Development of Numeracy in Young.

Development of numeracy in young children
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

Development of numeracy in young children

Introduction
• This presentation is directed at developing and portraying a numeracy and mathematical thinking
development opportunity for children in the age group of 0 – 5, with specific focus on 3 to 4 year
old children.
• The presentation is linked to a particular mathematical activity involving counting.
• Counting is one of Bishop’s (1988) six universal activities identified as mathematical activities.
• For 3 – 4 year old children, counting is identified to be one of the most basic mathematical and
numeracy outcomes.
• The Early years Learning Framework (EYLF) Outcomes 4 and 5 become heavily relevant in this
case.

Activity Explanation
Title - How many flowers?
Materials: Folder / Blank papers, Green sketch
pens, plastic (or paper cut flowers).
Activity: Start by writing the numbers till 5 or 10
according to fig 1. Afterwards, use the green
sketch pen to draw twigs like shown. Afterwards,
arrange for a number of plastic flowers, or make
paper cut flowers, make sure to use multi-
coloured papers to make the flowers.
The children are supposed to count the number of
twigs on the paper and put one flower on the tip
of each twig. The objective is to make the
children understand the concept of number and
the associated mathematical notation
Fig 1

• The primary objective of this activity is to help
the children learn about numbers while counting
in a practical setting.
• The activity utilises simple and easy to make
resources in order to engage the children in a
play based learning of counting objects.
This can be used in tandem
with other counting
activities. The first one is to
count how many paper clips
make the size of your palm.
The children will arrange the
paper clips in a linear
fashion until they are the
same length as their palm.

The activity can be modified in an advanced
stage to make the children fill a bowl with a
certain number of beads, or take a beaded
necklace and count the number of beads there
are in that necklace.
Irrespective of the nuances, the main activity is
directed towards making children learn counting
as a part of building their early numeracy skills
The rationale behind this activity for developing counting skills is that , it does not start teaching the
children from scratch. Given that the children are in the age group of 3 – 4, they already have some
basic knowledge of numbers and concept of counting from their foundational years. At this stage, this
activity is helping them build upon their prior concepts of counting and numbers. Counting, as a
mathematical concept is identified as one of the most fundamental skills and therefore should be
developed well in the early years.

Evidence and Justification
• This activity draws its functional support from a variety of theories and studies that have
established children’s learning in correlation with play based activities.
• Sara Smilansky for instance, identifies three types of play, namely Functional,
Constructive and Dramatic.
• In Constructive play, the highlight is on how the children begin manipulating various
materials to create objects and patterns.
• The activity in context allows the children to manipulate various materials in a manner that
helps them develop their knowledge of counting and numbers.

• There have been numerous research on the topic of mathematics and numeracy in early childhood.
• The relevance of counting in early years as an important predictor of early numeracy skills, has been
proven by researchers like Aunio and Niemivirta (2010).
• The activity in itself, requires active scaffolding on the part of the educators. This becomes an
important factor in this case as children’s learning is also made feasible by acting upon their Zone of
Proximal Development (Vygotsky & Cole, 1978).
• Even other researchers like Bruner, used the concepts of Piaget and Vygotsky to enforce the
importance of development of mathematical knowledge as a vital precursor for cognitive
development (Clabaugh, 2009).

• Furthermore, this activity also connects the learning outcomes with the Australian Curriculum as well as
the Early Years Learning Framework.
• It helps develop children’s symbolic understanding and mathematical thought according to EYLF
Outcome 5, element 5.4 (DEEWR, 2009).
• According to the Australian Curriculum for Foundation years mathematics, the numbers and algebra
content (ACMNA001; ACARA, 2017) states the following:
“Establish understanding of the language and processes of counting by naming numbers in sequences,
initially to and from 20, moving from any starting point”.
• This activity thus maintains strong correlation with two of the most vital National Curriculum
documents in Australia.
Curriculum Links

References
• Aunio, P., & Niemivirta, M. (2010). Predicting children's mathematical performance in grade one by
early numeracy. Learning and individual differences, 20(5), 427-435.
• Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2017b). Australian
Curriculum: F-10 curriculum: Mathematics: Rationale v.8.3.
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/mathematics/rationale/
• Bishop, A. (1988). Mathematical enculturation: A cultural perspective on mathematics
education (Vol. 6). Springer Science & Business Media.
• Clabaugh, G. K. (Ed.). (2009). "Jerome Bruner's Educational Theory." Retrieved January 4, 2010
from http://www.newfoundations.com.
• Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian
Governments [DEEWR]. (2009). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning
framework for Australia. Retrieved from http://education.gov.au/early-years-learning-framework
• Vygotsky, L., & Cole, M. (1978). Mind in society (pp. 79-91). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.