Background Research on Early Mathematics (original) (raw)

Early Math Trajectories: Low-Income Children's Mathematics Knowledge From Ages 4 to 11

Child development, 2016

Early mathematics knowledge is a strong predictor of later academic achievement, but children from low-income families enter school with weak mathematics knowledge. An early math trajectories model is proposed and evaluated within a longitudinal study of 517 low-income American children from ages 4 to 11. This model includes a broad range of math topics, as well as potential pathways from preschool to middle grades mathematics achievement. In preschool, nonsymbolic quantity, counting, and patterning knowledge predicted fifth-grade mathematics achievement. By the end of first grade, symbolic mapping, calculation, and patterning knowledge were the important predictors. Furthermore, the first-grade predictors mediated the relation between preschool math knowledge and fifth-grade mathematics achievement. Findings support the early math trajectories model among low-income children.

What is developmentally appropriate in early childhood mathematics education? Lessons from new research

2004

What is developmentally appropriate for early mathematics education? On the one hand, we want to help children get ready for school and succeed there. We know that children—especially low-income, minority children—often have difficulty with school mathematics and science, usually beginning around the third grade. Perhaps intensive early mathematics education can provide the “basics ” that can help prepare them to achieve at an acceptable level. At the same time, we do not wish to pressure young children, to subject them to harsh forms of instruction, and to impose on them material they are not ready to learn. We do not want a “push down curriculum ” forcing young children to engage in developmentally inappropriate forms of written drill and practice in mathematics. Our desire to prepare children for school success (and to avoid school failure) thus clashes with our reluctance to impose inappropriate forms of teaching on young children. This conflict then raises several basic questio...