Part 3- Maths at Lil Pallikkoodam
Early childhood mathematics teaching has traditionally focused only on counting and cardinality, even though the research in early childhood mathematical thinking shows that children are capable of much more sophisticated mathematics. For instance, over the last two decades, research has shown how young children are capable of complex pattern recognition and geometric manipulation, disrupting many of the myths surrounding young children’s mathematical ability.
Working with young children requires a shift in focusing not only on appropriate representations of real-world situations, but also understanding children’s identities and prior knowledge. Critical mathematics teaching at the early childhood level must connect formalized mathematics to the complex and sophisticated mathematics already present in children’s histories and communities. For young children, fairy tales and stories presented as play are the real-world situations that they process and reflect upon. Therefore, critical mathematics teaching must honor and connect to children’s histories, stories, and fairy tales that highlight the mathematics and empowering uses of mathematics to recognize and confront the injustice children notice.
Children learn to express their critical observations using mathematics because adults dismiss complaints (i.e., “That’s not fair!”) without the support of number evidence. To adults, mathematics is taken as objective fact, and therefore strengthens a child’s argument (i.e., “That’s not fair because only 5 children got in, none of them girls”).
Our framework for teaching mathematics revolves around the following ideas. First, all children are capable of sophisticated mathematical thinking which can come about through listening to them explain their strategies. Additionally, children have the capacity to think in sophisticated ways about fairness. Next, children bring a wealth of mathematical knowledge with them from their communities and families.
Children live in spaces in which mathematics is often used: they see it, they observe it, they know it. Connecting this knowledge to the formalized mathematics in the classroom helps children develop strong mathematical identities.