A study of the informal and formal knowledge of number possessed by children in their first year of school

Abstract

This study dealt with two issues associated with development of early number knowledge possessed by young children in their first year of school. Traditionally, young children entering their first year of school were seen to posses no knowledge, and it was the role of the teacher to impart knowledge to children. Piaget (1952) proposed that children develop knowledge which they bring to school and continue to build on from their own experiences. This theory of learning is known as constructivism. Other researchers (Baroody, 1987; Fuson, 1988; Gelman & Gallistel, 1978; Von Glasersfeld, 1989) have elaborated on Piaget's constructivism in the early development of number, proposing that children develop their own informal mathematics before entering school. The process of development of early number knowledge in young children aged 4, 5 and 6 years has been the focus of recent research (Carpenter & Moser, 1983; Fuson, 1988; Steffe & Cobb, 1988; Wright, 1991,1994) which has developed a number of theories about stages and levels involved in the process. A number of researchers (Aubrey, 1993; Urbanska, 1993; Wright, 1992, 1994; Young-Loveridge, 1989) have considered the number knowledge possessed by young children in their own regions; finding that many young children possess a well developed number knowledge beyond that expected of them on beginning school.