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Mathematics in the Preschool

Article in Teaching Children Mathematics · January 2001

DOI: 10.5951/TCM.7.5.0270

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 Mathematics in the Preschool
Author(s): Douglas H. Clements
Source: Teaching Children Mathematics, Vol. 7, No. 5 (JANUARY 2001), pp. 270-275
Published by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41197592
Accessed: 08-12-2015 18:16 UTC

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 Iu"Ifflnnil
И
in
the
Preschoo who is pushing arithmeticonto
preschoolersis wrong. Do not hurrychil-
dren.No mathin preschool!"
"What else is preschool for if teachers do not
get childrenready for school? They should teach
the childrenbasic skills and how to sit and listen."
Principles and Standardsfor School Mathemat-
ics identifies a new age band that includes
preschoolersforthefirsttime(NCTM 2000).
What mathematicsinstructionis appropriate
deeper thanmere practice in countingand adding.
It includes debating which child is bigger and
drawing maps to the "treasure" buried outside.
Quality mathematicsinstructionincludes provid-
ing loads of unit blocks, along withloads of time
to use them; asking children to get just enough
pencils foreveryonein the group; and challenging
childrento estimateand check how manysteps are
requiredto walk to the playground(see fig.1).
Much of our world can be betterunderstood

^^^^^^^^^H for these young children?The two speakers

have different opinions. I thinkthateach is a
littlebit rightand a littlebit wrong.
High-qualityteaching in mathematicsis about
challenge and joy, not imposition and pressure.
Good early childhood mathematicsis broader and
Doug Clements, waspreviously
clements@buffalo.edu, a preschooland kindergarten teacher
and is nowa professorofearlychildhood,
mathematics,and computer educationat theState
Universityof New Yorkat Buffalo,Buffalo,NY 14260. He conductsresearchin computer
applicationsin education,earlydevelopmentof mathematicalideas, and thelearningand
teachingofgeometry.
with mathematics.Preschool is a good time for
childrento become interestedin counting,sorting,
building shapes, findingpatterns,measuring,and
estimating.Quality preschool mathematicsis not
elementaryarithmeticpushed onto youngerchil-
dren. Instead, it invites children to experience
mathematicsas they play in, describe, and think
about theirworld.
Do We Really Need
Preschool Mathematics?
We need preschool mathematicsfor fourreasons.

270 TEACHING CHILDREN MATHEMATICS

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First,preschoolersalreadyexperiencecurricula countingand songs that she sang rhythmically

и
thatincludeonlya smallamountofmathematics - whilejumpingrope.This approachmadesenseto
and usuallythatcontentis anemic.We should her,farmoreso thanifan adulthad triedto teach
improve thissituation. heran "add 2" algorithm.
Second, many of these children,especially We see thatpreschoolers,
thosefromminority and low-income groups,later includingthosefromminor-
experience considerable difficultyin schoolmath- ityand low-incomegroups,
ematics.Recentcurriculum development projects are competentin informal
haveshownthatthegap betweentheseand other mathematics, and theyshow
children canbe narrowed. We shouldaddressthese spontaneous interest in
equityissues. "big" mathematicalideas. If
Third,preschoolers possessinformal mathemat- preschoolersinternalizein-
ical abilitiesand enjoy usingthem.Beforethey formal mathematics,whyare
enterschool,manychildrendevelopnumberand so manyat riskforfailurein
geometry abilitiesthatrangefromcounting objects latermathematics learning?
accurately, to findingone's way through theenvi- The mainreasonmaybe that
ronment, to makingshapes.Childrenuse mathe- theydo nothavethesupport
maticalideasineveryday lifeanddevelopinformal requiredto buildconnections
mathematical knowledgethatis surprisingly com- withschoolmathematics. Theyareself-motivated to
plexand sophisticated. Neglecting to nurturesuch investigatepatterns,shapes, measurement, the
interestswouldbe an educationalshame. meaningof numbers, and how numberswork,but
For example,five-year-old Chris is making theyneed assistanceto bringthese ideas to an
shapeswitha simplified versionofLogo software. explicitlevel of awareness.Such awarenessis an
He has been typingR (forrectangle),thentwo essentialcomponent of mathematical knowledge.
numbers forthelengthsof thesides.This timehe
chooses9 and 9. He sees a squareand laughs.A
nearbyadultasks,"Now,whatdo thetwo9s mean Preschoolers and
forthe rectangle?"Chrisreplies,"I don't know, Mathematics
now! Maybe I'll name thisa square rectangle!" People of all ages activelyconstruct mathematical
Chrisuses his invented terminology repeatedly on knowledge,but preschoolers are a special group,
succeedingdays. Similarly,withthe conceptof andwe needtoplantheirinstruction withcare.Con-
number,childrenas young as threeyears old

В
understand thebasic principlesof counting, even
as theyworkto polishtheirskills.
Finally,although recent researchonthebrainhas
lesstotellus abouteducation thansomesuppose,it
offersthreegeneralmessages:(1) Preschoolers'
brains undergo significantdevelopment,(2)
preschoolers'experienceand learningaffectthe
structure and organization of theirbrains,and (3)
preschoolers' brainsgrowmostas theresultofcom-
plexactivities,notfromsimpleskilllearning.
ConsiderAlex,whojust turnedfiveand whose
brother,Paul,is threeyearsold. She wanderedinto
theroomandmadean announcement:

Alex.WhenPaul is six,I'll be eight;whenPaul

is nine,I'll be eleven;whenPaul is twelve,I'll be
fourteen . . . [shecontinues
untilPaul willbe eigh-
teenandshe willbe twenty].
Adult My word!How on earthdid you figure
all thatout?
Alex.It's easy.You just go "three-FOUR-five"
[clappingonthefour];yougo "six-SEVEN-eight";
yougo "nine-TEN-eleven."

Alex puttogether
two aspectsof herexperience:

JANUARY2001 271

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 g
1
sider two of theirspecial characteristics.
First,the ideas thatpreschoolersconstructcan
be quite differentfromthose of adults. Preschool
teachersmustbe particularlycarefulnot to assume
that children "see" situations,problems, or solu-
tions as adults do. For example, one researcher
asked Brenda to count six marbles. Then the
researchercovered themup, showed one more,and
asked how manyhe had in all. Brenda said thathe
had one. When the researcherpointed out thathe
had six marbleshidden,Brenda said adamantly,"I
don't see no six!" For Brenda, no numbercould
exist withoutobjects to count.
Successful teachers interpretwhat a child is
doing and thinkingand attemptto see the situation
fromthe child's pointof view. From theirinterpre-
tations,these teachers speculate about what con-
cepts the child mightbe able to learn or abstract
fromhis or herexperiences.Similarly,when teach-
ers interactwithchildren,theyshould also consider
their own actions from the children's points of
view. This need for interpretation and conjecture
makes early childhood teaching both demanding
and rewarding. Brenda's teacher, for example,
mighthide fourmarbles,thenencourage Brenda to
put up fourfingersto representthehiddenmarbles.
A second characteristicof youngchildrenis that
theydo not perceive or act on theirworld as if it
were divided into separate subjects. Successful
preschool teachershelp childrendevelop premath-
ematical and mathematicalknowledge throughout
the day. They plan activities that simultaneously
promoteintellectual,social, emotional,and physi-
cal development.When preschoolersdo mathemat-
ics, they really do it- acting with their whole
beings. For this reason, discussions of symmetry
272
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that use children's own vocabulary should be as
common in the block cornerand at the arteasel as
in any formalmathematicsactivity.
Such holistic teaching and learningcapitalizes
on preschoolers' high level of motivationto learn
in a self-directedmanner.This teachingpromotesa
view of mathematicsas a positive,self-motivated,
self-directedproblem-solvingactivityat the time
that children first develop their mathematical
beliefs,habits,and feelings.
Children's play and interestsare the sources of
theirfirstmathematicalexperiences.These experi-
ences become mathematicalas the childrenrepre-
sent and reflecton them.Young childrenrepresent
their ideas by talking but also throughmodels,
dramatizations,and art. From the motorand sing-
song beginningsof pat-a-cake stem the geometric
patternsof a "fence" builtfromunitblocks and the
gradual generalizationand abstractionof patterns
throughoutthe child's day: "See, my drawinguses
the same patternas yourblocks did!"
The Teacher's Role
High-qualitylearningis oftenincidentaland infor-
mal but not unplanned or unsystematic. The
teacher'srole in fosteringthislearningis complex.
Consider the teacher's many responsibilitiesfor
mathematicsand free play. The teachermustplan
an environmentthatis conducive to mathematical
explorations;forexample, the environment "should
include unitblocks, a shoppingcenter,and manip-
ulatives. Their play with such objects formsmuch
of the premathematicalconceptual foundationthat
childrenneed.
To help children build on this foundationfor
developing mathematical knowledge, teachers
must observe childrenand intervenewhen neces-
sary.But when is intervention necessary?A useful
strategy is to ask whether mathematical thinkingis
developing or whetherit is stalled. If it is develop-
ing,theteachermightobserve and take notes,leave
the children alone, and talk about the experience
later withthe childrenor the whole class to expli-
cate the mathematics.
One teacherheard two girls arguingabout who
had the taller block tower. She observed them as
theycompared the heightof theirtowerswiththeir
bodies. Later,she asked themto explain to theclass
what they had done. The children shared other
experiences that they had had in comparinghow
tall objects were,as well as different ways in which
they could measure height, such as by counting
unitsor by using director indirectcomparison.
In contrast, when mathematical thinking is
stalled,the teachermightintervene,discussingand
clarifyingthe ideas. For example, if two children
TEACHING CHILDREN MATHEMATICS
argueaboutwhoseblockbuildingis "bigger," the childsuggestsgettinga "real"meterstick. Theydo
teachermightsee thatone childis talkingabout so and measure... theshoe! It is 20 centimeters
heightandthatone is talkingaboutwidth,area,or long.Theyuse a calculator to add 20 foreach shoe
volume.Thisteachermightremarkthatthebuild- length,thenwritebothmeasureson theirdrawing
ingsarebig in different ways:"Colleenhas a very ofthetabletop. Afteradditional work,theymakea
tallbuilding, and Chris'sseemsto be verywide." finaldrawing andgiveittothecarpenter, alongwith
She mightaskthechildren whattheysee and,later, a letterencouraging himto "do a goodjob."
discusstheissue withthe class as an interesting The Reggioschoolactivity is a remarkableedu-
event.Otherinterventions aresubtle.Whenobserv- cationalexperience,capturingthe depthof chil-
ing childrencomparing thelengthof two rugs,a dren'sengagement and learning. Teachersobserve
teachermayquietlyensuretheaccessibility ofcon- the activity,documentchildren'sprogress,and
nectingcubes,string, and otherobjectsthatmight intervene withcare.Childrenrepresent theirthink-
be usedformeasuring (see fig.2). to
ing greatbenefit.The activity suggeststhatmyr-
Teachersmightalso work with childrento iad projectscan emergefromchildren'sinterests
developsuchinterests intoa fullproject.An exam- andcontribute totheirdevelopment inmathematics.
ple ofsucha projectemergedat one ofthefamous By theirnature,projectswill vary,as will chil-
inReggioEmilia,Italy.ShoeandMeter

I
preschools
(Malaguzzi1997)tellsthefullstoryoftheproject,
usingtheteacher'sownphotographs, butthesum-
mary is as follows: A group of children wants
another worktablejustlikeone theyalreadyhave.
A local carpenter saysthathe willbuildthetable,
buthe needsmeasurements. The childrenfirsttry
to measurewiththeirfingers. Two childrenleave
and return withpaper,saying,"We have to draw
thetable so we can understand it." The children
thenreturn tomeasuring so thattheycan labeltheir
drawings.Theytryto measureusingheads,fists,
handspans,and legs.Theyseemto believethata
longerunitwill economizetheirwork.The chil-
drenthenturntoobjects,suchas books.Theyseem
to realize thatusing objectswill be easier than
usingbodyparts.
Eventually, afterworking on othermeasurement
taskssuggested bytheirteachers, thechildren real-
ize thattheyneeda typeofmeasurement thatthey
can share.Theystartby makingtheirown rulers,
whichis thefirstoccasionthattheyhave had to
writenumbers fortheirmeasures.One childis dis-
satisfiedwithhavingonlynumeralson theruler,
and the childrenbeginto separatethe numerals
withlines.The lines help themsee the need for
equal distancebetweenone numberand thenext.
The children all maketheirownrulers,butconfu-
sionreignswhentheyfirstuse them - thechildren
getmeasurements of78, 41, 20, andso forth. They
all laughuproariously. The teacherasks thechil-
drento lineup theirrulers.The childrenshoutthat
theymustpicktheone withthe"rightnumbers."
Next,thechildren makenewrulersbut,surpris-
ingly, also return to measuring withobjects.They
use a shoe,steppingit offon a stripof paperthat
theyplace on thetabletopto markthedistances.
Theymeasurein theotherdirection and are sure
thattheyarereadytogivemeasurements tothecar-
penter,because the shoe alwaysyieldsthe same
measure!Theydrawtheirresultscarefully, thenone

JANUARY9001 273

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^^^_я the"size" tool to add facialfeaturesand buttonsthat
she could not make with actual patternblocks.
Because each motion mustbe chosen deliberately
on the computer,childrenoftenavoid turningand
flippingshapes. A good teachingstrategyis to have
themmake a design withphysicalblocks,thencopy
it onto the computer(see fig.4). In this way, they
performmanyflips and turnsand theyconnectthe
physicalactivitywiththecomputertask.

Conclusions
Successful preschool teachers build on children's
everyday activities, incorporatingtheir cultural
backgrounds, languages, and mathematicalideas
and strategies.They use a varietyof instructional
strategies, create meaningful child-related con-
texts,and offeropportunitiesfor active participa-
tion, to help children learn premathematicaland
mathematical ideas and develop positive beliefs
about mathematics and themselves as budding
mathematicians.
NCTM's Principal and Standards for School
dren's thinkingas they work on projects. Many Mathematics provides guidelines for the topics to
older childrenwill continueto strugglewith mea- be taught in mathematics.We must remember,
surementideas and skills. Research indicates that though,thathow we teach mathematicsis just as
traditionalassumptionsused in teachingmeasure- importantas the topics we teach. The mostpower-
mentmay be faulty,and new approaches may tap ful mathematicsfor a preschooler is usually not
unrealized potential in young children. Most acquired while sittingdown in a grouplesson butis
important,projects allow childrenof all levels of broughtforthby the teacherfromthe child's own
readiness to become involved meaningfullywith self-directed,intrinsicallymotivatedactivity.
mathematics. Preschoolers can and should engage in mathe-
Anotherobvious way to develop mathematical matical thinking.All young childrenpossess infor-
knowledge is to plan and introduceactivitiesthat mal mathematics and can learn more. Teachers
specifically deal with mathematics.For example, should build on and extend the mathematicsthat
games thatuse numbercards, such as war,or board arises in children's daily activities,interests,and
games with number cubes provide experiences questions. They should struggleto see children's
with countingand comparison. Kamii and Hous- points of view and use theirinterpretations to plan
man (1999) presentnumerousexamples. In addi- theirinteractionswithchildrenand thecurriculum.
tion, many children's books have mathematical This approach ensures that mathematicalcontent
themes.Problem-solvingnumberactivitiescan be will be meaningfulforyoungchildren.A combina-
successfuleven withthree-and four-year-old chil- tion of an environmentthatis conducive to mathe-
dren, developing counting and number abilities matical explorations,appropriateobservationsand
along withsuch reasoningcapacities as classifying interventions, and specific mathematicalactivities
and ordering.Recent workconfirmsthatappropri- helps preschoolers build premathematical and
ate curriculastrengthenpreschoolers' numberand explicitmathematicalknowledge.
geometric knowledge. In all these settings, the
teacher enhances children's mathematical ideas
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