Effectiveness of the Big Math for Little Kids Program on the Early Mathematics Skills of Children with Risk Group

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Big Math for Little Kids (BMLK) Program on the early mathematics skills of children with lower socioeconomic level. The participants of the study consist of between 60-72 months of aged children with lower socioeconomic level recruited to kindergartens of Ministry of National Education from Turkey in Diyarbakır in the 2018-2019 academic year. The sample of the study consists of 40 children with above mentioned characteristics. Of these, 20 were assigned to the experimental group and 20 to the control group. Two schools were selected for experimental and control group, and the study was conducted after selecting ten children in a class of each school. In the study pretest-posttest with control group experimental model was used. The data of the study were collected through the Tests of Early Language Development Test (TELD-3) to determine children with adequate language skills of their own age group, and Test of Early Mathematical Ability (TEMA-3) to assess early mathematical development of children. As a result, BMLK program was determined to be effective in the mathematics development of children with lower socioeconomic level. Keywords: early mathematics

Learning at home: What preschool children’s parents do and what they want to learn from their children’s teachers

This study investigated the beliefs parents of preschoolers ( N = 126) have for facilitating their children’s reading and mathematics development. The study used an online survey distributed via social media to examine parents’ views of their children’s home-based reading and mathematics engagement, parents’ confidence to support their children’s reading and mathematics development, and the information they received and would like to receive from their children’s teachers. The results demonstrated three patterns: (1) parents prioritized children’s reading over their mathematics development, (2) the difference in children’s reported engagement in such activities may come from parents lacking confidence in how to foster their children’s mathematics skills, and (3) almost two/thirds of the parents wanted to receive more information from their children’s teachers, typically about children’s progress and activities and apps to do with their children at home. Preschool teachers play an important role in supporting home learning of reading and mathematics. Preschool teachers and parents need to collaborate on home-based activities that support such learning. We have demonstrated that even highly educated parents may lack the confidence to support their young children’s academic growth, particularly in mathematics, and so the support teachers provide to parents is critical.

Augmented Reality Mobile Learning System: Study to Improve PSTs’ Understanding of Mathematical Development

Augmented Reality research in mobile learning systems so far have not especially to improve Preservice Students Teachers' (PSTs) geometry understanding in mathematical development. Studies conducted in this study basically use a case study. This research aims to develop a mobile augmented reality system for PSTs learning so that it can be used to improve PSTs understanding of mathematics development includes doing, image-making, an image having, property noticing, formalizing, observing, structuring and inventing. In this development, PSTs can understand the understanding of the geometry transformation is a translation, reflection, rotation, and dilatation.

Making “Normal” Count

This chapter describes research documenting learning behaviors demonstrated by young deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children that contribute to early mathematics development. Much research has been done over the years documenting the low academic achievement levels demonstrated by DHH students. The more substantial problem, however, may be that DHH students arrive at school not yet knowing how to learn and therefore lack even the most basic cognitive skill already owned by their peers. By the time they start school, young hearing children have had several years of learning experiences in the home environment. Through incidental experiences, hearing children learn how to focus their attention on meaningful stimuli, reflect on cause and effect, and solve problems during situations involving conflict. Given language restrictions, young DHH children may not have these same opportunities, thereby putting them at a disadvantage when they enter the classroom. It is essential that early learning for young DHH children focus on mediating within natural environmental learning opportunities in order to stimulate their ability to take cognitive advantage of what is happening normally around them. Only in this way can we begin to provide young DHH children with the cognitive foundation they need for early mathematics and other future academics.

Mathematics and Culture: Uniqueness and Universality of Mathematics

The article deals with the origin of mathematics and its nature, the degree of dependence of mathematics development on socio-cultural factors, and the dilemma of uniqueness (universality) and plurality (uniqueness) of mathematics. The essence of this “confrontation” is revealed, which consists in the fact that the supporters of uniqueness talk about “experienced” mathematics, which originates and is mastered in the everyday subject activity of a person, and their opponents promote modern “academic” mathematics. The legitimacy of both points of view is substantiated. It is argued that research in ethno-mathematics can be useful in solving the question of what mathematics is: “free mind creation” or the product of “social interactions”? The problem of the appropriateness of referring to the personal experience of students in mathematics which expresses the specificity of their social and cultural-historical practices is defined.