Abstract
<br />Opening up space for authentic inquiry in preschool can influence the extent to which children can make use of their growing mathematical and linguistic understandings to make sense of themselves and the world around them. Authentic inquiry here refers to investigation that arises naturally from the interests and questions of the children as they experience the learning environment. Three authentic examples are presented from the work of four- to five-year-old children in the domains of mathematics and literacy development to illustrate how the two domains need to be viewed as intertwined at the preschool level. Reflections are also offered on the role of the learning environment, the role of curriculum and the role of teachers and other adults in the learning process. This manuscript is based on a plenary address given in Grahamstown, South Africa at the SARAECE Research and Development week: “Strengthening Foundation Phase Education” conference at Rhodes University in September 2012.
Highlights
Children’s literacy and numeracy are often talked about in tandem as important aspects of a child’s development and later success in school and in life
Numeracy is both about quantitative thinking and being able to communicate quantitatively, it is naturally intertwined with literacy in the broad sense outlined above
The idea that numeracy and literacy skills can be developed in the context of inquiry might not seem like a new idea
Summary
Children’s literacy and numeracy are often talked about in tandem as important aspects of a child’s development and later success in school and in life. At the same time, they are still believed to be separate and distinct domains in most discussions of school curricula and in teacher education Maintaining these boundaries in our discourse about early childhood settings may be an artefact of our adherence to traditional disciplinary boundaries in thinking about what children learn in school. Numeracy has to do with spatial sense, making sense of data, understanding patterns and sequences, and seeing where mathematics can be applied to solve a problem. Numeracy is both about quantitative thinking and being able to communicate quantitatively, it is naturally intertwined with literacy in the broad sense outlined above
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