Early childhood contexts for learning mathematics

It is well known that children enter the first grade with mathematical skills, conceptions, and misconceptions. Thus, early childhood mathematics research can inform elementary school mathematics educators. This chapter reviews plenary talks, research reports, posters, and workshops presented at the Symposium on Elementary Mathematics Teaching (SEMT) over the past 30 years, regarding children who have not yet entered the first grade. Tthe chapter focuses on early childhood contexts for learning number concepts, geometry, spatial reasoning, and patterns and generalization. These contexts often involve the senses, employing sight, hearing, and touch. Furthermore, reviewing past studies also showed that the same context may be used for promoting different mathematical concepts and skills. Most of the early childhood studies reported at past SEMTs occurred in preschools or elementary schools. Recognizing the importance of out-of-school settings as contexts for early mathematical learning, we next describe current research with adults who are not preschool teachers.