Play with numbers from daily life: Number sense gaining progression of diverse young learners (3-5 years old) and facilitating strategies
Haiping Hao collaborating with Mary Margaret Capraro, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Kisha Lee, Carolina Bratlien, Krista Van De Flier, Christine Krauss, and Jesslyn Myers, Becky Gates Children's Center, College Station, Texas
Acquisition of number sense in young children has attracted increasing attention recently. Number sense, generally defined as understanding of numbers and operations, even starting from infancy, is crucial in daily life and lays the foundation for later formal mathematics education. However, there are few studies on number sense acquisition and facilitation for 3-5 year old children in actual classrooms. Ironically, pre-K teachers attempt to teach these concepts everyday to develop children's school readiness, in ways they deem appropriate. More empirical studies need to be done in this area. The objectives of this study are to work out some learning progression and teaching strategies closely related to local, cultural context and daily life for pre-K children's number sense to better prepare young children ready for school in math. Meanwhile, teachers (including in-services and pre-service teachers)'s professional development strategies will be investigated too.