- mark-making implements beside a long shallow sand tray for the children to
experiment with mark-making - clipboards and pencils throughout the play areas for children to use
- mathematical equipment in the graphics area, for example, rulers, calculators,
number lines and calendars - outside equipment – chalkboard areas, scoring boards, water sprays, chalking on
the ground, sticks in the soil and mud and writing implements in the sand.
Whilst it is important that the resources and equipment are available, the pedagogy
that supports this is vital and this is what the Cambridge Centres looked at next.
‘How do you support the children’s mathematical graphics, within the everyday,
play-based environment?’ ‘What is the adult role?’ At this stage within the project
the practitioners looked at the adult role within the environment as opposed to
adult directed activities in large or small groups.
It is important that the adult models different ways to represent the mathematics
within spontaneous or pre-planned – but flexible – teaching contexts as this gives
children the opportunity to select ways they understand when they choose to put
their mathematics on paper. Here are two contexts for this approach: - Pre-planned modelling within the environment means that one might write down
in some way how many children want to go outside and how many want to stay
in. This would take no longer than three minutes and it could be written on a
chalkboard at the door. - Spontaneous situations that arise can support the children’s own mathematical
thinking on paper (see the case study, below).
The practitioners within the study found that modelling different ways to represent
the mathematics was not as easy as just providing mathematical resources; for
example one needed to have some ideas of the different ways available to represent
mathematics. Being spontaneous and working from the children is more difficult
than pre-planning.
To model the forms and mathematics in a flexible ‘child involved’ way promotes the
children’s ideas, but also gives them models from which they can choose at a different
time. The essential part here is that this is not a ‘copy model’ of teaching children i.e.
where the teacher writes on the board and the children copy it. In Chapter 10 we have
described some research within the context of two direct modelling contexts, one a
comparative study with groups of 4- and 5-year-olds and another with 6-year-olds
during one whole term. This highlighted the need to give children a variety of mental
models so that they can choose the one that they understand the best, thus helping
their thinking. Using indirect modelling within the environment of the nursery
setting with 3- and 4-year-olds was the way forward (see p. 215).
Generally within the environment it is important to consider the following: - Do the staff know the mathematical forms: this will provide a springboard to ways
of representing. An understanding of the ways children represent mathematics is
vital.
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