Introduction/Context

This essay will discuss the implementation of two mathematical resources in an early educational
setting, one of which is uses information and communication technology. The context in which
these resources were observed was a kindergarten room in an early learning centre. The children
in this room ranged from 4 to 5 years old and would attend the the centre at different times
throughout the week. Two observations (one for each resource) were made, which will aid in
discussing the mathematical understanding of the children who interacted with the materials.
Following this will be recommendations about the resource and its mathematical potential.

Resource One:

Implementation of Resource One:

The first resource that was implemented was a light box and shape resource (See appendix 1).
This resource consisted of a light box with some tracing paper laid over the top and a variety of
transparent shapes that the children could place on the light box and trace around if they wish. The
original resource was meant to make use of an overhead projector but there were some technical
difficulties with the projector that was used so the light box was used instead. Unfortunately this
meant that some of the mathematical concepts, such as scale and perspective, that could be
explored with the overhead projector, could not be explored with a light box. The experience
however still allowed for several other mathematical concepts to be investigated, which will be

discussed further on. The resource was set up on a table and left for the children to investigate. A
few children were a bit hesitant to explore the materials as they were new and were not a regular
fixture in the room. After some prompting from an educator, the children began to explore the
materials. Several children used the shapes to express their ideas through drawings, while some
traced around the shapes and discussed their names.

Observation of Mathematical Thinking: Resource One

Sarah, age 5, was the first to utilise the light box resource and she engaged in a conversation with
an educator during her exploration (see appendix 2). She used the materials to create a drawing
(see appendix 3). Sarah demonstrated several mathematical concepts during her exploration,
such as shape, spatial awareness, and creating patterns, as well as several counting principles,
mainly the one-to-one correspondence principle and the cardinal principle.

Sarah began her drawing by making a row of squares which she identified as windows. Sarah had
drawn five squares when an educator asked How many do you have?. Sarah counted them,
moving her finger fast along the page and said four. Sarah then looked down at her page and
shook her head slightly, she counted them again, this time more slowly making sure that her finger
touched each individual window. By doing this Sarah demonstrated the one-to-one correspondence
principle which is when children recognise that when a series of objects is being counted each
individual object is as its own designated count and that no objects are skipped, missed, or
repeated (Knaus, 2013). Sarah had drawn a total of thirteen windows which she counted every so

often. Sarah would count the number of windows and begin to draw another one and then added
that to the total number of windows. This demonstrates Sarahs knowledge that the last number
counted in a series of objects in the total of objects counted, this is known as the cardinal principle
(Knaus, 2013).

Sarah then added some more shapes to her drawing. She added a rectangle and a semicircle,
which she had labelled the bridge. When Sarah had finished her drawing she talked about it with
the educator. Sarah demonstrated knowledge of spatial sense after discussing with the educator
which shapes were bigger and where different objects were on the page, using terms such as next
to and under. This knowledge correlates with the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development
Framework (VEYDLF) which discusses how children use these describing words when developing
their problem solving skills (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2011).
Recommendations for Resource One:

The key component for the successful implementation of resource one is accessibility of the
overhead projector. As this is an outdated technology with the majority of schools and learning
environments upgrading to more modern versions of this technology, it can be difficult to source a
functional unit. The use of the light box, however, still allowed for a rich and engaging experience
that encourage children to explore and develop their mathematical thinking.

By using questioning techniques, an educator can provoke thought, discussion, and inquiry and
allow children to draw conclusions about mathematics that they may not have come to by

themselves. Educators can engage in intentional teaching, a concept discussed in the Early Years
Learning Framework (Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations, 2009) to
actively promote children's engagement with mathematical concepts. This means to plan for
challenging, rich, and worthwhile experiences that promote childrens learning and that are tailored
to the needs of an individual child or group. For example, educators could extend on this
experience by added more complex shapes, such as hexagons, parallelograms, trapeziums etc to
the experience expanding children's vocabulary.

In the case of this observation and the strengths observed of Sarah, there are many things an
educator can do to continue to develop her mathematical understanding. For example, educators
can continue to use questioning techniques to provoke Sarahs thoughts about spatial awareness.
These questions can introduce more language such as between, beside, over, behind etc.
Educators can also introduce childrens stories to the book corner which have a heavy focus on
mathematical principles. For example, Were going on a bear hunt uses location and movement
words such as under, over, up and down (Rosen & Oxenbury, DATE). By extending the discussion
of mathematics beyond that one resource, educators are able incorporate a holistic approach into
the learning environment by drawing attention to the variety of mathematical concepts that
surround them. This holistic approach is discussed in the Early Years Learning Framework and
how by using an holistic approach, educators can recognise and utilise a childs connection with
themselves, their family, and their community (Department of Education, Employment, and
Workplace Relations, 2009, pp 14).

Resource Two:

Implementation of Resource Two:

The second resource to be implemented was a natural materials counting table (see appendix 4).
The resource consisted of several jars labelled one through ten and three baskets of various
materials. This materials were placed on a table at the beginning of the day and it took several
prompts from educators for the children to investigate it. The children soon grasped the concept of
the resource and understood that you were meant to place the number of objects in the jar that was
on the label. Once they completed this task many children moved on to other activities whilst only a
few stayed and thought of with further ways to use the resource.

Observation of Mathematical Thinking and Mathematical Literature of Resource Two.

Rita, age 4, spent some time at the nature counting table and engaged in a conversation with an
educator during her exploration (see appendix 5). Rita demonstrated several mathematical
concepts during her exploration such as number sense, ordering, counting, and comparing
quantities. Rita demonstrated knowledge of sorting and classifying when she chose stones to put
in the jars. On several occasions Rita picked up stones that looked smilier in size and then in
colour, sometimes sifting through the whole basket to find similar items. Whilst Rita did not seem to
demonstrate knowledge of the correlation between the quantity of something and the numeral (eg.

4 and the quantity four), Rita was able to use problem solving to find the answer. Rita recognised
that the number of dots on each jar represented to number of objects that the jar was meant to
contain and used this to solve where to put the stones.

Ritas problem solving methods are in correlation with the Victorian Early Years Learning and
Development Framework. One outcome discusses how children apply a wide variety of thinking
strategies to engage in situations and solve problems (Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development, 2011, pp 26).

Recommendations for Resource Two

Whilst resource one faced technical difficulties, resource two encountered a different difficulty in
that many children did not engage or show any interest with the resource and its materials. On the
day these resources were introduced only one children engaged with this resource for more than
five minutes. Several factors may contribute to their reluctance to use the resource, some of which
may have nothing to do with the resource itself. The children may have been engaged in other
experiences and unwilling to leave their play. The children may have also been hesitant to explore
such a seemingly simple resource. However, this resource still allowed for several mathematical
concepts to be explored and there are plenty of opportunities to extend this resource.

The concept of the resource is simple and can be adapted to suit different contexts and children's
varying interests. For example educators can take children in the outdoor environment and they
can collect fallen natural materials to add to the counting resource table. This allows children to
interact with concepts and materials that are relevant to their context, an idea that is discussed in
the Early Years Learning Framework that contributes to the development of childrens numeracy
skills (Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations, 2009. pp 38).

Conclusion:

These resources allowed children to explore a variety of mathematical concepts in a different

format. The light box provided an opportunity for children to develop their mathematical thinking.
The natural materials counting table allowed children to explore and develop their counting skills.
Whilst children did engage with these resources their is potential for these resources to be tailored
to the childrens context and thus be more engaging for children.

References

Knaus, M. (2013). Maths is All Around You: Developing Mathematical Concepts in the Early Years.
Albert Park: Teaching Solutions

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. (2011). Victorian Early Years
Learning and Development Framework, retrieved from http://www .education.childhood/
providers/edcare/veyldframework.pdf

Appendix One:

Photo of light box

Appendix Two:

Observation 1- Sarah: Age 5

There were 3 children present in the Kinder room on Wednesday morning at 9:00. Sarah came in
with her mum and she seemed to be a bit withdrawn and reluctant to engage with any experiences.
The following took place after her mum had left

Educator: Look a what weve here Sarah*? What can you do?

The Educator pointed to the light box and other materials that were set up on the table.

Sarah then walked over to the table and sat down picking up a pencil. The educator then sat down
near Sarah and pointed out the different shapes that were on the table.

Educator: We have lots of shapes for you to trace around Sarah and you can use any pencils or
textas that you like.

Sarah then picked up a small square and traced around it. Then created lines through the square.

Educator: What are you making Sarah?

Sarah: Theyre windows

Sarah continued to trace around the squares, choosing a different square each time to trace
around. Sarah soon had a line of windows all across her page. She picked up another square and
began to trace round it.

Educator: How many windows are there now?

Sarah: 12

Then Sarah traced another window.

Sarah: Now there are 13

Sarah then added some different shapes to her drawing.

Educator: What can you do with this shape? (pointing to a rectangle)

Sarah traced around a rectangle.

Sarah: This is a good tracing

She then separated into four segments and each segments became a bed

Sarah: This is the Mummy, shes next to the Daddy, and then the babies are under here

Sarah then picked up a semi circle

Sarah: and this is the bridge

Educator: Which one is bigger?

Sarah: This one (pointing to the rectangle)

Appendix 3

Sarahs Drawing

Appendix 4

Photo of counting table

Appendix 5:

Observation 2- Rita: Age 4

Rita came over to the counting table and sat down. Rita counted 5 stones into her hand
Rita to Educator: Wheres five?
Educator: How do you think we could find out?
Rita the counted the jars from right to left pointing to the jar labelled 10
Rita: No wait.
She then counted from left to right starting at the jar labelled one. She then tipped the stones into
to the jar.
Educator: Which jar should we fill next?
Rita: ummm, 1
Educator: Whys that?
Rita: Because my baby brother is one
Rita counted out one stone and put it in the jar.
Educator: Which one now?
Rita: Eight!
Educator: Which one is eight?
Rita then counted the dots on several jars finding the one that had eight dots and then put 8 stones
in the jar

This continued until all the jars were full. Rita then said all done and emptied all the stones back
into the basket.

*Name has been changed