The mathematical learning: beliefs within this family- Everybody can write mathematics.
- The child’s own marks are accepted.
- The mother responds and supports the child’s mathematical play.
- The child wants to be part of the family activities of the morning and the child is
accepted into this world at her level of response.
Within this family it seems that writing down numbers is accepted by everybody.
There is no expectation that the 2-year-old needs to be right, since Sovay’s own
marks are accepted. I was delighted when Sovay showed interest and communicated
what she knew to me. The child led her chosen action. In this example, Sovay
moved from being on the edge of this literacy event, to a central and active role,
making personal sense of the dinner money episode.
In their study of children’s drawing, Anning writes that there were ‘various rites
and rituals associated with the meaning making across communities of practice in
children’s home contexts’ (Anning, 2000, p. 9). Each family has its own way of doing
things: in Sovay’s family, one of the daily rites is the morning hunt for change for
her sister’s dinner money. Different family rituals contribute to the wide range of lit-
eracy practices to which young children are exposed before they enter an Early Years
setting, and to the child’s understanding of mathematical literacy. Anstey and Bull
(1996, p. 153) argue that ‘literacy is an everyday social practice’. Literacies are not
only socially constructed on a daily basis, they are also culturally specific (Crawford,
1995).Matt’s marks
There are pens, pencils and paper for my nephews Matt and Nicky in Canada to use
at home – in the sitting room, their bedroom and in a kitchen drawer that they can
easily reach. Matt produced these examples (Figure 2.6a and b) in a burst of activity,
on the same occasion that he ‘read’ ‘I spell 80354’ (see p. 15).Matt was exploring a variety of ‘messages’ that marks can convey. During this one,
self-initiated session of about half an hour, he explored several different purposes for
marks. These included:In Figure 2.6a Matt made a variety of marks that he did not name. He then showed
me other pieces.The scribbles on one he read as ‘my number’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and
11’. On one ‘Post-it’ note he had made marks that he termed ‘song’ and on
another he ‘read’ ‘I care and love you both and same day’.
On another piece of paper (see Figure 2.6b), he read ‘I love you’. Matt knew a
heart symbol and asked me to write one. He said ‘I love the number eight’ and
then ‘when someone’s being mean to you, you say “don’t even think about it!”’
Other marks he ‘read’ as ‘You have to put names on the board’; this appeared to
relate to a practice at the day-care centre the boys attended at the time.26 Children’s Mathematics8657part 1b.qxd 04/07/2006 18:06 Page 26