INTRODUCTION
Learning theories are critical for every teacher to keep in mind. While they are theories, they are great guides for teachers. From what I remember reading, research has shown that when teachers use learning theories to guide their teaching correctly, they get positive results.
The following explores how learning theories that naturally promote classroom management both explicitly and implicitly and most importantly offer students a chance to learn in a safe environment that is developmentally appropriate and environmentally stimulating for the young learner ages three to six.
In this essay I will explore three learning theories that would be used to guide the development of mathematical concepts in children ages three to six years old. These theories include the cognitive theory based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. As they learn actively in the early childhood environment they acquire concept through actual involvement. Applying this theory in mathematics has led to the use of manipulative material that will enable young children to engage in active learning (Kaplan, Yamamoto,&Ginsberg, 1998).
The second theory I will explore is the social constructivist theory which states that learning is more likely to occur if adults or older children help guide or model young children’s development and learning.(Broody 2000).Theorist Lev Vygotsky believed in this theory he believed that learning is characterized by the child’s ability to problem solve independently as well as under adult or peer guidance. The teacher using this theory has to support learning by creating assistance for children and provide scaffold assistance (Berk & Winsler, 1995). Allowing children to speak and discuss with their peers and ...
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...ng, pattern, time. All these things show us how much mathematics we interact with everyday and as teachers we have to teach children so that they develop positive dispositions about mathematics.
REFERENCES
Clements ,D.H.,& Conference Working Group .(2004) Part 1 major themes and recommendations , In D.H,Clements ,J.Sarama & Dibiase ,Engaging young children in Mathematics.
National Association for the Education of young children (NAEYC) .(2009) .Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programsserving children fom birth to age eight .Position statement .Washington ,DC NAEYC.
Baroody ,Arthur J.(2000).Does mathematics instruction for three to five – year – olds really make sense? Young children ,55(4), 61 – 67.
Moomaw ,Sally,& Hieronymus ,Brenda.(1995).More than counting.Whole math activities for preschool .St. Paul Redleaf Press ED 386 296.
The students are building on the knowledge they have gather from their daily routine, and are able to more easily grasp the concept of place value. Furthermore, in Piaget theory “children need many objects to explore so that they can later incorporate these into their symbolic thinking” (Gordon, & Browne, 2010, p. 106). The teacher gave students a variety of materials to understand the lesson in a pleasurable way. Equally important, the students’ scheduling was derived from Piaget as the students had “plenty of time to explore” (Gordon, & Browne, 2010, p.
Preschoolers love to count and of course, like mentioned in the article, they always love to mention the fact that someone else in the classroom has more of something then they do.
Prekindergarten instructional games and activities can be used to increase the students understanding of number invariance. Using dice games, rectangular arrays, and number puzzles would be an effective method of presenting subitizing to this grade level. In addition to visual pattern, these young students would benefit from auditory and kinesthetic patterns as well.
Van de Walle, J., , F., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2010). Elementary and middle school mathematics, teaching developmentally. (Seventh ed.). New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.
Methods and approaches to teaching have been greatly influenced by the research of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both have contributed to the field of education by offering explanations for children's cognitive learning styles and abilities. While Piaget and Vygotsky may differ on how they view cognitive development in children, both offer educators good suggestions on how to teach certain material in a developmentally appropriate manner.
...things together. Therefore, arithmetic and books that teaches logic are introduced to a child at this stage. For example, a child is taught basic addition and subtraction, that is one plus one, two, three and so forth. In so doing, a child develops skills to make simple decisions and judgment. Their skill of reasoning is also enhanced. Thereafter, a child grows to the normal school ongoing age. Here, such children have to be taught to internalize with the environment in a more effective way. They mental capacity is much greater to accommodate more aspects of reasoning and logic. Teachers use books such as story books, advanced mathematics integrated with social interaction so that they discover things by their own. The main objective is to get them effectively interact with the environment. This enhances their development towards normal functioning human beings.
Several theories show that children learn best when they are in some way active in their learning. A key theorist is Jean Piaget. He was born in 1896. He developed ‘constructivist’ theories which look at the way in which children seem to be able to make sense of their world as a result of their experiences and how they are active learners. Piaget’s theories have been influential, although they have been challenged over the
Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.
Mathematical dialogue within the classroom has been argued to be effective and a ‘necessary’ tool for children’s development in terms of errors and misconceptions. It has been mentioned how dialogue can broaden the children’s perception of the topic, provides useful opportunities to develop meaningful understandings and proves a good assessment tool. The NNS (1999) states that better numeracy standards occur when children are expected to use correct mathematical vocabulary and explain mathematical ideas. In addition to this, teachers are expected
N.G., 4 years, 11 months, embodied all I could ask for in a child to conduct such an interview on. Nearing her fifth birthday in the upcoming week, her age is central between ages three and seven, providing me with information that is certainly conducive to our study. Within moments upon entry into our interview it was apparent that my child fell into the preoperational stage of Piaget’s cognitive development. More specifically, N.G. fell into the second half of the preoperational stage. What initially tipped me off was her first response to my conduction of the conservation of length demonstration. Upon laying out two identical straws, her rational for why one straw was longer than the other was, “it’s not to the one’s bottom”. This is a perfect example of an intuitive guess, though showing a lack of logic in the statement. A crucial factor of the preoperational stage of development is that children cannot yet manipulate and transform information into logical ways which was plainly seen through the conservation of number demonstration. Though N.G. was able to correctly identify that each row still contained an equal number of pennies upon being spread out, it required her to count the number of pennies in each row. In the preoperational stage of development children do not yet understand logical mental operations such as mental math as presented in the demonstration. Another essential element that leads me to firmly support N.G.’s involvement in the preoperational ...
Ward (2005) explores writing and reading as the major literary mediums for learning mathematics, in order for students to be well equipped for things they may see in the real world. The most recent trends in education have teachers and curriculum writers stressed about finding new ways to tie in current events and real-world situations to the subjects being taught in the classroom. Wohlhuter & Quintero (2003) discuss how simply “listening” to mathematics in the classroom has no effect on success in student academics. It’s important to implement mathematical literacy at a very young age. A case study in the article by authors Wohlhuter & Quintero explores a program where mathematics and literacy were implemented together for children all the way through eight years of age. Preservice teachers entered a one week program where lessons were taught to them as if they were teaching the age group it was directed towards. When asked for a definition of mathematics, preservice teachers gave answers such as: something related to numbers, calculations, and estimations. However, no one emphasized how math is in fact extremely dependable on problem-solving, explanations, and logic. All these things have literacy already incorporated into them. According to Wohlhuter and Quintero (2003), the major takeaways from this program, when tested, were that “sorting blocks, dividing a candy bar equally, drawing pictures, or reading cereal boxes, young children are experienced mathematicians, readers, and writers when they enter kindergarten.” These skills are in fact what they need to succeed in the real-world. These strategies have shown to lead to higher success rates for students even after they graduate
Skemp, R (2002). Mathematics in the Primary School. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis .
I believe that learning mathematics in the early childhood environment encourages and promotes yet another perspective for children to establish and build upon their developing views and ideals about the world. Despite this belief, prior to undertaking this topic, I had very little understanding of how to recognise and encourage mathematical activities to children less than four years, aside from ‘basic’ number sense (such as counting) and spatial sense (like displaying knowledge of 2-D shapes) (MacMillan 2002). Despite enjoying mathematical activities during my early years at a Montessori primary school, like the participants within Holm & Kajander’s (2012) study, I have since developed a rather apprehensive attitude towards mathematics, and consequently, feel concerned about encouraging and implementing adequate mathematical learning experiences to children within the early childhood environment.
Silver, E. A. (1998). Improving Mathematics in Middle School: Lessons from TIMSS and Related Research, US Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328.
...S. and Stepelman, J. (2010). Teaching Secondary Mathematics: Techniques and Enrichment Units. 8th Ed. Merrill Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.