
2017). Numeracy is regarded as a vital competency in many types of employment,
and represents a skill set required not only to gain employment but also to progress
further within a given field. Increasingly, digital technology in schools and at home
is providing a motivating and engaging medium for working with and mastering
essential number skills, from early childhood onwards (Mowafi & Abumuhfouz,
2021; NCTM, 2017a; Serhan & Almeqdadi, 2020).
The ability to work confidently, accurately and swiftly with numbers has also been
identified as one of the enabling competencies absolutely necessary for success in the
STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Schulz, 2018).
In the UK, a policy paper titled Building our industrial strategy has acknowledged
the link between numeracy, the STEM subjects and productivity in the workplace
(HM Government, 2017).
v
vi Preface
In the current economic, technological and social environment, the need to

strengthen numeracy standards in schools and in the general population is more
acute than ever before. In the UK, a vision for the immediate future is to produce ‘…
a generation of citizens, consumers, students and workers who are as comfortable
with numbers as they are with words’ (British Academy, 2015, p.2).
Similarly, in Australia, the Education Council (2015) has stressed a need to
establish yardsticks indicating the standard of numeracy that all students should
attain before leaving school. Although Australia has a national curriculum, the sepa-
rate states have also produced their own guidelines and policies on ensuring high
numeracy standards. A good example is the Department of Education and Training
in the state of Victoria, which has produced an online document titled Numeracy
for all learners, providing advice on how best to foster students’ conceptual under-
standing, procedural fluency, reasoning and problem-solving abilities (Victoria State
Government, 2020). In the United States, the Common Core State Standards for
mathematics express the same intention, with the relevant guidelines stressing that
from the start of schooling all students should acquire number concepts and skills
through a well-sequenced and well-taught curriculum (CCSSI, 2017a).
Chapters in this book explore the nature of numeracy, its component areas of
knowledge and skills, and how these can best be taught, applied and maintained
in children and adults. The issues covered here range from encouraging basic
numeracy development in the preschool years, extending numeracy skills in primary
and secondary schools, and adult numeracy. Attention is also given to the learning
difficulties that some students experience at any age.
The need for higher standards of numeracy is recognized worldwide, and the
author of this book has drawn on relevant research and literature from several coun-
tries to provide a comprehensive overview. The extensive reference list will help
educators wishing to study certain sub-topics in more detail. At the end of each
chapter, many links to other sources of online and print information have been
provided.
Taipa, Macao Peter Stuart Westwood

Contents
1 Numeracy: Defined, Described and in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Defining Numeracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Numeracy in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Numeracy in the Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Early Years Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Curriculum in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Curriculum in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Curriculum in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Numeracy as an Across-the-Curriculum Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Gender Differences in Numeracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Affective Aspects of Numeracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Concerns Over Numeracy Standards in Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Systems-Level Response to Poor Numeracy Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Early Numeracy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Number Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Concept Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Theories of Conceptual Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Theories Covering the Development of Procedural Fluency . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3 Numeracy in Preschool and Kindergarten Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Working with Children in Preschool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Building Firm Foundations in Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Counting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Numeral Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Using a Number Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
From Counting to Number Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Beginnings of Place Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Data Collection, Representation and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
vii
viii Contents
Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Simple Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4 Numeracy Development in Primary School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Transition from Preschool to School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Numeracy in the Primary School Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Addition and Subtraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Place Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Bar Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Multiplication and Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Number Facts: The Importance of Automaticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Other Topics in Primary Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Role of Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Technology Supporting Numeracy Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Teaching Problem-solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Indigenous Children’s Number Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5 Secondary School Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Secondary School Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Typical Curriculum Content in Secondary Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Across the Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Real-Life Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
A Role for Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Students Who Struggle with Secondary Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Providing Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Concerns Over Numeracy Standards of Senior Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The Way Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6 Adult Numeracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Concerns Over Adult Numeracy Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Numeracy in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Efforts to Improve Standards Adult Numeracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Teaching Adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
The Way Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7 Approaches to Teaching and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Effective Teaching Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Vital Role of Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Interleaving Knowledge and Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Intervention and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Do All Interventions Bring Benefits? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Observing Students at Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Contents ix
Questioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Teacher-Made Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Technology and Formative Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Error Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Diagnostic Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Standards of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Improving Teachers’ Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
End Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter 1
Numeracy: Defined, Described
and in Context
The term numeracy encompasses a set of concepts, understandings and skills that are
vitally important for many aspects of daily life––at school, in employment, within
the family, and for functioning effectively as a contributor, participant and consumer
in the community (NALA, 2016). In addition to the role that numeracy plays in
everyday functioning, possession of good numeracy skills has been identified as one
of the main factors enabling students to follow a particular career path (Holmes et al.,
2018; Nicholes, 2019). For example, Jain and Rogers (2019, p. 23) have written that
‘The development of numeracy skills is a core aspect of university preparation, with
many university courses requiring a certain level of mathematical literacy.’
Defining Numeracy
The term numeracy appears to have been coined many years ago in the Crowther
Report in the UK (Central Advisory Council for Education, 1959). At that time,
there was no precise definition of numeracy other than it was the ‘mirror image of
literacy’, but it was widely understood to mean proficiency in dealing with numbers
and situations requiring measurement, estimation and calculation. Some authorities
have described this ability as ‘quantitative reasoning’, and that term is certainly useful
because it encapsulates the essence of what functional numeracy really involves
(Ramful & Ho, 2015).
Later, the Cockcroft Committee in the UK published a report titled Mathematics
counts: A report into the teaching of mathematics in schools (1982). Therein it was
stated that a ‘numerate’ person possesses two attributes: a confidence in dealing
with numbers in order to cope with the practical mathematical demands of everyday
life; and a capacity to understand quantitative information such as that provided in
tables, graphs, diagrams, charts, medical reports and in the media. A recent definition
of numeracy is that it represents one’s ability to ‘use numbers in context to assist
decision making’ (Diaz et al., 2020).
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 1
P. S. Westwood, Teaching for Numeracy Across the Age Range,
SpringerBriefs in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3761-2_1
2 1 Numeracy: Defined, Described and in Context
The original National Numeracy Strategy for schools in the UK (DfEE, 1999),
now absorbed into the 2003 Primary National Strategy, recognized that numeracy
involves confidence and competence in working with numbers and measures, and
requires an understanding of the number system, a repertoire of computation skills,
and an ability to apply numbers to solve problems in a variety of contexts. Later,
Foster and Beddie (2005) indicated that numeracy includes not only practical arith-
metic skills, but also the ability to communicate quantitative information to others in
speech and writing, and to apply common sense estimation and approximation when
handling numbers.
The documents referred to above have all provided very clear and acceptable
ways of viewing the characteristics of numeracy. It must be noted, however, that
there is still no universally accepted definition––a situation that can lead to confu-
sion (Geiger et al., 2015). For example, this lack of definition has resulted in teachers
and the community asking the question, ‘Is numeracy simply the same as being good
at math?’ The answer to this question should be ‘no’. The terms ‘numeracy’ and
‘mathematical ability’ are not identical in meaning, even though there has been a
tendency to use the terms interchangeably in many articles and books (and even
more frequently during school staffroom discussions). Mathematical competence
comprises much more than simply acquiring and using number skills, because math-
ematics is a diverse discipline with many branches both applied and theoretical. Many
of the concepts within mathematics go well beyond simply understanding and using
numbers. However, proficiency in working with numbers represents a key compe-
tency that underpins successful performance within a very broad range of topics in
mathematics (Tout, 2021).
In this book, the term ‘numeracy’ is used with a deliberately narrow meaning to
refer to understanding and applying knowledge and skills involved in measurement,
calculation, estimation and quantitative problem-solving. These areas of knowledge
and skill are applied not only in mathematics lessons but also across the curriculum
and in daily life (Bennison et al., 2020; Forgasz & Hall, 2019). In this respect, the
book continues the concept of numeracy that was embodied in the original Cockcroft
Report and the National Numeracy Strategy in the UK.
Numeracy in Context
Turner (2007, p. 28) suggested that ‘Numeracy has become a personal attribute very
much dependent on the context in which the numerate individual is operating [and]
numeracy will mean different things to different people according to their interests
and lifestyles.’ It is true that numeracy skills are used for different purposes in
different settings (Gal et al., 2020), for example, Butcher et al. (2002) referred to
‘numeracy for practical purposes’, ‘numeracy for interpreting society’, ‘numeracy
for managing one’s money, budgeting, time and measurement’ and ‘numeracy as
an aid to studying other subjects’. The term ‘multiple numeracies’ has therefore
emerged in the professional literature (Vacher, 2014).
Numeracy in Context 3
There is no doubt that numeracy is a prerequisite for entry into many types of
employment, and then for promotion and progression through the ranks (Gravemeijer
et al., 2017). While different fields of work may require quite specific types of
number knowledge (nursing vs. carpentry vs. engineering vs. accountancy), they all
depend on a firm foundation of concepts and skills that need to be established in
the primary school years. For this reason, schools are expected to develop young
children’s number concepts and skills as early as possible in order to provide a firm
foundation for all later learning.
Numeracy in the Curriculum
The material below provides a brief introduction and overview of numeracy and
mathematics curriculum across early childhood and primary school years. Later
chapters expand upon this topic and provide more guidance on teaching.
Early Years Curriculum
Beginning in early childhood, math curricula usually focus on three major areas:
(i) developing number sense; (ii) establishing counting skills (using the number-
word sequence correctly and accurate enumeration with objects); (iii) recognizing
number symbols, understanding and using simple addition and subtraction, and
written recording of simple operations (3 + 4 = 7). Most of the experiences provided
to develop these areas involve the children using real objects and visual representa-
tions. Later, children begin to learn the meaning of place value in base-ten and develop
basic skills in simple mental and written arithmetic (Aunio & Räsänen, 2016; Cheng
et al., 2017). At the same time, these skills and understandings are used in solving
age-appropriate problems and when carrying out quantitative investigations.
The topics listed above do represent a very reasonable starting point for opera-
tionalizing the concept of numeracy, and they highlight areas in which children with
learning difficulties may require extra teaching. When children transition to primary
school, these skills and concepts will be extended and enriched as new material
is taught and as children move from a concrete stage of reasoning to the stage of
being able to deal with symbols and abstract ideas. This goal is achieved best when
schools use teaching methods, materials and activities that are age-appropriate and
that ensure the children are successful in completing the tasks they are required to
undertake. It is vital that young learners develop a confident and positive attitude
towards working with numbers. It is essential also that the curriculum in the early
years has a good sequence and continuity of content (McMahon & Whyte, 2020).
In order to become numerate, a young learner needs to develop a conceptual under-
standing of number and number relationships, and also become fluent in calculating
with numbers. Each aspect of numeracy tends to have its own specific vocabulary
that needs to be mastered (e.g. plus, minus, equals, more than, difference between,
multiply, quantity, amount, size, units, tens) (Galligan, 2016). Talking about number
relationships and operations must, therefore, be an important accompaniment to all
activities, and teachers need to check that every child understands the language that
can be used to explain number operations.
Curriculum in the UK
In England, teaching numeracy in the primary school years is defined in the National
Curriculum as developing students’ conceptual understanding of number and their
ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately (DfE, 2013a; 2013b).
At Key Stage 1 (ages 5 to 7), the principal focus is on developing confidence and
mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. It is stated that in the
beginning, this should involve learning to work confidently with number words and
using the operations of addition and subtraction. Towards the end of the stage, chil-
dren will be introduced to multiplication and division. These foundation skills should
all be taught explicitly by using hands-on practical resources (real objects, blocks,
counters) and by providing abundant guided practice in using taught computation
processes (DfE, 2013a). With young children, the use of board-games and other
informal number activities can also be used as a motivating supplement to structured
teaching (Cheung & McBride, 2017; Cohrssen & Niklas, 2019; Scalise et al., 2020).
It has also been found that digital devices with apps can provide valuable individu-
alized practice with number facts and processes across the age range from K to 12
(Calder & Campbell, 2015; Haberlah, 2017b; Hilton, 2018). A study involving over
300 children aged 4–5 years in the UK found that interactive apps that combine direct
teaching with play activities provide a good system for delivering high-quality early
math instruction, and can effectively raise achievement (Outhwaite et al., 2019).
The curriculum in England specifies the numeracy skills to be taught for each year
level. For example, the guidelines and statutory requirements for Year 1 indicate that
students should be able to:
• read, write and interpret mathematical statements involving addition (+) subtrac-
tion (–);
• represent and use addition number facts and related subtraction facts to 20;
• add and subtract one-digit and two-digit numbers to 20, including zero;
• solve one-step problems that involve addition and subtraction, when neces-
sary using concrete objects and pictorial representations; solve missing number
statements such as 9 = + 7 (DfE, 2013a).
The guidelines in England also provide examples of the recommended style and
format for written recording of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In
recent years, in response to a concern in the community that children were relying
too much on handheld calculators, greater importance has been placed on developing
competence in calculating mentally. It is also clear that students need to practice
Numeracy in the Curriculum 5
and apply computation skills until they are confident and fluent. This degree of
specificity in the National Curriculum documents is very helpful to schools and is
clearly indicative of the importance now placed on developing a firm foundation in
numeracy skills in the early school years. For details of mathematics content in the
National Curriculum in England, see Online Resources at the end of the chapter.
Curriculum in Australia
In Australia, as early as 1998 the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers

published its document titled Policy on numeracy education in schools (AAMT,
1998) making it clear that numeracy comprises a fundamental set of skills that merit
particular attention within the curriculum. However, the general teaching approach
advocated by AAMT was (and has remained) very much focused on student-centred
investigative learning rather than on explicit teacher-led instruction and practice
exercises for computation. Number skills were to be acquired almost incidentally
as a by-product from exploring real quantitative problems. This approach was (and
still is) recommended due to the prevailing influence of the constructivist theory
of learning that tends to view direct teaching as less desirable than students using
activity and discovery.
More recently, in the new Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2014; 2015), the
content that deals with numeracy across the years of schooling is conceived broadly
as a continuum, organized under six closely interrelated topics. The topics are:
• calculating and estimating with whole numbers,
• recognizing and using number patterns and relationships (including algebra,
statistics and probability),
• using fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios and rates,
• spatial reasoning,
• interpreting statistical information,
• using measurement.
Within the guidelines for the Australian Curriculum, these six themes are
expanded in finer detail at each year level. For example, in the early school years
the basic abilities to be developed are specified as: counting, identifying numbers,
understanding the number line, performing simple arithmetic operations, comparing
number magnitudes, telling the time, measurement and estimation. For details of
mathematics content in the Australian Curriculum see Online Resources at the end
of this chapter.
Curriculum in the United States
In the US, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) had first
produced a document titled Curriculum and evaluation standards for school math-
ematics (NCTM, 1989). That document placed emphasis on using student-centred
problem-solving and investigation rather than direct teaching and practice with basic
number skills. The document was revised a decade later and published as Princi-
ples and standards in school mathematics, in which the explicit teaching of basic
numeracy skills was given a somewhat higher profile (NCTM, 2000).
Currently, the teaching of numeracy in the US is entirely influenced by the
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics. The guidelines contain
very detailed descriptions of what students are expected to know, from kindergarten
to the end of high school. In CCSS the main themes across this age range are identified
as:
• counting and cardinality,
• the number system,
• number operations in base-10,
• operations and algebraic thinking,
• fractions,
• measurement and data,
• geometry,
• ratios and proportional relationships,
• equations,
• statistics and probability.
For details of Common Core State Standards, see Online Resources at the end of
this chapter.
Numeracy as an Across-the-Curriculum Capability
Numeracy skills in school-age students are similar in importance to literacy skills

in that they are a means of communication, a source of further learning, and cross-
disciplinary in application and both are essential in life beyond the school years.
The guidelines in England and in Australia indicate that students should be taught to
apply their numeracy skills in all school subjects. It has been stated that ‘… the nature
of numeracy suggests that it cannot be developed solely within mathematics lessons’
(Muir, 2016, p. 496). Just as all teachers are said to be teachers of literacy so too
all teachers should be teachers of numeracy, taking every opportunity to introduce
students to the quantitative and statistical aspects of their subjects and to relate these
aspects to the real world (Bennison, 2015; 2016; Forgasz & Hall, 2019; Sweet, 2021).
In this context, Perso (2006a) suggests that all subject teachers should ask themselves
Numeracy as an Across-the-Curriculum Capability 7
two questions: (i) how can numeracy contribute to learning in this subject? (ii) how
can this learning area enhance students’ numeracy?
It has been observed that many students do not spontaneously transfer and apply
their numeracy skills taught in mathematics lessons to other school subjects, so
there is an important role for all teachers in helping facilitate the process of transfer.
This is best achieved by making explicit the connections between the content of math
lessons and quantitative and statistical information supplied in subjects such as geog-
raphy, history, health, physical education, civics, science and engineering. It is then
necessary to provide opportunities for application and practice in interpreting and
working with this type of contextualized information. By integrating mathematical
and numerical components into all school subjects, students are helped not only to
strengthen and generalize their skills and understandings but also to appreciate the
utility of numeracy in the widest sense.
Gender Differences in Numeracy
In the past, aptitude for mathematics has often been stereotyped as a capability
found mainly in males rather than females. Various theories emerged that seek to
explain this possible difference, including genetic and biological causes such as
innate differences in brain development that affect spatial and quantitative awareness,
or cultural influences that affect how girls are socialized into believing that it is
normal for them to do poorly in mathematics because it is a ‘boys’ subject’ (del Rio
et al., 2019; OECD, 2016b; Stoet & Geary, 2012). The attitude of parents towards
mathematics has certainly been found to influence children’s level of anxiety about
engaging with the subject (Szczygiel, 2020a). In recent years however, a debate has
flourished over whether boys really are superior to girls in mathematical ability, and
the verdict seems to be that differences have been greatly over stated in the past
(King, 2019; OECD, 2016b). Lindberg et al. (2010) used a meta-analysis of 242
studies from the period 1990 to 2007. They found that males and females tended
to perform similarly in mathematics, and the effect size of gender was negligible. It
has also been found that in some countries girls actually score higher than boys. For
example, in the US a study using curriculum-based math measures found statistically
significant differences in favour of females in Grades 5, 7 and 8 (Yarbrough et al.,
2017).
The introduction of national and international testing of math and literacy skills
has made it possible to explore the issue of gender differences using data from
very large samples. For example, Else-Quest, Hyde and Linn (2010) analysed data
from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). They discovered that a
gender gap favouring boys in mathematics achievement is only evident in some
nations. Similarly, a study by Stoet and Geary (2013) explored data produced from
15-year-old students who had taken part in PISA. They also found that boys tended
to score higher than girls in mathematics only in some countries, and there was
considerable variation between nations. This suggests a probable influence of cultural

factors and parental expectations, and also the style of teaching and encouragement
provided in co-educational classrooms.
So, research into gender differences has produced conflicting results, with some
studies finding boys outperforming girls, some finding no difference and some even
finding girls to be superior. Despite these differences across studies, it is generally
reported that boys have a more positive attitude towards math and exhibit stronger
self-efficacy than girls when engaging with the subject. Boys also experience less
anxiety about mathematics. One study of girls’ math anxiety seems to indicate that
it can also generalize to engagement with science because measurement and calcu-
lations are often involved. This math anxiety can adversely affect girls’ achievement
and interest in the subject (Vakili & Pourrazavy, 2017). Stereotyping girls as lacking
in aptitude for number work and mathematics can exert a negative influence on girls’
self-efficacy beliefs, thus discouraging them later from entering a career in areas
of mathematics, science or engineering. In most developed countries, senior girls
remain much less likely than boys to take higher mathematics courses and science
courses and to opt for these as major subjects if they go to university (Finegold,
2016). Buckley (2016) reported that only 31 per cent of eligible females compared
to 69 per cent of males enter these courses. To change this situation, it may be neces-
sary to introduce teaching materials and topics that focus deliberately on engaging
girls more successfully with the course content, and improving girls’ self-efficacy
beliefs in relation to mathematics (Hirshfield & Koretsky, 2018; Hobbs & Earp,
2018). Several countries have taken the initiative to do this, and the next few years
will reveal the outcomes. The current view is certainly that we should be aiming to
eliminate the stereotypes that have prevailed for too long. There does not appear to
be any valid reason why any achievement gap in math should exist between male
and female students.
Affective Aspects of Numeracy
In recent deliberations on the nature of numeracy, increased importance has been

placed on the affective as well as cognitive aspects of ‘being numerate’. The affec-
tive aspects include positive attitudes, freedom from anxiety and confidence in one’s
own ability that contributes to a person’s willingness to engage with and persevere
in quantitative activities. It has been said that numeracy means ‘having the confi-
dence and skill to use numbers and mathematical approaches in all aspects of life’
(National Numeracy Organization, 2020). The words ‘having a positive disposition’
and ‘positive inclination toward mathematics’ are appearing frequently when the
characteristics of a numerate person are described. For example, documents relating
to the Australian Curriculum state that numeracy encompasses not only knowledge
and skills, but also the disposition that students need in order to use mathematics
effectively across a wide range of situations (ACARA, 2015). Similarly, the guide-
lines for numeracy teaching in New Zealand refer to encouraging the formation of
Affective Aspects of Numeracy 9
‘positive attitudes and expectations’ (New Zealand Government, 2016, p. 6). In the
US, the Common Core State Standards refer to positive disposition as the ‘habitual
inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful and worthwhile, coupled with a
belief in diligence and one’s own efficacy’ (CCSSI, 2017a, p. 1).
The teaching of numeracy skills should, from the very beginning, cause young
students to develop a positive attitude towards and interest in working with numbers.
In the early years of childhood, these affective components of numeracy are either
encouraged on entry to school or are snuffed out by lack of success. Effective teaching
must, therefore, strengthen children’s self-efficacy beliefs in relation to working
with numbers and solving quantitative problems (Mastorodimos & Chatzichristofis,
2019).
Despite all the good intentions to develop students’ positive attitude and confi-
dence, there is some doubt that schools are really doing enough in this respect. There
is evidence to suggest that the negative attitude towards numeracy and math displayed
by some students is shaped by such things as discouraging results in school tests, and
teachers’ written remarks in school reports and exercise books. Poor results in tests,
plus the accompanying negative comments from teachers can affect some students’
views of their own ability to improve (Parnis & Petocz, 2016). It is clear that the
verbal and written feedback teachers provide can enhance or depress a student’s
emotional commitment to becoming numerate (Education Endowment Foundation,
2017).
Concerns Over Numeracy Standards in Schools
In England, Australia and the United States, there has been growing concern over
recent years that standards in numeracy are well below those required to func-
tion effectively in the twenty-first century. In the US, surveys of adult standards in
numeracy have yielded particularly worrying results (Institute of Education Sciences,
2020); and an OECD report in 2016 found that young people in England still lagged
behind their counterparts in numeracy in several other countries, particularly in Asia
(OECD, 2016a; OECD, 2016c). Similar concerns are evident in Australia, where
Baker (2019) citing data from the 2018 Programme for International Student Assess-
ment (PISA), wrote ‘Australian students have recorded their worst results in interna-
tional tests, failing for the first time to exceed the OECD average in math while also
tumbling down global rankings in reading and science.’ The 2018 PISA results indi-
cate that the countries with the highest achievement in mathematics and numeracy
continue to be China, Singapore, Macau, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. These
Asian countries outperform Britain, Australia and the US (Factsmaps.com, 2020;
OECD, 2016d; Richards, 2020). Data from the 2019 Trends in International Mathe-
matics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicated that Australian students at Year 4 had
not improved in mathematics scores since a cohort was tested in 2015, but at Year 8
there had been some modest improvement (Thomson et al., 2020b).
In Australia, concern has also been raised by results from the regular standard-
ized testing in schools, known as the National Assessment Programme Literacy and
Numeracy (NAPLAN). Despite having invested much more money in education to
raise achievement levels, standards in mathematics do not seem to be improving
(Masters, 2017; Thomson, 2016a; 2016b). A report issued at the end of 2016 stated
that achievement level in numeracy had reached a plateau and the conclusion was
that at a national level NAPLAN results have indicated no significant improvement
in the past few years (ACARA, 2016a; ACARA, 2016b). The lowest achievers at
the minimum level of competence comprise an approximately equal number of boys
and girls, but a significantly higher proportion of Indigenous students compared to
non-indigenous (Australian Government, 2020).
Two aspects of the current situation are of particular concern. The first is that in
Australia there has been a decrease over time in the number of very high achievers
who are talented in mathematics and who go on to study mathematics at tertiary level.
The second is that the school system appears to be completely failing students in the
lowest achievement bands who quickly give up because they identify themselves as
‘no good at math’. It was also of particular concern in 2018 when it was revealed
that many teachers who are teaching math, even at secondary school level, actually
have no qualification and training in that subject.
Systems-Level Response to Poor Numeracy Standards
England has made a major commitment to strengthening the teaching of numeracy,

and has established an independent body referred to as the National Numeracy
Organization to help raise levels of numeracy among adults and children, and to
promote the importance of everyday mathematics (https://www.nationalnumeracy.
org.uk/what-numeracy). In England, there is also the independent body known as
Mathematics Education Innovation (MEI), committed to improving mathematics
education and curriculum development (https://mei.org.uk/). The National Centre
for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM), funded by the Department for
Education, has established Maths Hubs across the country to help with professional
development for teachers (https://www.ncetm.org.uk/ and http://www.mathshubs.
org.uk/). The work of Maths Hubs is coordinated by NCETM and takes the form
of a national network across England, providing school-led, collaborative profes-
sional development for teachers of mathematics. NCETM also trains Teaching for
Mastery Specialists deployed across schools. The NCETM programme is based on
how basic mathematics is taught in Asia, particularly in Shanghai. A very effective
China-England Teacher Exchange programme was implemented to raise teachers’
awareness of Asian teaching strategies (DfE/Sheffield Institute for Education, 2019;
Boylan et al., 2016; Leeming, 2018). This ‘mastery approach’ in primary school
places emphasis on explicit teaching and a carefully sequenced curriculum, ensuring
that students really understand the mathematics they are learning, and maintain high
levels of achievement. The approach has been described in the following terms:
xm-replace_text {Para} 11
Shanghai practices differ from common English primary mathematics education practices,
with an emphasis on whole-class interactive teaching to develop conceptual understanding
and procedural fluency, using carefully designed tasks and skillful questioning. To ensure
pupils progress together, tasks are designed to allow for extension by deepening under-
standing of concepts and procedures, and daily intervention is used to support those needing
extra tuition (DfE/Sheffield Institute for Education, 2019, p.15).
NCETM also maintains an online website with practical advice, resources and
teaching videos, including the Number Blocks PowerPoints that parents can use with
their children at home (see: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/ey-num
berblocks-at-home/.)
In Australia in recent years, the government has enacted a number of policies
and strategies designed to boost numeracy standards, and several early interven-
tion programmes have been also introduced (see later). Each state and territory has
also developed its own policies aligned with the Australian Curriculum to ensure
that numeracy teaching is given due attention in their own schools. Most recently,
the Australian government has invested money to strengthen the capacity of R-12
teachers to teach numeracy more effectively. This initiative is delivered through
professional development activities for teachers, and by access to a repository of
high-quality teaching and learning resources through an online Mathematics Hub.
The resources for numeracy include checklists and assessment tools, as well as
teaching resources for students and families (Australian Government, 2019).
In the United States, a stress on the importance of ensuring that students acquire
proficiency in number skills and mathematics is explicit in the Common Core State
Standards (CCSSI, 2017a), and is embodied in the intentions of Every Student
Succeeds Act of 2015. This act requires states to provide interventions for the lowest
5% of school performers, for schools with high dropout rates, and for schools with
persistent achievement gaps (Dossey et al., 2016).
The following chapter explores important issues related to the earliest stages of
becoming numerate.
Online Resources
Mathematics programmes of study: Key stages 1 and 2 in the National curriculum in England.
Department for Education [UK]. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach
ment_data/file/335158/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Mathematics_220714.pdf
Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/mathematics/curric
ulum/f-10?layout=1
Common Core State Standards: Mathematics [US]. http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
Numeracy for all learners. Victoria State Government. (2020). https://www.education.vic.gov.au/
school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/maths/Pages/numeracy-for-all-learners.aspx
National Numeracy Organisation (UK). (2020). Building a numerate nation: Confidence, belief and
skills. https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/sites/default/files/building_a_numerate_nation_rep
ort.pdf
Numeracy teaching within domains. Suggestions for how numeracy skills can be taught and applied
in subjects across the curriculum. https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/
student/numeracyteachdomains.pdf
Print Resources
DfE/Sheffield Institute of Education. (2019). Longitudinal evaluation of the ‘Mathematics Teacher

Exchange: China-England’, Final Report. Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University.
Goos, M., Geiger, V., Dole, S., Forgasz, H., & Bennison, A. (2020). Numeracy across the curriculum:
Research-based strategies for enhancing teaching and learning. Routledge.
Hughes, N. (2018). Classroom-ready number talks for third, fourth and fifth grade teaches. Ulysses
Press.
Independently published. (2020). Singapore Math Kindergarten Workbook: Kindergarten and 1st
Grade Activity Book Age 5-7 +. Available through Amazon.
Sullivan, P. (2020). Leading improvement in mathematics teaching and learning. ACER Press.
Tout, D. (2020). Critical connections between numeracy and mathematics. Melbourne: Australian
Council for Educational Research.
Chapter 2
Early Numeracy Development
This chapter describes the early foundations upon which later numeracy concepts,
skills and strategies are built. Discussion covers some of the theorists and researchers
who have contributed to our understanding of numeracy development, and to varying
degrees have influenced teaching methods. To begin the discussion attention is given
to what is termed number sense––often considered the most fundamental prerequisite
for later numeracy development (Anobile et al., 2018).
Number Sense
Since the late 1980s, the term ‘number sense’ has gained recognition in cognitive
research, and it is now used frequently within curriculum and teaching documents. In
early childhood, number sense develops from the intuitive awareness of numerosity
that most children seem to possess from birth (Evans & Gold, 2020; Kersey &
Cantlon, 2017; Liang et al., 2021). It can be thought of as the innate capacity to
perceive differences in quantitative aspects of the child’s physical surroundings.
It is reported, for example, that visual attention of infants 4 months old is drawn
spontaneously to any marked difference between quantities presented to them (e.g.
one cake or three cakes on a plate); and by the time they are 3 years old, most children
have developed a definite sense of numerosity, even if they can’t count (Smyth &
Ansari, 2020). By age 4, many children can recognize and name groups of up to
three or four items without needing to physically count them––an ability referred to
as subitizing (Way, 2011).
Number sense is the foundation upon which children in the preschool years begin
to build the following capabilities:
• learning number names;
• relating a number name to a given quantity;
14 2 Early Numeracy Development
• the ability to count accurately with correct number-to-object correspondence,

• numeral recognition.
It has been found that young children’s development of number sense can be
enhanced through planned activities, for example, playing number games (Praet &
Desoete, 2019; Scalise et al., 2020) and using counting cards with dots and numerals
(Joswick et al., 2019). This age of technology has also provided teachers and parents
with apps and online games designed to develop children’s early number sense
(Baccaglini-Frank et al., 2020; Broda et al., 2019). Any online search under ‘number
sense activities’ will yield a rich array of materials and games that can be used for
this purpose.
Children’s early development in this domain is referred to as approximate number
sense. It is reported that possession of approximate number sense in preschool
children is highly predictive of their later mathematics achievement, even into the
secondary school years (Geary & vanMarle, 2016; Wang et al., 2017). As a child
gains experience in the physical world and learns to count, approximate number
sense evolves into a more accurate understanding that reflects the exact number
system (Ivrendi, 2016). Mastering this system enables an individual to cope with
increasingly complex number relationships, and to use numbers and number symbols
effectively (Lyons et al., 2018). The exact number sense eventually underpins the
capability that enables older students to detect when the solution they obtain from a
calculation is not plausible and thus needs to be checked (Wong & Odic, 2021).
The expansion of approximate number sense into the exact number system follows
a fairly predictable developmental path. This occurs most easily in situations, where
children are actively involved with materials and where their parents and teachers
focus their attention on quantitative aspects through relevant questioning and discus-
sion—a form of ‘guided play’ (Zippert et al., 2020). Several practitioners advo-
cate that all parents and early childhood educators should use simple ‘math talk’
(‘give me three more’; ‘have we got enough’? ‘how many red beads do you have’?)
while engaging in appropriate concrete experiences with children (Dulay et al., 2019;
Hanner et al., 2019; Nelissen, 2018). Through this informal and natural approach
using such things as building blocks, toys, counters and real objects, children are
learning the words that will ultimately help them remember, think and reason
numerically.
In the early primary school years, children continue to reinforce concepts of cardi-
nality (knowing how many elements are in a group or set) and ordinality (knowing
the position name for an item within a series … 1st, 3rd, last, etc.). Children also
develop an awareness of numerical magnitude (how large a quantity is when repre-
sented by a particular numeral). It has been found that these basic understandings of
cardinality, ordinality and numerical magnitude are crucial for making progress in
all aspects of arithmetic (Orrantia et al., 2019).
If children arrive in primary school with a poor sense of numbers, they are
extremely likely to have difficulties when formal aspects of computation are intro-
duced. Howell and Kemp (2006) have suggested that assessing young children’s
number sense on entry to school may be a valid way of detecting those who are
Number Sense 15
likely to have difficulties later. Early detection can lead to appropriate proactive
forms of intervention to help these children acquire the understanding and confi-
dence with numbers that they currently lack (Sasanguie et al., 2012). Many cases of
mathematical disability are thought to have their roots in poorly developed number
sense (Hojnoski et al., 2018; Terry, 2019; Wong et al., 2017a).
Concept Development
Children learning arithmetic skills need to understand the composition of numbers

and number relationships as well as mastering the steps within algorithms (Prather,
2021). As stated in Chapter 1, acquiring functional numeracy involves both concep-
tual understanding that underpins number relationships, and procedural fluency as
reflected in the easy recall of number facts and the automatic application of skills in
calculating (CCSSI, 2017b; Mills, 2019). In the following sections, the focus is on
the ways in which number concepts are developed.
Concept formation is the means by which we mentally organize our environment
into units of information that provide the general understanding of the world, and
that can be stored and used flexibly for thinking, reasoning and problem-solving. A
concept can be thought of as a ‘mental embodiment’ of all the essential features of
an object, situation or idea. For example, the concept we acquire for ‘triangle’ is that
it always has three sides, the sides may be of varying lengths, it is a closed figure, its
angles always add up to 180 degrees and it remains a triangle no matter its orientation
on the page or in space. Some of these features are discovered incidentally but
others we learn from instruction. Concept development occurs when new information
is taken in by a learner and linked with prior knowledge. New experiences cause
concepts to be modified and elaborated over time (Sidney & Alibali, 2015). These
processes of taking in new information and adjusting prior knowledge are usually
referred to as assimilation and accommodation (see later under the discussion of
Piaget’s work).
Number concepts are acquired as a result of experiencing and interpreting a variety
of quantitative learning situations. In subjects such as mathematics and science, the
concepts that are beyond the most basic level require explicit instruction from teachers
and exposure to many examples and explanations. For example, it would be very
difficult to grasp the concept of improper fractions and how to use them in calculations
without first having clear explanations from a more knowledgeable person who can
interpret salient features, provide examples and contexts, teach relevant vocabulary
such numerator, denominator and common denominator and teach the processes for
operating with them. Research has shown conclusively that the most effective initial
teaching of basic skills must involve explicit instruction, accompanied by practice
with feedback from teachers (Brownell et al., 2021).
The Common Core State Standards for mathematics in the US stress the impor-
tance of conceptual understanding in acquiring numeracy and mathematical expertise
(CCSSI, 2017d). It is also stressed that conceptual understanding needs to accompany
the learning of all arithmetic processes and problem-solving strategies, so that these
procedures are not carried out simply by rote (Willingham, 2010). Lack of concep-
tual understanding easily occurs when children are just taught rules, procedures and
facts without real explanation and discussion. The children are not able to connect
(accommodate) what they are being taught with what they already know—they are
simply learning new tricks (Gibbs et al., 2018). Problems also arise when teachers
attempt to teach concepts that are at a level of complexity and abstraction that is well
beyond the children’s current stage of cognitive development.
It is pertinent here to note that the teaching of mathematics in most Asian schools
(where numeracy achievement levels are usually found to be very high) places heavy
emphasis on ensuring that students fully understand how and why a particular algo-
rithm such as long division actually operates. Conceptual understanding is typically
achieved through the use of many relevant illustrative examples, accompanied by a
discussion that requires students to reflect upon and verbalize their thoughts about the
operations they perform (Mills, 2019). The use of language and precise vocabulary
by students and teachers is known to facilitate conceptual development in mathe-
matics (Shockey & Pindiprolu, 2015). When students can verbalize their thinking,
it is easy for a teacher to detect any who are failing to understand a procedure or
concept, and then to re-teach with additional explanations and examples. The Math
Hubs project in the UK recognizes the importance of having students verbalize their
thinking as an essential part of the learning process that leads to mastery (NCETM,
2016b).
The time spent in discussion and clarification of processes during math lessons
often takes longer than the traditional methods typically used in Western schools,
but it results in a much deeper understanding of subject matter and real mastery of
essential skills. Often, Western school mathematics curricula are overloaded with
too many different topics to be taught in the time available, leading to very superfi-
cial coverage of the content and limited opportunity for deeper discussion (CCSSI,
2017b). Realization of this problem has resulted in a reduction of content in the
revised National Curriculum in mathematics in the UK, in the Australian Curriculum
and in the Common Core State Standards in the US.
Theories of Conceptual Development
It is appropriate here to acknowledge the work of three pioneers whose theories

helped illuminate the way in which cognitive development occurs in children.
Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner all made major contributions to our thinking about
how numeracy concepts are acquired and how their development can be encouraged
in home and school.
Theories of Conceptual Development 17
• Jean Piaget
We owe much of our understanding of how children appear to develop number

concepts to the work of the late Jean Piaget (1942; 1983), a Swiss clinical psychologist
who died in 1980. He had been influenced to some extent by the ideas expressed
earlier by John Dewey (1902). Dewey was a proponent for education reform based
on the principle that students learn best through active and experiential learning,
rather than from the passive forms of instruction that were more typical of schools
in his time (Tanner, 2016).
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in number was based on close obser-
vation of children (mainly his own three children) as they engaged in various
tasks involving quantitative and spatial relationships. He was interested to inves-
tigate how their thinking and reasoning developed and changed qualitatively over
time. His ideas have greatly influenced the currently popular constructivist view of
learning––a view that places the learner rather than the teacher at the heart of the
learning process. Constructivists believe that true understanding can’t be transmitted
to learners directly by a teacher or instructor, instead learners must make meaning
(develop concepts and acquire knowledge) for themselves through their own actions,
thoughts and interpretations (Shah, 2020).
Piaget argued that children continually construct and modify their understanding
of phenomena (including number relationships) as a result of their own direct expe-
riences. Cognitive development in childhood through adolescence to adulthood can
thus be thought of as the ongoing construction and refinement of meaning based
on experience, perception, reflection and memory (Ahmad et al., 2016). In Piaget’s
theory, children’s increasing physical and neurological maturation enables them to
explore and reflect more deeply upon the quantitative and spatial world, and build
and modify their concepts over time (Fowler, 2017).
An essential aspect of Piaget’s theory is his notion of schemata (singular: schema).
A schema is a connected web of information comprising everything one has learned
over time about a particular phenomenon or entity. Learners interpret new informa-
tion that is taken in and link it to what they already know. As stated above, Piaget
used the term assimilation to describe the process of taking in new information
and linking it with prior knowledge, and the term accommodation for the process
involved in readjusting existing schemata to reflect this new understanding. This
process continues throughout life and is the main characteristic of cognitive growth.
Piaget considered that children pass through four main stages on their way to
mature cognitive functioning. At each stage, they become better able to process
information accurately and are less likely to develop misconceptions. The sequence
begins at birth and continues into adulthood. An approximate age range for each
stage has been suggested by educators, based on Piaget’s writings––but children
actually differ significantly in the age at which they pass through each Piagetian
stage. These differences are due to factors such as individual rates of maturity, innate
mental ability, opportunities to learn through experience, support in the home and
exposure to teaching (Case, 1992; Dasen, 1994; Siegal, 1991).
The four Piagetian stages are briefly described below, with tentative age ranges
indicated.
• Sensori-motor stage (birth to 18 months). During the early months, a young child
takes in a broad range of sensory input, for example, by focusing visual atten-
tion, attending to sounds, gaining control over movements, picking up an object
and becoming aware of its features, and beginning to develop an awareness of
numerosity. When the child is able to crawl and later to walk, he or she is exposed
to an ever-increasing range of concrete experiences. At this stage, the child is
becoming familiar with his or her immediate environment but is not aware (for
example) of object permanence—that physical objects continue to exist even
when they are out of sight.
• Pre-operational or intuitive stage (from age 18 months to 7+ years). Children at
the pre-operational stage tend at first not to be able to manipulate quantitative ideas
mentally or reliably deduce links that exist in cause-effect relationships. They tend
to focus too much on one feature of a situation and do not consider other aspects
that may be important. As a result, they are often misled by what they see and
they form wrong conclusions. An important example of this in the numeracy field
is the concept of conservation of number. Children at the pre-operation stage do
not necessarily understand that the number of items in a group does not change
unless you add or remove items. Even when the spatial arrangement of the items
in the set may be altered, the cardinal number remains unchanged. It is sometimes
argued that until children can understand the conservation of number at around
age 6 years, there is little point in attempting any formal teaching of even the
simplest level of arithmetic. Piaget believed that preoperational children do not
possess stable numerical concepts and, for example, have difficulty imagining an
action reversed, for example, if 3 tokens are placed with 2 tokens to make a group
of 5, what would be left if 3 tokens were then taken away from 5? This is why
hands-on materials such as blocks and counters are used in kindergarten and early
primary classrooms to help children perceive and understand grouping, sharing,
comparing sets and conservation of number.
• Concrete operational stage (7 to 11+ years). During this stage, a child can begin
to process more complex quantitative information when it can be experienced and
acted upon at first-hand. During this concrete operational stage, a child becomes
able to understand symbolic representation (numerals and signs) and how it is
used to record operations. For example, being able to grasp that 7 objects can be
represented by the numeral 7; and later, that 17 counters can be made from 10 +
7. At this stage, children can reflect upon and carry out age-appropriate operations
mentally, but still struggle to grasp purely abstract ideas. The danger at this stage
is that they are only taught early arithmetic skills as rote procedures that they must
simply memorize.
• Formal operational stage (11+ to adulthood). At this stage, a normally developing
individual becomes able to operate more easily with abstract ideas and symbols,
and to think and reason without the need for objects, pictures or first-hand expe-
rience. Adolescents in the formal operational stage become more strategic and
logical in their problem-solving approach because they can reason things out
rather than using a hit-or-miss intuitive approach.
Most educators believe that it is important to consider Piaget’s four stages in
relation to the types of mathematical experiences normally provided at different
ages. For example, it is now accepted that we should not attempt to teach very
young children formal written arithmetic algorithms. Abstract reasoning and the use
of symbolic representation cannot be forced on children at the sensori-motor and
beginning pre-operational stages. According to Piaget (1942), the direct teaching of
number knowledge and skills ahead of a child’s cognitive readiness to learn is largely
a waste of time and can also have a negative impact on the child’s confidence and
future attitude towards working with numbers.
Over the years since Piaget’s writings were first translated into English, numerous
experimental studies have generally supported his description of the sequence in
children’s cognitive development. However, criticisms of his work have emerged.
The first is that he underestimated the learning capacity of preschool children, and
overstated the role of maturation in controlling readiness. It is now thought that if
young children are provided with concrete materials and appropriate guidance (scaf-
folding) they can learn much more than Piaget predicted (Bukatko & Daehle, 2012;
Mandler, 2004; Marchand, 2012). It is now believed that teachers should base their
teaching and guidance on a child’s current proven abilities instead of awaiting matu-
rity or so-called ‘readiness’ (Fowler, 2017). More recent work appears to indicate
that opportunity, experience and instruction are just as important as maturation in
determining what young children can learn. The current view is that with appropri-
ately structured experience and skilled teaching, young children can actually learn
more than they would by their own explorations alone. This is particularly true of
acquiring number knowledge and skills.
Developmental psychologists who have built on Piaget’s earlier work––the Neo-
Piagetians––assert that the processes needed to learn concepts and to solve problems
are teachable, and we do not need to await the biological maturation of the child
(Case, 1992; Demetriou et al., 2002). This suggests that instead of opting for what
is currently viewed as ‘developmentally appropriate’ activities in early childhood
(this usually implies play and incidental discovery) we should be seeking effective
teaching methods for accelerating young children’s learning. As a result, it is argued
that curriculum typically provided in the early years often underestimates children’s
potential ability to learn and is thus insufficiently challenging. Some early child-
hood educators are now recognizing the importance of supplementing child-initiated
learning with high-quality instruction from a teacher (guided and mediated learning)
in the early years (National Child Care Information Centre, 2007). In this respect,
modern teaching methods in the preschool and early primary years can take much
more of value from the theories of Vygotsky than from Piaget (see below).
It is also believed that at the other end of the age range Piaget overestimated
what the average adolescent can do in terms of abstract reasoning, particularly in
mathematics and science. The age of 11+ has often been suggested as the end of
the concrete operational stage, but more recent observations suggest that for the
many students in secondary schools their thinking in subjects such as mathematics

may remain at the concrete stage until at least age 15 or 16 years (Cornally, 2013;
McLeod, 2010; Oswalt, 2010; Santrock, 2018). Much of the contemporary mathe-
matics teaching in secondary schools, therefore, misses the mark for these students
because it is conducted largely through textbooks, whiteboard examples and online
exercises. The relative absence of concrete experience and visual representation may
well account for many of the learning difficulties evident in some older students and
their growing dislike of mathematics.
Despite the limitations described above, Piaget’s major contribution to the field
of numeracy teaching has been:
• to present the view of children as active and constructive learners;
• to support the use of concrete and visual materials for hands-on mathematics
learning in the primary school (and now into the secondary school);
• to remind teachers to consider children’s level of cognitive maturity when
introducing particular mathematical topics;
• to make teachers more aware that direct teaching and drilling of number skills
without a basis of understanding can have a negative impact on a child’s confidence
and future attitude toward working with numbers.
• Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist who died in 1934. While agreeing in many
respects with Piaget’s views, Vygotsky (1962) places considerably more emphasis
than did Piaget on social influences and adult input in shaping children’s cognitive
development. He saw adults as ‘more knowledgeable others’ who often provide
immediate and proactive guidance that helps advance a child’s awareness and
reasoning. His theory led to the notion that each child has a ‘zone of proximal devel-
opment’ (ZPD) in which learning tasks that are just a little too difficult for him or her
to master unaided can be achieved when he or she is provided with guidance from
someone. According to Vygotsky, optimum learning occurs when teachers create
learning activities that are tailored to be just a shade above a child’s current level of
functioning and guidance is supplied. This type of guidance has become known in
education as scaffolding and it takes the form of hints, suggestions, thinking aloud,
comments, questions, demonstrations, corrective feedback and even direct explana-
tion. In this situation, the use of language at an appropriate level to match a child’s
comprehension greatly assists with concept development (Eun, 2019). Research by
Cukurova et al. (2018) has indicated that this type of guided learning in subjects such
as science and math improves students’ acquisition of knowledge much more effec-
tively than unguided independent work; and proactive guidance reduces significantly
the number of misconceptions that students tend to develop.
Vygotsky’s form of constructivism is referred to as socio-constructivism and is
based on the belief that knowledge is constructed mainly through the language used
in interacting with others. His recognition of the importance of students’ discus-
sion with teachers has led now to the principle that ‘talking together’ is at the very
heart of students’ knowledge construction (Hanner et al., 2019; Hung, 2015). At the
same time, listening to students talking together and asking each other questions can
reveal to a teacher any misunderstandings that may have occurred (Urquhart, 2009;
Wagganer, 2015).
The concept of ZPD is not limited to learning of number skills but applies in all
areas of the curriculum (Fithriani, 2019). The major messages for numeracy teaching
that stem from Vygotsky’s work can be summarized as:
• concept development can be enhanced and refined through discussion;
• a teacher has a responsibility to guide children towards better understanding by
mediating between their actions, observations and thinking;
• a teacher must identify a child’s present level of understanding in order to provide
tasks that will help him or her progress further within their own zone of proximal
development.
• Jerome Bruner
Jerome Bruner (1960; 1966) was an American cognitive psychologist who died in
2016. He was instrumental in raising educators’ awareness of the important active
role that learners themselves must play in constructing knowledge. He is therefore
regarded, along with Piaget, as having a constructivist orientation. A major theme in
his work is that learning is an active process in which learners use current experiences
to construct and refine concepts, always building upon their prior knowledge.
In the domain of mathematics teaching, Bruner stressed the need for creating
problems that cause students to think mathematically, rather than simply performing
calculation routines that they have been taught without real understanding. However,
like Vygotsky, he saw the role of the teacher to be more than simply a facilitator in an
activity-based approach. Children need to interact positively with more knowledge-
able adults and peers who can support their efforts, challenge them, provide infor-
mation and assist them in interpreting new discoveries and acquiring new strategies
for calculating (Hopkins & Bayliss, 2017). In this context, it was Bruner who first
coined the term ‘scaffolding’.
According to Bruner, concept development progresses from a hands-on ‘enactive’
stage, through an ‘iconic’ stage (where pictorial and other graphic representations can
be used to move beyond the purely concrete) to a final ‘symbolic’ stage where abstract
symbols and notation alone can convey meaning to the learner. Applying Bruner’s
three stages to early numeracy development, the first step that most children take is
interacting with the real world and using real objects (concrete materials). Their move
to the iconic stage may first involve using exact pictorial representations instead of
real objects (for example, a drawing of three goldfish in a tank, or six balloons in a
picture). Children at his stage are able to interpret these pictorial representations of
objects and can count them. This is why the early math books and computer materials
designed for beginners in preschool contain mainly pictures of familiar objects for
counting and comparing. When situations are presented to children in pictorial form,
or are drawn by them as pictures, they can easily interpret what they are seeing,
even though they are not the real objects. At the next stage, three wooden blocks
or counters can stand for three cars moving along an imaginary road. The blocks or
counters don’t look like cars, but the notion that one thing can be represented in a
different way is established. This stage might be called the ‘semi-concrete’ stage.
Later, three tally-marks /// (looking even less like the real object) can be used at
the ‘semi-abstract’ stage, with an understanding of their one-to-one correspondence
with the original objects (●●● + ●● = ●●●●●; /// + // = /////). It is not until
a child has had these intermediate experiences of translating reality into different
forms of semi-concrete and semi-abstract representation that they really understand
signs and symbols at the abstract stage (3 + 2 = 5).
It is believed that some children begin to experience difficulty in learning number
relationships and mastering algorithms because they have been taken too quickly
from the concrete stage to the abstract symbolic level of recording. A gap is created
in children’s schemata related to numbers if they are forced to operate too soon with
symbols and mathematical notation. The Singapore Ministry of Education advocates
the use of the heuristic known as the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) sequence
as part of the mastery approach to teaching and learning mathematics. In the USA,
this approach is often referred to as ‘Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA),
and CRA as a teaching principle has been found effective for increasing students’
conceptual knowledge and fluency in computation (Flores et al., 2019). The appli-
cation of CRA is highly recommended for establishing a firm foundation for all
learners, and has proved of particular value when teaching students with learning
difficulties (Yakubova et al., 2020). This CPA/CRA sequence is based on Bruner’s
conception of the enactive, iconic and symbolic stages (see https://www.ncetm.org.
uk/resources/42194).video).
The use of concrete materials such as Dienes’ Multibase Arithmetic Blocks
(MAB), Cuisenaire Rods, Montessori Number Blocks or Unifix (often called manip-
ulatives) can help children bridge semi-concrete to the abstract level by providing
a visual link between objects and the symbols that can eventually represent them
(Morin & Samelson, 2015; Jones & Tiller, 2017). Ross et al. (2020) have found
that being able to interact with manipulatives can result in improved mental arith-
metic performance in children aged 7 to 9 years. Today, online learning media and
digital apps can make use of virtual manipulatives that children can move around on
interactive touch screens or iPad to experiment with base-ten patterns, number lines,
fraction bars, geo-boards and solid figures (Litser et al., 2019; Moyer-Packenham,
2016; Shin et al., 2017; Tucker et al., 2017). Again, this approach has proved very
useful when working with students with learning difficulties and disabilities (Bouck
et al., 2020).
Bruner’s views are clearly compatible with those of Piaget, but like Vygotsky, he
is much less concerned with issues such as readiness and maturation. Instead, Bruner
supports the view that young children can be taught many things if the quality of
instruction is good and the teaching follows the sequence of concrete, through semi-
concrete, to the abstract levels. His claim is that any subject can be taught effectively
in some intellectually honest form to a normal child at any stage of development––if
the method is right.
In summary, Bruner’s influences on numeracy teaching include:

• the need to create learning environments that provide materials and situations to
investigate;
• the need for learner’s to be actively involved in exploring quantitative situations
and real problems;
• the need for children to work through concrete and semi-concrete experiences
before they are ready for abstraction;
• the advantages of planning the most effective sequence in which to present
curriculum material (concrete to pictorial to abstract).
• Variation theory
Variation theory attempts to explain how students may experience the same learning
event differently because each has focused attention on a different aspect. For
example, when learning about right-angles one student has perceived the vertical
orientation of the L diagram on the whiteboard as the key feature, whereas another
student has attended to the relevant concept of a 90° angle. The latter student is
immediately able to recognize a right-angle on a worksheet when the examples are
presented in any orientation. The former is confused if the example is not vertical
L(e.g. or ├). Teachers need to ensure that each individual recognizes relevant and

irrelevant features of what is being presented as an example. In terms of numeracy,
students need to grasp the commutativity law (or principle) by recognizing that the
procedure for recording simple addition can be written as 3 + 5 = 8 or 5 + 3 =
8, and for multiplication 7 × 5 can be written as 5 × 7. This law does not apply to
division or subtraction, because 8 ÷ 3 can’t be written as 3 ÷ 8, and 9 – 6 is not the
same as 6 – 9. [Some useful examples of variation theory in the domain of number
concepts can be found at https: //thirdspacelearning.com/blog/variation-theory/#11-
number-number-and-place-value].
In other words, variation theory explains why all learners need to experience
and reflect upon variations in any phenomenon by exposure to examples and non-
examples. They need to appreciate both what something is and what it is not. This
requires that teachers design and sequencing mathematical tasks using multiple
representations and drawing attention to what is relevant and what is irrelevant in a
particular concept. This notion of multiple representations of a concept is entirely
compatible with principles underpinning universal design for learning (UDL). UDL
frameworks recommend embodying a concept in many different forms to provide
students with different pathways to reach the same level of understanding (Hall et al.,
2012).
The creation of variation theory is usually credited to Marton (Ling & Marton,
2011) and the theory has become important in influencing how numeracy and math-
ematical concepts are taught. For example, Trundley and Williams (2020) found
variation theory can contribute usefully to the better application of manipulatives in
the teaching of ‘counting all’ and ‘counting on’ to children aged 5–6 years. Simi-
larly, Björklund et al. (2021) have embodied principles of variation theory in an
intervention to help preschoolers learn basic number concepts and skills.
More can be discovered about variation theory by following the link: https://var
iationtheory.com/category/number/
Theories Covering the Development of Procedural Fluency
Constructivist theories reviewed above help to explain concept development––but

they have contributed very little to our understanding of how procedural fluency in
computation and in mental arithmetic develops. From the constructivist and socio-
constructivist perspective, automated procedural skills are simply acquired naturally,
through ongoing successful interactions with numbers in the everyday surround-
ings, and by engaging in solving problems––referred to as acquiring ‘numeracy by
participation’ (Atweh et al., 2014).
The notion of spending specific time and effort on what used to be called ‘speed and
accuracy exercises’ in arithmetic is abhorrent to most constructivists––yet, fluency
in carrying out any learned skill can only come from vast amounts of deliberate
sustained practice (DeKeyser, 2007; Farkota, 2017; Stocker & Kubina, 2017). Once
attained, this fluency enables an individual to work quickly and efficiently, and
reduces the cognitive load when attempting to perform calculations required within
a math problem. Constructivist views thus tend to overlook the role of deliberate
practice in acquiring number skills to the required level of mastery and automaticity.
There are several theories and beliefs that relate to how learners become fluent
in the recall of number facts and in the smooth and efficient use of calculation skills
(Atweh et al., 2014). All these theories contribute something to our understanding
of the learning processes involved. First, from a behavioural perspective the theory
of operant conditioning and reinforcement (Skinner, 1969) clearly applies, because
each time a student performs a calculation correctly (mentally, written recording
or by using a calculator) the correct result intrinsically rewards and reinforces the
performance, and the likelihood of performing the same process correctly next time
is strengthened (Law of Effect: Thorndike, 1911). In the early stages, this reward
may be in the form of a tick in the exercise book, a word of praise from the teacher,
or a visible reward on the computer screen. Later, the reinforcement is more likely
to come from an intrinsically satisfying feeling of competence and self-efficacy. In
other words, procedural fluency relies on confidence that accrues from each success
building on all earlier successes. The role of frequent and successful practice is
clearly important here. As Farkota (2017, p. 15) correctly observed, ‘… genuine
mastery of both basic skills and problem solving can only come about with constant
practice.’ Similarly, Morkunas (2020) has presented a convincing case in support of
daily practice and review of knowledge and skills in all areas of the curriculum, and
particularly mathematics.
Theories Covering the Development of Procedural Fluency 25
Closely related to theories that support the value of frequent practice for skill
acquisition is practice engagement theory (Reder et al., 2020). In simple terms, this
theory posits that the more that a student engages in meaningful work with numbers,
the stronger is that individual’s motivation to achieve in numeracy. There is also a
three-stage theory of skill learning that suggests any skill, such as calculating with
numbers, develops through distinct stages (Anderson, 1982; Taie, 2014). The three
stages are:
• presentation––a skill is demonstrated and taught explicitly;
• imitation and practice––the learner then rehearses the process he or she has been
taught, and receives corrective feedback;
• automaticity––frequent practice results in effortless and highly skilled behaviour.
The notion of automaticity achieved through practice is absolutely fundamental
to appreciating what procedural fluency in number skills really involves (Datchuk &
Hier, 2019). It is to be greatly regretted that modern reforms in mathematics education
quite clearly ignore the essential role that practice plays in mastering computation
skills. When practice is devalued and replaced entirely by problem-based inquiry
methods, many students will fail to develop fluency in the most basic arithmetic
skills (Westwood, 2003; 2011).
The following chapter raises some of the issues involved in encouraging numeracy
in the preschool and kindergarten years. During this formative period, concept
development and the foundations for later procedural fluency need to be firmly
established.
Online Resources
Wiggins, G. (2014). Conceptual understanding in mathematics. https://grantwiggins.wordpress.

com/2014/04/23/conceptual-understanding-in-mathematics/.
Williams, H. (2020). Mathematics in the early years: What matters? https://impact.chartered.col
lege/article/mathematics-in-early-years/.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. http://www.explorepsychology.com/piagets-theory-cog
nitive-development/.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Position paper on procedural fluency in mathe-
matics. http://www.nctm.org/Standards-and-Positions/Position-Statements/Procedural-Fluency-
in-Mathematics/.
Briars, D. J. (2015). Tasks and strategies to develop procedural fluency from conceptual under-
standing. Presentation made at the NCTM Atlantic City Regional Conference, October 22, 2015.
dbriars@nctm.org.
McClure, L. (2014). Developing number fluency: What, why and how. http://nrich.maths.org/10624.
Print Resources
Björklund, C., van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., & Kullberg, A. (2020). Research on early childhood
mathematics teaching and learning. ZDM - The International Journal on Mathematics Education,
52(4), 607–619.
Carpenter, T. P., Franke, M. L., Johnson, N. C., & Turrou, A. C. (2016). Young children’s
mathematics: Cognitively guided instruction in early childhood education. Heinemann.
Datchuk, S. M., & Hier, B. O. (2019). Fluency practice: Techniques for building automaticity in
foundational knowledge and skills. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(6), 424–435.
Hattie, J. et al. (2016). Visible learning in mathematics K-12. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Kanter, P., & Leinwand, S. (2018). Developing numerical fluency: Making numbers, facts, and
computation meaningful. Heinemann.
Moyer-Packenham, P. S. (Ed.) (2016). Teaching and learning mathematics with virtual manipula-
tives. New York: Springer International.
Chapter 3
Numeracy in Preschool
and Kindergarten Years
In the United States, the Principles and standards for school mathematics included
children in preschool for the first time––a clear indication that acquisition of
numeracy is now acknowledged to begin long before a child enters school (NCTM,
2000). The early years of childhood are extremely important because they repre-
sent a critical period for establishing the foundations for later development (Clerkin
& Gilligan, 2018; Jordan et al., 2015). Bernadette Donald (2016, p. 18) has stated
that ‘Research shows that focusing on mathematics particularly in the early years has
major benefits throughout a child’s life, helping them not only in their later education
but also all the way through life.’ Children’s mathematical knowledge in the early
years has proved to be predictive of their math grades much later in high school and
even college (Kiss et al., 2019). Research has also indicated that it is vitally impor-
tant that young children do not develop anxiety in connection with using numbers,
because this can seriously interfere with their later learning (Tomasetto et al., 2021).
As stated in Chap. 2, even before formal schooling begins children have acquired
basic awareness of quantitative relationships, and many have developed their own
simple number strategies such as counting on fingers (Björklund et al., 2019; Kull-
berg et al., 2020) for situations they encounter in daily life. Some children appear to
possess a particularly strong innate number sense that enables them to grasp numer-
ical concepts from a young age and then build upon them over time (Emerson &
Cantlon, 2015). This chapter considers some of the issues involved in providing
young children with the optimum experiences to enable this development to occur.
Working with Children in Preschool
Clements (2001) has suggested that preschools should capitalize fully on young
children’s natural motivation to learn through interacting with their environment.
The foundations for mathematical ability can be set down by creating enjoyable
28 3 Numeracy in Preschool and Kindergarten Years
and exploratory situations that involve numbers. Preschool settings need to estab-
lish an abundance of materials that motivate children and invite them to construct
and explore. In particular, every early childhood setting should have a ready supply
of building blocks, boxes, counters, tiles, shapes, pattern boards, measuring tapes,
calculators, squared paper, jars of beads, egg cartons and so on. In recent years,
digital technology in the form of interactive math apps delivered using iPads in a
play-based learning environment has proved to be engaging and effective in devel-
oping young children’s early number skills (Miller, 2018). Adequate time needs to
be made available for children to work with these apps while also receiving input
and suggestions from an adult (Baccaglini-Frank et al., 2020).
Parents, caregivers and preschool teachers have an important mediating (inter-
pretive) role to play when encouraging children’s exploration of quantities (Dulay
et al., 2019; Zippert & Ramani, 2017). Encouraging young children to work physi-
cally, orally and mentally with small numbers is much more important at this stage
than introducing written recording of number operations too soon. Almost all chil-
dren in preschool will be at a pre-operational or early concrete operational stage as
described by Piaget (see Chap. 2). The teacher’s role in children’s activities is, as
Vygotsky (1962) suggested, to support their number skill development by helping
them advance to the next stage. This is best achieved by talking with them, asking
focusing questions and challenging their thinking at an age-appropriate level. Much
of this important early learning can also be accomplished by using games, rather
than formal exercises (Cohrssen & Niklas, 2019; Evans & Gold, 2020; Hendrix
et al., 2020).
Before entering kindergarten at age 4, most children already possess a basic aware-
ness of numbers that enables them to tackle simple everyday quantitative tasks such
as sharing 4 biscuits equally with a friend or counting to page 5 in a story book (Tobia
et al., 2016). Studies by Barth et al. (2006) and Gilmore et al. (2007) revealed that
young children can carry out simple quantitative comparisons (‘the smallest cake’;
‘the biggest ice-cream’; ‘the middle-size bear’). There is also evidence to suggest
that the ability to discriminate between quantities and to count accurately are predic-
tive of later ability to cope well with mathematics in primary school (Magargee &
Beauford, 2016; Tobia et al., 2016). Developmentally appropriate mathematics expe-
riences in the preschool should, therefore, include activities that help develop these
basic skills.
Some children in the preschool years can represent numbers in their early drawings
(e.g. ‘My Mum and her 3 friends’; ‘Our 2 hens and 3 chicks’). A few may also
perform very simple mental addition and subtraction with numbers below 10, long
before these skills are taught in school. They may have acquired these abilities from
brothers or sisters, or a parent may have deliberately taught the child.
As indicated in Chap. 2, the language used by adults is very important in young
children’s development of number knowledge. For example, adults automatically
expose children to language that accompanies everyday quantitative experiences,
such as serving food at the table––‘Give me two potatoes today please, because they
are rather small’; ‘Just take half a cup of juice’. Or at the supermarket––‘Can you
get three tins of baked beans please, not the big tins, the smaller ones’; ‘Apples are
Working with Children in Preschool 29
three for $5.00 today’. Young children also hear and use number names as they join
in with rhymes and songs: ‘One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four ….’. They
hear sister counting the steps as she walks upstairs or uses a skipping rope, and they
hear big brother say, ‘Mum, I have four pages of homework to do tonight, but I have
already finished half.’ These incidental encounters with the language of everyday
numbers add to the existing preschool number sense.
Through these informal quantitative experiences, most children in early childhood
begin to develop confidence with numbers. Studies across cultures have found that
the quality of the home learning environment is strongly associated with numeracy
development in preschool, and that this advantage is maintained at later ages (Anders
et al., 2012; Visser et al., 2019). Many Chinese parents, for example, tend to take
a very active role in teaching their children about numbers at an early age (Liu
et al., 2019). Ng (2014) suggests that this strong parental support at home, plus more
frequent exposure to basic mathematics in preschools, may explain why Chinese
school children tend to perform so well in mathematics when compared to children
from many other cultures.
Parents can do much more to encourage children’s curiosity about numbers by
simply drawing attention in an interesting way to relevant quantitative situations
by asking questions, making comments or interpretations and making more explicit
their own daily use of numbers (Zippert et al., 2019; Zippert & Ramani, 2017). As
indicated in Chap. 2, Vygotsky saw such verbal interactions as providing a major
contribution to children’s cognitive development.
Research indicates that through specific training, parents can be helped to increase
their verbal interactions with children in situations involving numbers (Dulay et al.,
2019; Hendrix et al., 2019; Niklas et al., 2016). Advice for parents on supporting
their children’s numeracy growth is available online (see: http://www.teachingyour
child.org.uk/maths.htm).
Building Firm Foundations in Kindergarten
It can be seen in the following sections that there is reasonably close agreement
across the UK, Australia and the United States in what should constitute numeracy
learning objectives for the kindergarten years. The generally agreed core knowledge
and skills to be taught can be summarized as:
• accurate counting to 10 and then to 20,
• connecting number names to numerals,
• recognizing or counting accurately ‘how many’ in a small group,
• ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd),
• recognizing number patterns and sequences,
• naming basic shapes,
• sorting and classifying objects by size, number, shape.
In the UK, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) now exists as a framework
for numeracy teaching (DfE, 2017). The ‘early years’ are officially deemed to be
from birth to age 5 but are interpreted for teaching purposes as ages 3–5. Within the
framework, it is suggested that early number concepts and skills should be developed
by providing structured opportunities for children to use counters and other materials
for counting, comparing groups, simple addition and subtraction, and working with
shapes and measurement. The approach recommended is to use ‘planned, purposeful
play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity’ (DfE, 2017, p. 9). The
use of an ‘adult-led’ approach represents a major shift from the earlier ideology that
supported only free-play methods and informal learning, with no adult intervention
or explicit teaching.
According to the Early Years Foundation Stage in the UK, children who complete
kindergarten education at age 4 + to 5 years should be able to:
• count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20,
• place numbers in order,
• say which number is one more or one less than a given number,
• use objects (e.g. counters, blocks) to add and subtract single-digit numbers,
• count on or back to find an answer,
• double, halve and share with numbers to 20,
• use everyday language to talk about numbers and relative size,
• compare quantities,
• solve simple age-appropriate number problems,
• recognize and create number patterns,
• explore characteristics of common shapes and use correct language to describe
them.
In Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework serves much the same purpose
as EYFS in the UK, providing guiding principles for educating children in the period
from birth to five years and through transition to school (DET, 2009). Within this
framework, numeracy is regarded as an important capability essential for successful
learning across the curriculum. Numeracy in that document is defined as the ‘capacity,
confidence and disposition to use mathematics in daily life’, and includes understand-
ings about numbers, counting, patterns, measurement, spatial awareness and quanti-
tative reasoning. Most states and territories produced their own guidelines based on
the framework. For example, the Department for Education and Child Development
in South Australia provided ‘indicators’ for numeracy to assist teachers in assessing
children’s current competencies (DECD, 2015).
The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers joined forces with Early
Childhood Australia to issue a joint position statement on Early childhood mathe-
matics (AAMT/ECA, 2006). This document still tended to favour a child-centred
approach and makes no mention of direct teaching or the need for abundant prac-
tice to strengthen basic skills. Since the publication of the original Early childhood
mathematics, there has been a slight increase in the amount of attention given now
to teacher-led learning in the early years. This increase is in keeping with the recog-
nition that early numeracy learning can be greatly enhanced if adults help young
Building Firm Foundations in Kindergarten 31
children interpret their learning experiences (Education Review Office New Zealand,
2016; Hardy & Hemmeter, 2019). Even the National Council of Teachers of Math-
ematics in the US has moved away from its earlier calls for entirely child-centred
informal methods in preschools and schools, and now advocates the use of ‘effective,
research-based curricula and teaching practices’. More specifically NCTM (2017b)
states:
Early childhood educators should actively introduce mathematical concepts, methods, and
language through a variety of appropriate experiences and research-based teaching strategies.
Teachers should guide children in seeing connections of ideas within mathematics as well as
with other subjects, developing their mathematical knowledge throughout the day and across
the curriculum. They must encourage children to communicate, explaining their thinking as
they interact with important mathematics in deep and sustained ways (p. 1)
The terms ‘mediated learning’, ‘guided participation’ and ‘teacher-led enquiry’

have become popular and are appropriate when describing effective learning inter-
actions between adults and children. This implies more input by the teacher and less
unguided or unstructured play. In mediated learning, the role of the early childhood
educator (or parent) is to supply information and ask questions at the ‘teachable
moment’, and to build bridges between the real world and abstract ideas. Mediated
learning is really the practical application of Vygotsky’s and Bruner’s concept of
scaffolded teaching within a child’s zone of proximal development.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in the US has now endeavoured
to forge closer links to the Common Core State Standards for mathematics (Koestler
et al., 2013). The State Standards for this age group cover the teaching and learning
of counting, cardinality, simple number operations in base 10, age-appropriate data
collection and depiction and simple geometry. As an example of the counting stan-
dard, it is suggested that by the time children leave kindergarten they should be able
to count accurately the number of objects in a group (up to 20), make quantitative
comparisons between sets of objects and know the sequence of numbers up to 100.
The Technical Education Research Center (TERC, 2012) in the US has presented
a very clear framework for the kindergarten mathematics curriculum (see Online
Resources). This website has useful visual representations and recordings that can be
used to teach the recommended content at concrete and semi-abstract levels. Criteria
for assessing children’s knowledge and skills in basic numeracy are also included.
The ideas easily complement the curriculum content set within the national curricula
of the UK and Australia, as well as in the Common Core State Standards in the
US. The kindergarten content suggested by TERC (2012) includes the following key
numeracy competencies:
• counting,
• whole number operations: simple addition and subtraction with small numbers
using blocks and counters,
• using data: collecting, sorting, classifying and depicting simple data,
• linear measurement,
• patterns and shapes: constructing patterns and shapes; recognizing patterns,
• identifying, composing, comparing and sorting 2-D and 3-D shapes.
Some of these areas of competence are discussed in more detail below.
Counting
Perhaps the most vital competency for young children to acquire is the ability to
count (Gibbs et al., 2018; Turrou et al., 2017). This fundamental skill includes rote
counting (reciting the number names in correct order), counting on fingers, accu-
rate counting of small groups using one-to-one correspondence and more advanced
counting strategies such as ‘counting on’ from a given number, counting back and
counting by 2 s, 5 s and 10 s. Nguyen et al. (2016) have found that counting strate-
gies in preschoolers are highly predictive of their later mathematics achievement, so
counting must be recognized as fundamental for further numeracy development.
Activities in the early years that involve counting can be very enjoyable and
motivating for children, providing the main pathway to understanding cardinality
(Jacobi-Vessels et al., 2016; Throndsen et al., 2017). For example, mobile apps have
been found useful for developing the counting and quantifying skills of children aged
between 3 and 5 years (Mowafi & Abumuhfouz, 2021). Physically counting items in a
set also helps the youngest children reinforce the concept of number conservation—
the understanding that no matter how items in a group are arranged, the number
of items does not change unless you put more in or take some out. Conservation
of number was a focus of much attention in Piaget’s studies of children’s concept
development (see Chap. 2).
Most parents realize it is well worth cultivating their child’s ability to count even
before he or she enters school. In their daily lives, children are surrounded by situ-
ations where they hear others count and that require them to count and compare
quantities. These activities are often a feature in children’s preschool television
programmes, where counting may be paired with pictures and numeral recogni-
tion. Numbers, counting and quantity words also occur quite often in rhymes that
are read to young children in the home and in preschool—‘Ten in the bed and the
little one said, roll over. They all rolled over and one fell out. There were nine in the
bed …’ (Hassinger-Das et al., 2015).
When children enter kindergarten, many can already rote-count to 10 or even
20, but they may not always be accurate when counting a group of objects. They
can recite number-names in the correct sequence, but they don’t necessarily match
each word to a separate item in a group. To count items in a group accurately and
meaningfully children must understand at least the following principles:
• number names must be said in their correct order,
• each item in the set must be counted once and only once,
• each number word must be matched to a separate item,
• the final number reached identifies the total number of items in the group.
Counting 33
The ease with which most children learn to count and how they refine this skill
over time has been the focus of much research on emergent numeracy (e.g. Hannula-
Sormunen et al., 2015; Posid & Cordes, 2015). It appears that there are several
different counting strategies that children employ once they have moved beyond
the level of rote counting a group of objects by touching each one. For example,
when given two sets of counters on the desk and told ‘This group has 4 counters;
if we add 3 more, how many altogether?’ Some young children will count all the
objects in both groups (the ‘counting all’ strategy) while others will count on from
the number already known ‘4 … 5, 6, 7’ (the ‘counting on’ strategy). It is considered
that ‘counting on’ is a more insightful and effective strategy than ‘counting all’ in
most situations.
After gaining experience with counting all and counting on, most learners begin
to store commonly occurring number facts in memory (e.g. 3 + 3 = 6) and can then
retrieve them easily without counting. However, Hopkins and Bayliss (2017) have
reported that around 50 per cent of students in Year 7 don’t always use retrieval of
number facts from memory but instead still solve even simple single-digit addition
problems by counting (often on fingers). When students cling to these slow counting
procedures, they need to engage in practice activities and speeded mental tests that
will help them commit number facts to memory.
The Prekinders website contains very useful activities for teaching and practising
counting skills. The site is well illustrated and provides information of practical value
(see Online Resources).
Numeral Recognition
Alongside counting, the ability to recognize instantly the numerals from 1 to 10

(and later from 11 to 20) is an important step in increasing a preschool child’s exact
number sense. It is helpful that numerals are very frequently on display in preschool
children’s educational environment, in television programmes and in picture books
(Perger & Major, 2018). The correct writing of numerals should also be taught at the
same time, as part of normal handwriting instruction. Often the youngest children
tend at first to reverse numerals like 3, 5 and 7. Later, some children reverse place
values (e.g. 61 instead of 16) which causes difficulties in calculation. A tendency to
reverse a figure or place value when writing needs to be remedied before it becomes
stored in muscle memory as an incorrect motor habit.
Testing young children’s ability to recognize numerals to 10 or 20 is part of any
preschool assessment procedure, and a note can be made of any numerals that are
not known instantly by sight or that cannot be matched to a correct group of objects.
Using a Number Line
A number line or number track is an exact visual representation of numbers spaced

out in the correct linear sequence. It is a very useful aid for supporting students’
counting skills and for making clear processes of simple addition (counting on from
a given number) and subtraction (counting back) (Woods et al., 2018). The number
line can also be used later to teach ‘interval counting’ in twos, fives and tens (Cramer
et al., 2019). Clarke et al. (2020) suggest that age-appropriate number line tasks could
usefully be included in any assessment process for children who may be candidates
for early intervention.
Many students discover the value of a number line for themselves without formal
instruction; and even older students will often be seen using calibrations on a ruler
to count forward or back as an aid to mental calculation (Drake, 2014). In primary
school, teachers can use a number line to demonstrate basic operations such as
multiplication and division. The teaching material known as Unifix has a 1-to-100
number track divided into 10-unit sections. For beginners, one would use only the
section for 1 to 10 or 1 to 20. In primary school, the sections from 20 to 100 can be
added. to enable children to place blocks in the track to model operations such as 22
+ 13, 45 + 17, 21 × 3, 26 ÷ 4 (showing the remainder), etc. Basically, a number line
helps children build mental representations of number relationships and operations
(Yuan et al., 2020).
From Counting to Number Operations
‘Operations’ are the manipulations that can be carried out with numbers mentally,
in writing or with a calculator. The common operations are, of course, adding,
subtracting, multiplying and dividing. Much of this work will be done later in primary
school, but even in the preschool years young children need to understand addition
as ‘putting together’ and subtraction as ‘taking from’. They need to encounter these
operations many times in concrete ways, using everyday objects and also blocks and
counters. It is at this stage that progress is made from concrete to the semi-concrete
stage of development (see Chap. 2). Language to accompany and guide these opera-
tions also needs to be taught: ‘4, take away 3, leaves 1’; or ‘4 add 3 add 1 makes 8.’
Simple addition and subtraction of numbers below 10 are the most common number
facts that must be remembered.
The Beginnings of Place Value
By the end of kindergarten, most children will begin moving on to numbers from
11–20. This stage signals beginning awareness of place value. Place value refers to
The Beginnings of Place Value 35
the understanding that ‘1’ in a written number does not always mean a single unit—in
a number like 16, the 1 represents 10. Establishing this concept for children can be
achieved by using apparatus such as Dienes’ Base-ten Arithmetic Blocks (MAB),
Unifix Cubes or Cuisenaire Rods. But everyday materials such as bundles of drinking
straws or ice-block sticks can also be used to help children store visual images of
14 being ‘a bundle of 10 with 4 more’. In computer-based programmes, it is also
possible now to use touchscreen devices to manipulate visual groups of 10 s and
units to experiment with place value (Kondys, 2017).
Most of the work on place value will be covered later in the primary school
years, where children will learn that the numeral ‘1’ may also represent 100 or
1000, depending on its position within a whole number. However, the foundation
for this work should be laid in kindergarten by involving children in constructing
and deconstructing groups of more than 10 objects, and from these groups making
separate piles or bundles of 10. Some children transitioning out of kindergarten will
not have reached this stage, so it still needs to be revisited in the first year of primary
school.
Data Collection, Representation and Analysis
Working with data that young children can collect for themselves facilitates the
application of six key skills that are components of numeracy—observation, catego-
rization, comparison, classification, order arrangement and measurement (Chumark
& Puncreobutr, 2016). Collecting data is also an interesting and motivating activity
for students of this age—it represents working with numbers in a meaningful context
and for a real purpose.
In the kindergarten, children can collect data at first-hand, such as the number
and types of pets owned by children in the class, or the number of cars, trucks,
buses and bicycles passing on the road outside the school in a given period. At
first, these quantities are represented on paper or whiteboard as simple drawings of
the objects arranged vertically or horizontally (8 cars, 9 trucks, 4 bicycles). Later,
when the children are making good progress and can fully understand the process of
recording, the teacher can introduce tally marks as substitutes for pictures:
cars ////////
trucks /////////
motorcycles //
bicycles ////
buses //
cars 8.
trucks 9.
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Teaching for Numeracy Across the Age

Range Peter Stuart Westwood

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The Craft of University Teaching 1st Edition Peter

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More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8914

Teaching for Numeracy

ISSN 2211-1921 ISSN 2211-193X (electronic)

In the current economic, technological and social environment, the need to

Taipa, Macao Peter Stuart Westwood

1 Numeracy: Defined, Described and in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Numeracy in the Curriculum

Early Years Curriculum

In Australia, as early as 1998 the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers

Curriculum in the United States

Numeracy as an Across-the-Curriculum Capability

Numeracy skills in school-age students are similar in importance to literacy skills

Gender Differences in Numeracy

considerable variation between nations. This suggests a probable influence of cultural

Affective Aspects of Numeracy

In recent deliberations on the nature of numeracy, increased importance has been

Concerns Over Numeracy Standards in Schools

Systems-Level Response to Poor Numeracy Standards

England has made a major commitment to strengthening the teaching of numeracy,

DfE/Sheffield Institute of Education. (2019). Longitudinal evaluation of the ‘Mathematics Teacher

• the ability to count accurately with correct number-to-object correspondence,

Children learning arithmetic skills need to understand the composition of numbers

Theories of Conceptual Development

It is appropriate here to acknowledge the work of three pioneers whose theories

We owe much of our understanding of how children appear to develop number

many students in secondary schools their thinking in subjects such as mathematics

In summary, Bruner’s influences on numeracy teaching include:

Theories Covering the Development of Procedural Fluency

Constructivist theories reviewed above help to explain concept development––but

Wiggins, G. (2014). Conceptual understanding in mathematics. https://grantwiggins.wordpress.

Working with Children in Preschool

Building Firm Foundations in Kindergarten

The terms ‘mediated learning’, ‘guided participation’ and ‘teacher-led enquiry’

Some of these areas of competence are discussed in more detail below.

Alongside counting, the ability to recognize instantly the numerals from 1 to 10

Using a Number Line

A number line or number track is an exact visual representation of numbers spaced

From Counting to Number Operations

The Beginnings of Place Value

Data Collection, Representation and Analysis

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