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© 2018 University of South Africa
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University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria
EMA1501/1/2019–2021
70714428
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CONTENTS
Page
Foreword vii
Learning unit 1: Introduction to emergent mathematics1
1.1 INTRODUCTION1
1.2 WHAT IS EMERGENT MATHEMATICS? 2
1.3 CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND EMERGENT MATHEMATICS 5
1.3.1 Piaget 5
1.3.2 The social constructivist theory of Vygotsky 6
1.3.3 The social constructivist theory of Bruner 7
1.4 PRE-MATHEMATICS CONCEPTS AND SKILLS 9
1.4.1 Object permanence 9
1.4.2 Counting 9
1.4.3 Subitising 10
1.4.4 One-to-one-correspondence 11
1.4.5 Classification/sorting 11
1.4.6 Ordering/seriation 12
1.4.7 Comparing 13
1.4.8 Matching 13
1.4.9 Shape 14
1.4.10 Space 14
1.4.11 Conservation 15
1.4.12 Patterning 16
1.4.13 Measurement 17
1.5 THE INTEGRATIVE PLAY-BASED APPROACH TO EMERGENT
MATHEMATICS19
1.5.1 The relationship between play and emergent mathematics 19
1.5.2 Types of play 20
1.5.3 Exploratory (heuristic) play 20
1.5.4 Construction play 21
1.5.5 Creative play 21
1.5.6 Physical and locomotor play 21
1.5.7 Fantasy play 22
1.5.8 Word play 22
1.6 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 23
1.7 CONCLUSION23
1.8 LIST OF REFERENCES 24
Learning unit 2: The development of number sense in emergent
mathematics25
2.1 INTRODUCTION25
2.2 WHAT IS NUMBER SENSE? 26
2.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF NUMBER SENSE IN THE EARLY YEARS 26
2.4 HOW NUMBER SENSE IS DEVELOPED IN THE EARLY YEARS 27
2.4.1 One-to-one correspondence 27
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2.4.2 ‌ lassification
C 30
2.4.3 Ordering 32
2.4.4 Counting 34
2.4.5 ‌Story sums 45
2.4.6 Estimation and counting 45
2.4.7 Money 46
2.5 THE USE OF BASIC TECHNOLOGY AND ICT IN TEACHING
NUMBER SENSE 46
2.6 RECOMMENDED READING 47
2.8 CONCLUSION47
Learning unit 3: The development of pattern identification in emergent
mathematics49
3.1 INTRODUCTION49
3.2 WHAT IS A PATTERN? 50
3.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF PATTERNS 54
3.4 TEACHING STRATEGIES SUITABLE FOR TEACHING PATTERN
IDENTIFICATION55
3.4.1 Patterns in movement, actions and sound 56
3.4.2 Patterns in drumming 57
3.4.3 Patterns in dance 57
3.4.4 Patterns in song 58
3.4.5 Patterns in real objects 59
3.4.6 Patterns in geometric shapes 61
3.4.7 Patterns around us 61
3.5 USING ART TO TEACH PATTERNS 64
3.8 CONCLUSION66
Learning unit 4: Shape and space in emergent mathematics67
4.1 INTRODUCTION67
4.2 IMPORTANT CONCEPTS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES IN
SHAPE AND SPACE 68
4.2.1 Position and direction 68
4.2.2 2D shapes 73
4.2.3 3D objects 79
4.2.4 Symmetry 82
4.5 CONCLUSION85
Learning unit 5: Measurement in emergent mathematics86
5.1 INTRODUCTION86
5.2 WHAT IS MEASUREMENT? 86
5.3 MEASUREMENT AS A DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS 87
5.4 TIME88
5.5 LENGTH93
5.6 MASS95
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Co nte nt s
5.7 CAPACITY AND VOLUME 98

5.8 USING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE TO TEACH MEASUREMENT 101
5.11 CONCLUSION102
Learning unit 6: Data handling in emergent mathematics103
6.1 INTRODUCTION103
6.2 THE DATA-HANDLING CYCLE 106
6.2.1 Collecting data 106
6.2.2 Organising data 107
6.2.3 ‌Representing data 109
6.2.4 ‌Interpreting data 109
6.3 TEACHING DATA HANDLING 110
6.6 CONCLUSION113
Learning unit 7: Assessment in emergent mathematics114
7.1 INTRODUCTION114
7.2 WHAT IS ASSESSMENT? 115
7.2.1 The definition of assessment 115
7.2.2 The purpose of assessment 116
7.3 TYPES OF ASSESSMENT 117
7.4 A PROCESS-DRIVEN APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT 119
7.5 THE CHECKLIST AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL 125
7.5.1 The purpose of a checklist 125
7.5.2 How to design a checklist 126
7.6 ASSESSING MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
THROUGH PLAY 129
7.9 CONCLUSION132
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FOREWORD
Dear Student
WELCOME
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the module Emergent Mathematics.
To make sure that you share our enthusiasm about this field of study, we urge
you to read this overview thoroughly. Refer back to it as often as you need to,
since it will certainly make studying this module a lot easier.
Through the study of theoretical concepts and material covered in this module,
you will be able to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that form part
of a basic understanding of emergent mathematics in the early grades. The
field of emergent mathematics is extremely dynamic and challenging. The
learning content and activities contained in this study guide will provide you
with opportunities to explore the latest developments in this field and help
you to discover the field of emergent mathematics as it is practised today.
We trust that you will enjoy your studies and that this will greatly inspire you to
become a passionate teacher, and be part of the noble profession of teaching
in the early grades.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE

The purpose of this module is to equip you with the knowledge, values,
attitudes, competencies and skills to teach Emergent Mathematics in the Grade
R curriculum. You will not only develop an understanding of the relevant
concepts, but also learn how to teach these concepts to Grade R learners.
Hence, the focus of this module is on developing in the child an emergent
understanding of the concepts of numbers, operations, functions, patterns,
measurement, space and shape, and data handling, and this is done through
a play-based approach.
LINK TO OTHER COURSES OR MODULES

This is not a stand-alone module. The module is linked to the Teaching
Practice 1 module TPF2601. Whatever you learn in this module, you must
be able to apply during the teaching-practice component of this programme.
THE OUTCOMES AND ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR THE

MODULE
LEARNING OUTCOME 1: Explain the purpose and rationale of “emergent
mathematics” as a subject area in the Foundation Phase.
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Assessment criteria:
The student is able to:
•• explain what “emergent mathematics” is

•• apply relevant child-development theories to explain how children learn
•• identify and explain basic pre-mathematical concepts related to emergent
mathematics
•• explain how mathematical concepts are developed through an integrative
play-based approach
LEARNING OUTCOME 2: Demonstrate an understanding of how to teach

number concepts and number sense in the early grades up to grade R.
•• define number sense

•• explain the importance of number sense in the early years
•• describe how number sense is developed in the early years
•• explain how basic types of technology can be used to teach number concepts
LEARNING OUTCOME 3: Explain the concept of patterns in emergent

mathematics.
•• explain what a pattern is

•• discuss the basic importance of patterns in the teaching of emergent
mathematics
•• explain the teaching strategies that could be used to teach the concept of
pattern identification to early grade children
LEARNING OUTCOME 4: Explain the concepts of space and shape within

emergent mathematics.
•• identify and explain important concepts related to shape and space in

emergent mathematics
•• discuss the role of shape and space in emergent mathematics
•• explain how play can be used to enhance mathematical development in
relation to space and shape
•• apply teaching strategies to teach the concepts of space and shape
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LEARNING OUTCOME 5: Demonstrate an understanding of measurement

concepts relevant to emergent mathematics.
•• explain the importance of measurement in emergent mathematics from a

play-based approach
•• identify and explain the primary concepts related to measurement
•• apply strategies (using teacher-directed and free play) to teach measurement
in emergent mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOME 6: Explain concepts related to data handling in

emergent mathematics.
•• explain what data handling, within the context of emergent mathematics, is

•• identify and explain the processes of data handling
•• discuss teaching strategies on how to teach data handling in emergent
mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOME 7: Demonstrate an understanding of the role, purpose

and practice of assessment within the context of emergent mathematics.
•• explain the purpose of assessment in emergent mathematics

•• evaluate basic assessment practices pertaining to play-based learning in
case studies
•• explain how children’s mathematical knowledge and skills can be assessed
through play
•• design a basic assessment tool to assess learning in emergent mathematics
•• interpret and analyse case studies
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FO R E WO R D
OUTLINE OF THE MODULE

This module consists of a total of seven learning units. Learning unit 1 is an
introductory unit to the module and provides an overview of the module.
Learning units 2 to 6 deal with various aspects of the mathematics content
and learning unit 7 focuses on assessment in early-grade mathematics. The
mind map below provides an overview of the content of the module Emergent
Mathematics.
GUIDELINES ON PLANNING AND MANAGING YOUR TIME

There are 24 hours,
1 440 minutes, and
86 400 seconds in each day.
Yet there never seems to be enough time to get everything done!
Does this sound familiar? Attempting to balance study, work, family life and
extracurricular activities is a challenge that requires of you to manage ever-
increasing and competing demands. You therefore need to plan an appropriate
schedule that will suit your individual needs and circumstances. Apart from
the assessment plans (which you can access by clicking on the Learning Units
option), the e-tutor guidelines, and the due dates for assignments (which you
can find by clicking on the Schedule option), we do not prescribe a study
timetable. However, in the section that follows we give you some guidelines to
support you in your studies. Given the time constraints, you may find yourself
following some of these recommendations concurrently.
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THE APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THIS MODULE

I would like to remind you that learning in a distance education context is
different from the face-to-face classroom to which most of you are accustomed.
I would therefore like to offer the following suggestions on how you can
approach the learning material in order to be successful in this module:
1. Studying the Tutorial Letter 101 and the study guide will direct
content you on how to approach your studies and how to
apply your mind to your benefit. To be able to do the
activities and assignments for this module, to achieve
the learning outcomes, and to be successful in the
examination, you will need a deep understanding
of the content of the study guide. In order to deeply
understand the learning material, you must, firstly,
accept responsibility for your own studies. Secondly,
learning is not the same as memorising. You will be
expected to show that you understand and can apply
the information, not just remember it.
2. Activities You will come across different types of activities in
this study guide:
•• self-reflection on work covered
•• completing assessment questions
•• doing self-evaluation
•• contributing to discussion forums
•• blog entries
We consider your completion of the activities in the
study guide and the assignments as crucial to your
successful completion of this module.
3. Assignments The assignments for this course/module will be
given to you in Tutorial Letter 101. The completion of
the assignments is crucial to achieving the learning
outcomes. By completing the assignments, you will get
a feel for the type of question you can expect in the
examination and also obtain first-hand feedback from
the lecturer. The assignment questions will give you
the opportunity to apply the theory to case studies or
practical situations in your own workplace. With each
assignment, we will also supply the assessment criteria,
so that you will know how you are being assessed.
Details of the assignments, with their associated
assessment criteria, as well as the format of and
requirements for the examination are provided in
Tutorial Letter 101.
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4. Self- At the end of each section, you will find a list of possible
assessment assessment questions based on the work done in
questions that section. We advise you to work through these
questions diligently, since they provide extremely
useful opportunities to prepare yourself for possible
examinations questions. Self-assessment plays a very
important role in the mastery of learning outcomes
and you should therefore complete the self-assessment
activities in the study guide.
You will find most of the answers to these questions
in the learning material covered in the study guide.
It is our belief that you should not have any surprises
in the examination. Consequently, it is in your own
interest to work through these assessment questions.
5. Assessment During the semester, you will be assessed on your
assignments and at the end of the year/semester
you will be assessed in the examination. All your
assessments take place against transparent assessment
criteria that are directly linked to the outcomes of the
module.
The marks of the compulsory assignment(s) will be
added to your examination mark to calculate your
total mark.
Further details of the assessment and examination
requirements for this course/module are provided in
Tutorial Letter 101.
6. Browsing Take time to browse through the module site to
through the familiarise yourself with the demands of the module.
module site This will enable you to see the “big picture” of the whole
module. The FAQs option (on the navigation bar of the
module site) is a valuable resource and could be a useful
starting point. Evaluate the demands, opportunities
and challenges of your personal circumstances and
determine how you can fit them in with the assignment
due dates and the other relevant learning activities to
which you have to attend. It may be a good idea to
enter these dates in your personal diary immediately.
7. Compile a Decide on strategies for planning ahead and compile
personal study your personal study timetable. We recommend being
timetable disciplined in keeping to your schedule. Perhaps you
could start with some preliminary reading and by
sourcing the recommended material. The amount of
information presented on the module site and the
number of assignments to be completed may seem
overwhelming at first, but don’t be disheartened!
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8. Approach Work your way systematically through the various

your studies learning activities, reflective questions and assignments.
systematically Make sure that you meet all the requirements for the
learning activities. Use the learning outcomes and
assessment criteria, the supporting material and
learning activities (which you can access by clicking
on the Learning Units option) to give you a foundation
for the knowledge and skills you need to develop. To
help you approach your studies with more confidence,
you may find it helpful to start by browsing through the
module site and acquainting yourself with the learning
outcomes and assessment criteria, the additional
resources, the prescribed book and the learning units.
The learning units are designed and developed in the
form of manageable “chunks” to help you achieve the
learning outcomes logically and systematically.
9. Contact your Do not hesitate to contact your lecturers if you
lecturer experience any difficulties with any aspect of the
module. You can contact them via e-mail, telephone,
or the Discussions option. Their contact details are
available on the website, so they are just a click away.
10. Contact your Please make regular contact with your peers (via the
peers different forums accessible under the Discussions
option). Engage with your fellow students to clarify
and broaden your understanding of challenging
concepts and themes. You will find that participating
in discussions and interacting with others in your field
will enable you to apply many practical ideas in the
workplace. Most students also find these discussions
(directed by the lecturer or initiated by fellow students)
extremely useful when preparing their assignments.
11. E-tutor An e-tutor will be allocated to you. Kindly liaise with

your e-tutor on a regular basis to inform him/her of
any assistance and support you need. The e-tutor plays
a valuable role in supporting students with sections
on which they need additional clarity. The e-tutor
can also assist you with clarification and support for
activities and tasks contained in your study material.
Please ensure that you visit the module site on a regular
basis. It is also your responsibility to ensure that you
post feedback on the discussion forum as and when
required.
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12. myUnisa This module has a module site on the myUnisa online
portal. It is important to visit the module site regularly,
as important announcements will be posted on the
site. There is also a Schedule function on the module
site, which will remind you of assignment dates, exam
dates and so forth. You can download all your official
study material from the module site, including tutorial
letters.
Open educational resources (OERs)
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials

that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature
of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use,
adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi,
lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-
knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-
oers/ - accessed on 20 June 2017).
There are many OERs available on the Internet. The onus is on you to search
for OERs and widen and broaden your knowledge in the field of emergent
mathematics. My favorite OER is: Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa,
TESSA. TESSA, is a collaborative network of African scholars, resources and
programmes that will help you to improve your practice as a teacher or
teacher educator . TESSA is contextualized to the African continent. TESSA
provides free, quality resources that support teacher education curricula and can
help you plan lessons that engage, involve and inspire. (http://www.tessafrica.net/
– accessed on 20 June 2017)
Kindly see the screen shot of TESSA on the next page.
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NOTIONAL HOURS
Notional hours are defined in terms of the amount of time it takes the average
student to achieve the learning outcomes (SAQA: 1998). It is estimated that a
student on average takes 10 hours to complete 1 credit of learning. Since this
is a 12 credit module we are estimating that you should spend a minimum of
120 notional hours studying this module.
Recommended / estimated notional hours to be spent for this module
Learning unit Notional hours

Unit 1: Introduction to Emergent Mathematics 15 hours
Unit 2: The development of number sense 15 hours
Unit 3: The development of number patterns 15 hours
Unit 4: The development of space and shape 15 hours
Unit 5: Measurement 15 hours
Unit 6: Data Handling 15 hours
Unit 7: Assessment 15 hours
CLOSING REMARKS
It is truly a pleasure having you as a student, and we would like to take this
opportunity to wish you every success with your studies.
Best wishes
Your lecturers, in the Department of Early Childhood Education
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LEARNING UNIT
1 1
1 Introduction to emergent mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have completed this module, you should be able to
•• explain what “emergent mathematics” is

•• use the relevant child development theories to explain how children learn
•• identify and explain basic pre-mathematical concepts related to emergent
mathematics
•• explain how mathematical concepts are developed through an integrative
play-based approach
KEY CONCEPTS
•• emergent mathematics
•• centration
•• zone of proximal development (ZPD)
•• scaffolding
•• pre-mathematical skills
•• cognitive theories
•• play-based learning
1.1 INTRODUCTION
In this learning unit we will explore the pre-mathematical skills and concepts
that children learn in the early years. Young children learn through play. They
are curious about numbers, size, shapes, and position, and use words such as
round, far and near. Already from birth, children are exposed to mathematical
concepts and activities. For example, the baby is fed a bottle of formula
measured in millilitres, fingers and toes are counted, a child may be asked
if they would like “more” of a particular food. In some cultures, bath time
routines may include rhymes like “One, two, three, four, five – once I caught
a fish alive”. As young children discover their world, they are immersed in
knowledge and skills that will develop their mathematical thinking. Although
not the mother, caregiver or child may be explicitly aware that they are playing
with mathematical concepts, that doesn’t matter. Mathematics is part of our
everyday lives, and many activities that we are involved in include the use
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of mathematical knowledge and skills. After you have read this learning unit,
test yourself. Record all the things you do on a particular day. Then, with your
new insight into mathematical thinking, see how many of the activities you
have listed involve, or could involve, mathematical language.
You will discover for yourself how mathematics is all around us. For example,
when we prepare food, we use measurement; we use time purposely; we
plan our route to work or to the shops; we calculate our grocery bill, etcetera.
Young children have a very strong drive to explore the world around them. In
this learning unit we are going to discuss various theorists and their views of
teaching and learning in mathematics. This will help us understand how young
learners learn mathematics, and the best way we as teachers can guide that
learning by providing opportunities for learners to acquire mathematical skills,
knowledge and familiarity. We will explore the pre-mathematical concepts
that young children master before the formal schooling of mathematics takes
place. As we have said, children learn best through play activities. There are
several types of play through which children can become familiar with pre-
mathematical skills and concepts.
1.2 WHAT IS EMERGENT MATHEMATICS?

In this section we will focus on the meaning of emergent mathematics and how
it develops from birth. Emergent mathematics is the term we use to describe
how children construct mathematical concepts and acquire mathematical skills
from birth. This construction continues into the formal school setting. In this
module we focus on mathematical experiences from birth to 6 years of age.
A comprehensive definition of emergent mathematics (numeracy) is provided

by Barabados (2012):
Emergent mathematics includes understanding simple ideas such

as splitting things in equal parts; there is continuity between such
understanding and an understanding of fractions which comes later.
The core content of a mathematics curriculum for young children should
include concepts about: number, counting, recognising patterns and
shapes, understanding relationships, space, measure, and processes such
as problem-solving and mark-making. Young children learn the above
concepts through play.
Based on this definition, we can say that emergent mathematics is the

mathematical concepts such as number, space, shape etc that young children
discover as they encounter problems when they play. As they decide, for
example, who will swing first, who goes second etc, they are practising
mathematical skills. As they compare, during water play, which container holds
the most water, they are laying the foundation for concepts and skills that will
be more formally explored in the rest of the Foundation Phase.
Hassinger-Das, Hirsch-Pasek and Golinkoff (2017) point out that decades of

research suggest that free play and guided play – together known as playful
learning – are pedagogical tools through which children can learn in joyful
and conceptually rich ways. As learners, for example, construct a garage out
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LE AR N I N G U N I T 1: I nt r o du c t i o n to e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
of wooden blocks during free play, they are estimating how much space they
will need for their toy cars to enter the garage – in other words, how wide the
entrance must be. They also have to build a foundation layer and test how many
levels they can put on top before the structure collapses. Estimation, prediction
and testing will all feature in the Maths curriculum in formal schooling.
Free play is child-initiated. As children play, they are exploring, imagining,

discovering and laying the foundations for formal schooling. Think about your
own childhood experiences and the games you played. Did you make patterns
as you drew? Or did you play in water after it had rained and discover the
relationship between everyday objects, by watching which objects floated
and which ones sank? Looking for patterns and relationships is important in
mathematics.
Guided play keeps the child-initiated and child-directed aspects of free play,
but adds another element, which is adult guidance. Consider this scenario.
A teacher (Mrs Molemo) could, for instance, see a group of children sorting
a pile of different shapes into triangles, rectangles and squares. Mrs Molemo
may decide to join in and ask Jabu (learner): “What shape do you have?”
Jabu may then reply: “I have a square”. Mrs Molemo could then ask Thandi
and Jabu: “Can you find another square?” In this manner, the teacher could
continue, asking the learners what it was that made the shapes that Thandi
and Jabu are holding, squares.
It is important that you understand the difference between mathematical skills

and concepts. Take the concept of counting, for example. If I counted 1, 2, 3 ...,
and I asked a learner what I am doing, she might tell me “You are counting.”
That implies that she has grasped the concept of counting. But when I ask her
to count and she says 1, 8, 5, this could mean that although she has grasped
the concept of counting, she does not necessarily have the skill to apply it
correctly. To acquire a skill, you must first have grasped the concept. With
emergent mathematics, we introduce the learners to various math concepts
and then help them to acquire the skills to apply the concepts correctly.
1 Ac tivit y 1.1
Write a paragraph in your own words (you may also conduct an
internet/google search), explaining what you understand by “emergent
mathematics”.
FE E D BAC K O N AC T I V I T Y 1.1
In your paragraph, you should have mentioned
•• that emergent mathematics forms the foundation for all other

mathematical concepts
•• that children are exposed to emergent mathematics through play
•• the difference between mathematical concepts and skills
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Parents, caregivers and teachers play an important role in all the activities
in which young children from birth to 6 years participate. Parents need to
be involved in their children’s learning of mathematics and can contribute
to positive experiences of mathematics (Davin 2013). Parents, teachers and
caregivers should be encouraged to look for the mathematical possibilities that
are hidden in all activities in order to provide their children with opportunities to
learn through these activities. For example, they could play a game of counting
toes or fingers when changing nappies, or during feeding time.
All of these spontaneous and intuitive learning activities contribute to the

mathematical background that the child will bring to school, when formal
mathematics teaching and learning starts. The richer this background, the
better the child will be equipped to engage with the formal school activities.
This means that parents and caregivers should plan for as many as possible
mathematical experiences and activities during the early years. Although
these activities are part of everyday life, teachers and parents should make a
conscious effort to focus their attention on the mathematical concepts.
Mathematics does not happen in a vacuum, but is part of an integrated approach

to the child’s development. This means that mathematics should be embedded
and integrated in all the activities that the children engage in through the day,
such as feeding time, playtime, rest/sleep time, the routine morning, midday
and evening activities, etcetera. In this interdisciplinary approach, mathematics
is incorporated in storytelling, art and movement activities. It is important to
remember that language forms an important part of mathematics.
2 Ac tivit y 1. 2
Think of a story you were told as a child. Think about any part of the story
what mathematical ideas were? Did one character in the story, for example,
have more food than another? Or more money than the other?
What would you write if you were asked about your own initial mathematics
experiences? Would you be able to say that you thoroughly enjoyed your
first experiences with mathematics? Did you love being engaged with
sums? The majority of people will not be very positive in their reply to
this question.
FE E D BAC K O N AC T I V I T Y 1. 2
One’s own experience seems to have an influence on one’s attitude towards
mathematics for the rest of one’s life. It is therefore extremely important
to do introspection and make sure that you confront your own negative
experiences before trying to assist young children, so that you can teach
them about mathematics in a positive, exciting and creative way. This is the
only way that we can capture children’s natural curiosity about numbers
and geometry to assist them in their future mathematics learning.
Teachers need a good knowledge and sound understanding of mathematics

in order to plan and provide meaningful activities for their leaners. Teachers
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4
should therefore use their own good mathematical knowledge and

leadership to develop an integrated curriculum that supports children’s
mathematical learning. The activities should actively involve the child in
play-based learning.
In the following section, we will look at the theories underpinning teaching

and learning in the early years, and the implications thereof for emergent
mathematics learning.
1.3 CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND EMERGENT MATHEMATICS

In our quest to understand how children master basic mathematical concepts,
we need some basis from which to build our understanding. There are many
approaches to teaching and different theories on how children develop and
learn, documented through the years. In this learning unit we are going to focus
on just three important cognitive development theorists and their influence on
the teaching and learning of mathematics. The theories give us an understanding
of the milestones that children achieve at certain ages, which in turn will assist
us to understand how mathematics is learned at the different ages or stages.
We will now look at the cognitive theories of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky and
Jerome Bruner.
1.3.1 Piaget
Jean Piaget, a biologist, developed a theory which he called “Cognitive
Development Theory”. He developed this theory after observing his own
children, as well as other children. His theory focuses on the individual child
and is linked to different ages. He distinguished the following stages that are
relevant to this module, namely: the sensorimotor phase (birth to about age
2), the pre-operational phase (2-7 years) with a sub-stage named the pre-
conceptual stage (2-4 years), and the concrete operational stage (7-11 years).
You will be introduced to the different stages from childhood to adulthood in

a module on Child Development in your BEd programme. This discussion is
not at all meant to provide a comprehensive discussion of Piaget’s theory, but
rather an introduction to this theory and its implications for the teaching and
learning of mathematics.
During the first stage, namely the sensorimotor stage, children use their senses
to explore the world around them. Their growing motor development enables
them to reach, to grasp, to crawl, to stand, and eventually, to walk. They are
explorers of the world around them and need opportunities to use their sensory
(senses) and motor (movement) abilities to learn basic skills and concepts. This
exploration phase teaches them the concepts of spatial awareness, directionality,
object permanence (they realise that something still exists, although it is out of
sight) and object recognition (learning to identify objects using the information
already gathered, such as colour, shape and size).
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The second stage, the pre-operational stage, is characterised by rapid language

development and the ability to express conceptual knowledge such as big, small,
heavy, round, long, short, and so on. These children use symbolic behaviour,
such as using sand when they play, to represent food. Another important
characteristic of this stage is centration, which means that when materials
are changed in form or arrangement in space, the children may see them as
changed in amount as well. This is because they focus on the most obvious/
central aspect of what they see, for example, if they see water both in a tall, thin
glass and in a short, flat glass, they will say that the tall glass holds more water.
During this stage, children work with the precursors of conservation such as
counting, one-to-one correspondence, seriation, shape, space and comparison.
All of these concepts will be discussed in the next paragraph.
Piaget’s theory implies that each child is constructing his/her own knowledge
and that includes mathematical concepts, when the child engages in everyday
activities. Children manipulate physical objects to make sense of the world
around them. This means that they need concrete media to manipulate in
their exploration as depicted in Figure 1.1. For example, if a child tries to
construct a house with blocks, he/she will experience how the blocks look
alike or different, and what happens when, say, two triangles are put together
and form a square.
FIGURE 1.1
Manipulating concrete objects
1.3.2 The social constructivist theory of Vygotsky

Unlike Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky’s theory does not correspond with age,
but focuses on social interaction, for example interaction between peers,
or between the child and older children, and between the child and adults.
Vygotsky focuses more on language, because of the importance of language
in learning. According to him, children make sense of their world through
shared experiences. Learning occurs in the Zone of Proximal Development
(ZPD). The ZPD encompasses the difference between what the child knows
and what the child can learn with the assistance of a more knowledgeable
other (child or adult). In this social interaction, the child learns significantly
more and learns deeper concepts than she/he would on her/his own. The
assistance provided by the more knowledgeable person in the ZPD is based
on scaffolding. Scaffolding is a process through which a teacher adds support
for students in order for them to learn and master tasks. The teacher builds
on the students’ experiences and knowledge, as they are learning new skills.
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6
Vygotskian constructivists are concerned with children being challenged to

reach their full potential.
For the teaching and learning of mathematical concepts, this theory focuses on
interaction with and learning from more knowledgeable others. The importance
of adult involvement – of teachers, caregivers and parents – in the development
of emerging mathematical concepts is therefore emphasised. Parents and
teachers have to create ample opportunities for activities through which
children can learn mathematical concepts, for example by using counting
rhymes, saying the names of numbers, letting children participate in the setting
of the table, letting them crawl in/under/up objects, etc. Waste material like
an old, threadbare tyre and broken cardboard boxes can be used to set up an
obstacle course outside, where the children can follow a sequence of jumping
and crawling actions and move in particular directions to complete the course.
They can count the number of jumps they have to make as they move in a
particular direction and thus acquire an early knowledge of laterality. Laterality
is an inner awareness of the two sides of the body, namely left and right. All
of this takes place in a fun, play-based context.
1.3.3 The social constructivist theory of Bruner

Bruner shares the social constructivist theory of Vygotsky. He emphasises the
role of play in development and learning. According to Bruner, play helps
children learn about rules, roles and friendships (Tucker 2010). The onus is
on the parent/teacher to create stimulating and challenging environments and
to provide quality interactions which can serve as a scaffold for the child’s
learning. Bruner’s theory is characterised by a spiral curriculum, which means
that children revisit play material and activities and then use them in a different
way (Lindon 2001). This will be dictated by the development that has taken
place. Repeating activities by revisiting the material and activities over time,
will lead to better and extended understanding.
Bruner’s theory focuses on levels of knowing and operates on three levels,
namely enactive, iconic and symbolic knowledge (Clemens & Clemens 1994):
Enactive knowledge is derived from the physical manipulation of objects and
the child’s own movement. This involves all that the young child is doing, for
example sorting or counting objects. Examples of enactive learning is moving
around in the class to touch something that has the same shape as, say, a box,
or children using their fingers to count.
Iconic knowledge involves mental operations where the child uses
representations of concrete objects, for example, using pictures thereof. The
emphasis here is on visual and perceptual information (Schultz, Colarusso &
Strawderman 1989). An example of this kind of knowledge is when children
are provided with a picture of three butterflies and are asked to draw a flower
for each butterfly.
Symbolic knowledge refers to the ability to use abstract symbols. The goal in
mathematics is to reach the highest level of symbolic knowledge. This means
that the child will start off by counting 2 real apples (enactive), then be able to
count 2 pictures of apples (iconic), and then eventually use number symbols
to represent 1 + 1 = 2, as seen in figure 1.2 below.
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1 + 1 =2
FIGURE 1.2
Use of representations and symbols
This progress is important for mathematics teaching and learning. The children
are experiencing mathematical concepts through play activities and can revisit
the concepts on a regular basis. One sees this when children are building
puzzles. The concept of the spatial fitting of puzzle pieces is learnt using
fewer pieces. This concept is then expanded at regular intervals, with more
difficult puzzles. In the process, the concept of space is learnt and applied. It
is therefore important for parents/teachers to be aware of the fact that children
first need to learn by doing (concretely), then move on to representation, and
finally proceed to abstract symbols.
It is crucial that you understand the process of by which mathematics is learnt.
The stages below draw on the work of Bruner:
•• Concrete level of understanding. The child learns through “doing” and
using real objects.
•• Semi-concrete level of understanding. The child uses pictures to represent
numbers.
•• Abstract level of understanding. The child understands and uses the written
symbols for numbers.
You will notice that during the period from birth to 6 years, most learning takes
place on a concrete level. The children need to touch and play with objects
in order to learn.
3 Ac tivit y 1. 3
Compare the key characteristics of each theory and the contributions of
the three theorists who are discussed in section 1.3 above. Do this in a
table format.
In order to make a comparison, you first have to identify the key
characteristics of each theory. For example, some of the key characteristics
of Vygotsky’s theory are: ZPD, peer learning and scaffolding. Once you
have identified the key characteristics of each theory, you can try to find
the similarities and differences.
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8
1.4 PRE-MATHEMATICS CONCEPTS AND SKILLS

We have already touched on ideas related to how children from birth to six
learn mathematics in their everyday life. This section will focus on a discussion
of the different mathematical concepts that children master during the early
years. We have already discussed the difference between a concept and a
skill: a concept is your understanding of something; a skill is applying that
knowledge you have about a concept.
The skills and concepts that children acquire have a lot to do with the
opportunities for exploration that are planned and presented to them. Parents,
caregivers and teachers should therefore provide quality activities which focus
on the different mathematical concepts that the young child must learn in order
to be able to proceed with mathematics at higher levels. It is a well-known fact
that the better the beginning knowledge, or body of mathematics knowledge
of a child is when entering the formal schooling system, the better the chances
of that child will be to succeed in mathematics. It should at this stage be
clear to you that almost all developmental activities that take place from birth
contribute to the development of mathematical concepts. For example, once a
baby starts kicking and moving its arms and hands, it starts developing spatial
awareness, which in turn is important for geometry.
The following is a brief orientation to the pre-mathematics concepts and skills

which constitute emergent mathematics, namely object permanence, counting,
subitising, one-to-one correspondence, classifying/sorting, ordering, comparing,
matching, shapes, space, conservation, patterning and measurement. Each of
these concepts are dealt with in greater detail in learning units 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
1.4.1 Object permanence

The young child gradually realises that an object or person still exists, even if
he/she cannot see it. When babies are born, they perceive themselves as part
of their mother and cannot distinguish themselves as separate beings. It is only
after time and many activities that they realise that. Object permanence can
then be established. It means that the child sees an object disappear, mentally
remembers the object, and figures out where it went.
1.4.2 Counting
A game that one can play to foster this concept is peek-a-boo. When the child
is older, one can give the child time to look for the object and ask questions
related to its position, by giving clues.
Counting is an ability that every person uses in everyday life. Once children
start using words, they also learn some counting words. It is important that
parents and teachers realise that they must establish this concept by naming
the numbers of objects. Parents usually start by counting the child’s toes,
fingers, nose, ears etc. By age 2, children will start saying number words such
as one, two, three. This is not counting with understanding. Children chanting
the names of numbers is called rote counting. At first the order may not be
correct, but with exercise they will be able to get the counting sequence
correct, although this will still not be counting with understanding. They easily
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learn to say one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. They will
enjoy saying it as a rhyme, without knowing that they are saying the names
of ten different numbers. When they start to count a number of objects, they
are mastering a very important skill. Counting the number of objects is based
on the concept that each successive number is one more than the previous
number, and that the final count is the number of objects in the set. The child
counts with understanding if she/he realises that the number 6, for instance,
is telling her/him the number of objects. In other words, when she/he knows
that she/he has 6 buttons in all.
Children must be afforded many activities and manipulatives to count in order
to achieve this skill. There are many counting rhymes that children can learn
to enhance their counting skills. These can be used for counting forward
and backward. It is also a good idea to couple counting with kinaesthetic
experiences, for example doing jumps and counting the number of jumps. A
game like hopscotch brings again that element of play into learning mathematics.
Counting is learnt in a certain sequence. Children begin by doing rote counting.
Then they proceed with counting all the objects by pointing to the object and
saying the number. They will then be able to answer the question: “How many?”
Learning to count is a very complex process and the following principles apply:
•• Stable order principle. It means that the child has to understand that the
number words must be said in a specific order, namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9 and not 1, 2, 4 ,3 ,5, 7, 8, 6, 9.
•• One-to-one correspondence. This means that each object is given one
count and one count only. In the beginning it is better to let children tag
the object as they count it.
•• Cardinality. This is the concept that the last word counted stands for the
number of the set of objects. The cardinal number tells us “how many”.
•• Order irrelevance principle. This means that the child can start counting
at any object, and that the final count will still be the same. Children need
to understand that it does not matter where they start counting, as long as
they count each object.
•• Movement is magnitude. This means that as one counts, the quantity
increases by one. (If one counts in 2’s, the amount goes up by 2.) If one
counts backwards, the quantity decreases by 1.
•• Abstraction. This means that a quantity can be represented verbally,
physically (by 5 different objects, visible or invisible), or symbolically by
the symbol 5 (Naude & Meier 2014).
There are different ways in which children can count objects. In the beginning,
they will count all objects. It is called “counting all”. In this phase, children
need physical objects which they can touch while counting.
1.4.3 Subitising
Subitising is the ability to tell the number of objects in a set without counting
them. It is usually a small amount (5 or fewer). It means when you “just see”
the number. For example, if you see 3 dots on a die and you immediately say
three, you have perceived the 3 dots intuitively and simultaneously (Clements
& Sarama 2014). Subitising involves many processes such as cardinality (how
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10
many, or more or less). The arrangement of the objects also plays a significant
part in recognising the number. Recognising the number of dots in a line is
easier than when they form a pattern on a die or domino. Children of age four
may work with objects up to 4. The frequent use of number names in everyday
life activities will contribute to better fluency in subitising. The parent/teacher
should use words such as more, or less, and the specific number. For example,
the adult may ask a child to say his age and show the number of fingers. “I am
three” – with three fingers.
We distinguish between perceptual and conceptual subitising. Perceptual
subitising is the simple recognition of a pattern. Conceptual subitising
only comes about over a longer period of time and by doing many activities.
Have children experience many real-life situations, for example egg cartons
with different combinations of 5 displayed.
1.4.4 One-to-one-correspondence
One-to-one correspondence is an important skill that will help children to count
correctly. It means that the child is able to link one object with one other object
or, in counting, to name each object individually. One-to-one correspondence
activities can be started as early as 2 years by using, for example, an egg carton
and plastic eggs that fit in the carton. The child is then “forced” to put one egg
in each hole. Later the child can be asked to lay the table for lunch. There then
has to be a bowl and spoon for each child. Make sure that the child counts
each object carefully in order to enhance their understanding of one-to-one
correspondence. This concept is discussed further in learning unit 2.
1.4.5 Classification/sorting
The skill of classification involves separating objects from one another according
to a particular characteristic. Grouping together objects on the basis of common
characteristics is a skill that children start learning from a very young age. From
the age of 2 weeks, babies can distinguish between what they can suck and
what not. In the preschool phase, children should sort objects according to a
given attribute (characteristic), forming categories, for example by putting all
the red pegs together etc. Classification involves visual (to look) and tactile (to
feel) perception. It therefore means that the child has to be able to discriminate
visually between, for example, different shapes, colours, sizes and textures.
“Which one does not look like the others?” is an example of such an activity.
Classification activities contribute to logical thinking. In order to classify and sort
objects, one has to be able to identify how things are alike and different. The
more experiences children have in sorting and classifying simple manipulatives
such as buttons, crayons, etc, the more effective they will be at identifying
why things are alike or different (Apelman & King 1993).
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4 Ac tivit y 1.4
Now that you know what classification is all about, plan five activities to
teach preschool children sorting or classifying.
In your planning, you should focus on concrete media such as fluffy toys
or types of fruit, colours of blocks, etc. Sorting activities will involve sorting
according to colour, shapes, size, etc.
1.4.6 Ordering/seriation
Ordering or seriation is the ability to order objects by size, texture, taste, colour,
sound etc, arranging them in a series according to a certain characteristic, for
example from large to small, first to last, tallest to shortest, loudest to softest,
darkest to lightest. Figure 1.3 illustrates how the story of Goldilocks and the
Three Bears, can be used to teach the concept of ordering. The three chairs
can be put in order from small to large, the porridge from warm to warmest,
the bowls from smallest to biggest and the beds from hard to soft.
FIGURE 1.3
Story used to teach the concept of ordering
To order objects, little children should be granted the opportunity to compare

a particular attribute of two items at a time.
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12
5 Ac tivit y 1. 5
Using the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, write down five relevant
questions related to mathematical concepts that you can ask preschool
children.
You should consider the following concepts in your questions:
counting, comparisons, size, and ordering.
1.4.7 Comparing
Activities for comparing includes finding out about more than, less than,
equal, similarities and differences. The ability to compare will enable them to
conserve numbers, which is the ability to know that the amount of something
remains the same, even if the arrangement changes. It is therefore important
to provide ample activities where the children must compare objects such as
hard or soft, long or short, early or late, and so on.
1.4.8 Matching
Matching is about making associations, or seeing relationships between things.
When two objects are matched, we have a reason in mind why they go together
– for example, two shoes match when they are mirror images of each other.
Examples of activities to teach matching:
•• Shirts may match pants when they have matching colours.
•• Through one-to-one matching, children can match one button to one
buttonhole.
•• Children practise this skill when they have to ensure that a separate paint
brush is used for each colour of paint.
•• Clothing paper dolls: the smaller dress fits the small doll and the bigger
dress the bigger doll.
Sorting is often confused with matching. Sorting is to arrange or group objects
in a certain way. For example Figure 1.4 is about matching by looking for
similarities.
The ability to match things is a very important precursor to counting.
FIGURE 1.4
Matching Activity by finding similarities
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The ability to match things is a very important precursor to counting.
1.4.9 Shape
Children experience and experiment with shapes from very early on. For
example, a baby can grasp a square soft toy. The child does not only look at
it, but also handles it by rolling or bouncing it.
Children may experience shapes from a total different perspective than an adult
person would. For example, holding a ball in the air does not necessarily mean
that the child is having a three-dimensional experience of its shape – instead,
she/he may be imagining it to be a spaceship. Therefore, do not only focus
on what shape the object is, but ask questions such as “What would happen
if you rolled it / stood it on a slope?”, etc.
It is also important to discuss the differences between shapes, for instance by

focusing on three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional shapes. When
looking at three-dimensional objects, one can focus on how these objects will
behave. One could, for example, roll plastic bottles and buckets, and observe
if they roll in the same way. Ask questions such as what these items are usually
used for, and whether they stand or roll.
Examples of activities to teach the concept of shapes:
•• Introduce new vocabulary related to shapes, for example curved, straight,

pointed, flat, coiled, spiral, rough, smooth, etc.
•• Use building blocks of different shapes, such as squares, rectangular prisms,
spheres, cylinders, etc.
•• During block play, ask various questions and provide activities, such as:
“Find another block that is the same as this one.”
•• Ask children to match things in the classroom with objects in the environment.
For instance, a rectangle looks like a door, and a triangle looks like a roof.
Children need a wide range of experiences with shapes, like drawing around
two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes, making pictures with two-
dimensional shapes, making models with three-dimensional figures, posting
shapes through holes, moving their bodies in and out of structures (such
as boxes), and having discussions about shapes with adults and peers. The
children have to manipulate these shapes, rather than only colouring different
shapes and doing name-learning activities. The concept of shape is discussed
in detail in learning unit 4.
1.4.10 Space
The development of spatial sense is a very important facet of early mathematics
and a precursor for geometric development. Children need to explore patterns,
symmetry and three-dimensional figures. These are discussed further in study
unit 4. During block play, children discover different figures and shapes and
perceive them in different orientations as depicted in figure 1.5 below.
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14
FIGURE 1.5
Learning mathematical concepts through shapes
Spatial orientation and direction
When children start to move around, they explore their environment. Movement
activities provide for the development of vocabulary and ideas of position and
direction. A young child starting to crawl is positioning him/herself in space.
This is the first step in preparing for geometry later on.
Examples of activities to teach the concept of space:
•• Music and dance give children the opportunity to manipulate their own
space and bodies. There is direction and spatial awareness in these activities.
Art activities also teach children spatial planning and awareness. When
drawing, painting and planning collages, they have to use the available
space to fit in that which they are creating.
•• Direction is experienced when children move about themselves, and
when they begin to move objects from one point to another. It is especially
during movement activities that children will experience concepts such as
in, under, through, inside, in between, alongside, curved, or zigzagged
(e.g. pathways) etc. This is facilitated by using large apparatus (jungle gym,
balancing beam etc).
•• To teach direction, use a grid with different pictures/objects drawn on a
large concrete slab/in the soil. Children must then walk along the lines: up,
down, left and right to find a certain picture/object.
This concept of space is further discussed in learning unit 4.
1.4.11 Conservation
An important concept that young children have to master, is conservation. We
have already mentioned that the precursor for conservation is an understanding
of counting, one-to-one correspondence, seriation, classification, shape, space
and comparison.
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Conservation refers to the fact that (for example) the number of counters remain
the same, even if the representation changes by spreading them out. It means
that the child will not fix on the arrangement when determining if two sets are
equal in number. Conservation cannot be taught, but teachers, parents and
caregivers should provide many different opportunities for this concept to be
experienced and established.
Examples of activities to teach the concept of conservation:
•• Figure 1.6 is an example of conservation where a piece of clay is rolled

into a ball. The same piece of clay is manipulated to form a “snake”. The
amount of clay remains the same, although the shape has changed.
•• Let children experiment with pouring liquids from a bottle into different
shaped glasses, for example in a tall, narrow glass and a short, wide glass
FIGURE 1.6
Conservation through clay.
1.4.12 Patterning
Patterning is ordering according to a specific pattern/rule. We find patterns
everywhere in everyday life, for example in nature, in/on buildings, on dress
material, in the pattern of laying a table, in art, in music, etc. Patterns can be
experienced through the different senses, for example:
•• one can see patterns in shapes and numbers

•• one can hear patterns in songs, for instance in repeated music sequences
•• one can feel pattern when clapping a pattern or rhythm, or when moving
in a repeated sequence
Examples of activities to teach patterning:
•• Let the children clap a rhythm, for example short, long, long; short, long,
long, etc.
•• Let the children thread beads in a specific pattern, for example red, blue,
red, blue, etc
•• Make us of repetitive songs and verses.
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16
It is important to remember that small children need to experience patterning

concretely before they can start reproducing patterns on worksheets and so
forth. Repetitive rhymes, songs and activities are important aspects in their
intellectual development.
In learning unit 3, the concept of patterning, as the basis of algebra, is discussed

in detail.
1.4.13 Measurement
The ability to measure is a skill that is gradually acquired. It is again important
to remember that young children should start measuring activities by using
their own bodies. Let them compare who is tall and short. Measurement
means that an amount (in a specific unit) is assigned to some attribute of an
object (such as length).
During the early years only non-standard units are used to measure attributes.
One could, for example, let the children use their hands to measure the length
of the table, or let them find out how many cups of water can be poured into
a jug, or how many arm lengths the length and the width of the table cloth
must be to cover the table (area).
The concepts that relate to measurement are length, mass, capacity, area/
perimeter and time. All of these can be adapted to teach children in the early
years. A brief discussion of each of these concepts follows.
The concept of measurement is discussed in detail in learning unit 5.
Length
The first measurement of length happens when the baby is born. The baby
is weighed and the length of the baby is established. Measuring the length of
the child continues when the parents use a growth chart on the wall, where
the length and the date are recorded. It is important to keep in mind that
instilling all of these concepts should start by using the child’s own body (e.g.
I am taller than you – and so on).
Examples of activities to teach the concept of length:
•• Ask the children to draw their faces on paper plates. Then attach a string to
each plate, to indicate the length of the child. Place this on the wall, with
the child’s name.
•• The children can build towers as tall as they are.
•• Let the children use non-standard measuring units, such as hands, feet,
crayons or blocks to measure how long something is (e.g. the table is ten
hands wide).
Mass
Examples of activities to teach the concept of mass:
•• Let the children compare their weights on a seesaw.

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17 E M A1501/1

•• Make us of cooking experiences – let the children compare cooking

ingredients by weighing solids.
•• Ask the children to estimate the weight of different objects that look similar,
by holding them. They will discover that a golf ball is heavier than a table
tennis ball.
•• Use a coat hanger to show how small items of equal weight can balance.
Children should experience numerous objects by holding them in their hands

before using even the simplest form of weighing.
Volume (capacity)
Volume refers to the amount a container holds. There are many different
mathematical concepts with which children can experiment – for example,
does one bottle hold more water than the other?
Examples of activities to teach the concept of volume:
•• Let the children pour water or sand from one container into another. In
this manner, they will find out how much more they need to fill the bigger
container.
•• Children like to pretend to have a tea party. This will give them the
opportunity to learn about volume by pouring the “tea” from the teapot
into the different cups. It can also be a counting exercise if you ask them
how many cups could be filled.
Area and perimeter
The concepts of area and perimeter are difficult and you should not expect of
the young child to use these terms. There are, however, numerous activities
that will present children with the opportunity to compare different areas and
perimeters.
Examples of activities to teach the concepts of area and perimeter:
•• Show the children two table cloths of different sizes. Ask the children which
table cloth will cover the table. If it is too big, it will touch the ground; if it
is too small, it will not cover the table.
•• Can we all sit on the blanket when we have a picnic?
•• Let the children walk around objects and measure the number of steps that
they take. This allows them to experience perimeter.
Time
Our lives are ordered by time. Use simple terminology such as early, late, in
the morning, or last night. Children learn these concepts when they hear them
regularly. It is therefore important for parents, caregivers and teachers to use
time concepts often, in order for children to conceptualise time.
Young children relate well to personal experience, social activity and cultural
activity, all of which can be used to introduce them to time.
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18
Personal experience refers to their own past, present and future. The past is
often referred to as “when I was a baby”, or “last night” (any time before right
now). The future may be indicated by “when I am big”.
Social activities are relatively easy time concepts, because they are familiar
and form part of the daily routine that the children get used to. They know
that their morning activities are usually the same – they wake up and have
breakfast. It is the same each day. When they go to preschool, they get used
to the daily programme, which is a constant.
Cultural activities involve clocks and calendars. This is the time concept that
children take the longest to understand and learn.
Examples of activities to teach the concept of time:
There are many exercises that parents and caregivers can use to enhance
children’s concept of time:
•• Use the correct time language and teach the vocabulary morning, afternoon,
evening, soon, late, yesterday, a long time ago, sometimes, before, after, etc.
•• Set an alarm for 5 minutes to assist the child to clean up.
•• Show with an hour glass how time passes. Keep a birthday calendar at school.
•• Use the routines of the daily programme.
•• Use the daily calendar.
•• Use the weather chart, seasons, etc.
All of these concepts that form part of measurement are discussed in detail
in learning unit 5.
1.5 THE INTEGRATIVE PLAY-BASED APPROACH TO EMERGENT

MATHEMATICS
In section ‌1.3.3 we looked at the theory held by Bruner, who explained the
importance of play in learning. In this section we will draw on his theory to
explore the role of play in learning mathematics and the types of play that
can be used.
1.5.1 The relationship between play and emergent mathematics

Research has shown the importance and benefit of a play-based approach
to teaching and learning mathematics (Clements & Sarama 2014; Naudé &
Meier 2014; Tucker 2010). Play is often referred to as a child’s work. It is the
way that children experience life and are able to make sense of the world
around them. It is therefore, as we have already said, through play that children
discover and learn many mathematical concepts. It is important that many
opportunities be provided for play. It is through play that children explore,
reason and conceptualise. It is further important that an adult (parent, caregiver
or teacher) be part of this process on at least some occasions, so that he/she
can enhance the discovery process and the learning potential inherent in the
play. This does not mean that free play should be side-lined, but rather that
the adult acts on opportunities for guided play which occur spontaneously.
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19 E M A1501/1

It is important to remember that guided play should not be adult-driven, but

merely adult-accompanied/facilitated. According to Tucker (2010:7), “(i)n order
to support mathematical development, all play needs quality adult involvement
at some level”. This means that the adult should provide play opportunities
and observe what mathematics stems from it. The adult can then ask questions
such as “How do you know?” when a child observes something, or comes up
with a solution (Clements & Sarama 2014).
Clements and Sarama (2014) point out the following features of mathematical
play:
•• It is a problem-solving process, with the child at the centre and in charge

of the process.
•• It is dependent on the child’s knowledge.
•• It develops links between what the child already knows and his/her current
situation.
•• The links will contribute to his/her current knowledge and understanding.
•• It will assist future problem-solving, as it enhances future access to knowledge.
•• These advantages do not depend on the age of the problem solver (child).
Tucker (2010:1) provides compelling reasons for the use of play in the early
years in stating that “(p)lay is undoubtedly enjoyable for young children, owing
to the freedom it facilitates, the sense of ownership it affords, and the self-
esteem it promotes”. In short:
•• It gives the children some freedom to express themselves.

•• It gives the children a sense of ownership.
•• It promotes the self-esteem of children.
Mathematics in the early years is linked to children’s daily experiences, and

one of their most common experiences is play. Through free and guided play,
children explore and discover the language of maths and the concepts of maths.
Next, in section 1.5.2, we will discuss the different types of play children use
to explore their environment and to build mathematical concepts.
1.5.2 Types of play

The following six types of play will be examined, namely exploratory (heuristic)
play, construction play, creative play, physical and locomotor play, fantasy
play and word play.
1.5.2.1 Exploratory (heuristic) play

Through exploratory play, children explore the world around them to find out
about objects. For the young child it means that she/he tries to find out what
the possibilities of an object is – what can be done with it, and what not. For
example, a child may play in the kitchen with a whisk. She/he will find that
it fits in a bowl, but not in a cup. In this manner the child is introduced to
various mathematical concepts: fitting something into a shape, classifying (that
it belongs in the kitchen), and measurement (of small and big). Children involve
all their senses when exploring through play. This once again demonstrates
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20
that mathematics is all around us and that children can use everyday items
and situations to explore mathematical concepts.
1.5.2.2 Construction play

Construction play involves exploration through constructing, creating, reasoning
and problem-solving. Listening to a story, a child may get the idea to construct
a house. The child will then explore what media to use to construct the house,
for example building blocks. Then it may be necessary to estimate/count how
many blocks will be needed to build the house, and to decide on the type of
blocks that should be used (only squares, or oblongs, triangles and so forth).
They may even construct new ideas by placing two triangles together to form
a square. The more blocks they use, the bigger the house can be. They will
explore height, balance and probability as they build up, testing how many
storeys they can go on up, before their construction tumbles over.
1.5.2.3 Creative play

Creativity is an innate characteristic of all children. They will demonstrate
different ways to use material in a creative way, for example by using mud to
paint something brown. They may explore patterns, using different kinds of
materials, such as fruit and shoes, to make a specific pattern. They can extend
a pattern that the teacher started. When drawing the egg of a dinosaur, they
may use patterning to paint the shell. Such creative activities may be linked
to the story or theme of the week.
The children can also use their hands to do pattern painting. In this activity,
spatial orientation – placing a painted hand in a particular way on a sheet of
paper to form an image – becomes key. Children could, for instance, make a
crab by placing their painted hands wrist to wrist horizontally so that one set
of fingers face to the left and the other set to the right.
1.5.2.4 Physical and locomotor play

This type of play involves movement in and around the classroom or play
area. Children need lots of opportunity to move around by running, hopping,
skipping, rolling, kicking and jumping. For this, they need space, and they
cannot get the full benefit of movement indoors.
The children may crawl a distance and realise that it takes longer to crawl than
it takes to run the same distance. They can do frog jumps from one object to
another, counting the jumps. They may then find that they use more bunny
hops to cover the same distance and may try to understand why it takes more
bunny hops than frog jumps. During this process, they are trying to solve the
problem and they are reasoning why it works like this. Conversely, they will
discover that the one uses fewer jumps than hops. All of these are mathematical
concepts. Parents, caregivers and teachers must therefore allow enough time
for outdoor exploration and be sensitive to the mathematics embedded in the
movement activities.
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21 E M A1501/1

1.5.2.5 Fantasy play

Young children have vivid imaginations. They imitate and pretend all sorts of
scenarios related to their everyday life experiences. When they pretend to have
a tea party, for instance, they learn valuable mathematical concepts such as
volume and capacity, counting, one-to-one correspondence, and so on. They
may find that not all the cups can be filled with one teapot. Or, that not all
the children can fit into the play area. They may have to take turns, and when
one leaves, another one can join in.
Having a fantasy area in the classroom is important to stimulate play and at the
same time provide opportunities for mathematical exploration. For example,
when they play “shop”, they explore the basic principle of trade and money.
When they buy “bread”, they will name a price. They mimic their parents when
they go shopping. Symbolism (using objects to represent something else) during
fantasy play represents children’s first experiences with the representational
systems that they will later use in mathematics and, of course, literacy. Think
back on how Bruner describes the use of number symbols. Reread that section,
so that you can make the link.
1.5.2.6 Word play

Through play (all types of play) children learn mathematical vocabulary
spontaneously. Learners talk while they play and ask questions such as: “How
many frog jumps have you done?” The parent or teacher provides feedback,
which helps them to make sense of, and understand the mathematical concepts.
There are many math songs, rhymes and verses that will help expand the
children’s mathematical vocabulary. Children often make up their own chanting
involving counting etc. Also, most stories involve timelines and time frames,
which are important for the development of mathematical vocabulary relating
to time and the passing of time.
From the above, it is clear that a play-based approach to the learning of

mathematics is essential for the young child. Play provides a safe environment
where they can creatively explore the world and get to know the different
mathematical concepts necessary for further success in the field.
You will notice that all the learning units in this module make use of the
integrative play-based approach to the teaching of mathematical concepts.
6 Ac tivit y 1.6
Read the following case study and answer the question that follows.
Sibongile turned 5 years on 3 March. Her mom decided to have a party at

school with all twenty children in her class. But on the day of the party, 3
more children were enrolled in Sibongile’s class. Sibongile’s mom provided
only 20 ice lollies, 20 sweets, 20 biscuits, and four 2-litre bottles of cooldrink
– exactly enough for twenty children. Sibongile had a big, square birthday
cake decorated with colourful Jelly Tots. After the party, the children had
fun playing outdoor games in groups of five.
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22
Task
•• Identify six mathematical concepts that can be developed through

Sibongile’s party.
•• Discuss how each of these concepts can be developed through the
activity of Sibongile’s party.
•• Think of an activity to do at the party to teach the children about
problem-solving.
Did you recognise that a party can provide opportunities for the
development of many mathematical concepts? In your answer, did you
mention any of the following concepts?
•• Counting – The children can count the number of children at the party.
•• Matching – The children can match the number of biscuits/lollies/sweets
to the number of children, to find out how many more is needed.
•• Sorting
•• Capacity – How many cups can a 2-litre bottle fill?
•• Calendar
•• Shapes
•• One-to-one correspondence
1.6 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

•• Explain in your own words what emergent mathematics is.
•• In your view, how can early mathematical experiences contribute to the
development of the child?
•• Discuss how learning takes place, according to:
(a) Piaget
(b) Vygotsky
(c) Bruner
•• Explain the different types of play and their links to mathematical concepts.
1.7 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit you were introduced to the concept of “emergent
mathematics” and you have learnt about the importance of mathematical
experiences in the early years. To understand how children learn and develop,
different developmental learning theories were explored, and their implications
for the teaching of mathematics were discussed. Having investigated how
young children develop, we then looked at the pre-mathematics concepts that
children from birth to 6 years need to master before they enter formal schooling.
This learning unit was then concluded with a discussion of how mathematical
concepts can be developed through an integrated play-based approach.
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23 E M A1501/1

The following five learning units will provide a detailed explanation of the five
major concepts mentioned here. Learning unit 2 will focus on the development
of number concept, unit 3 on patterns, unit 4 on space and shape, unit 5 on
measurement, and unit 6 will focus on data handling. Having discussed each
concept in detail, we then conclude the module with learning unit 7, which
deals with the assessment of mathematics in the early years.
1.8 LIST OF REFERENCES

Andrew, AG & Trafton, PR. 2002. Little kids – powerful problem solvers. Math
stories from a kindergarten classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Apelman, M & King, J. 1993. Exploring everyday math: ideas for students,
teachers, and parents. Portsmouth: Heinemann
Clements, DH & Sarama, J. 2014. Learning and teaching early math. The
learning trajectories approach. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge
Davin, R (ed). 2013. Handbook for Grade R teaching. Cape Town: Pearson
Education South Africa.
Geist, E. 2009. Children are born mathematicians: supporting mathematical
development birth to age eight. USA: Merrill/Pearson
Hassinger-Das, B., Hirsh-Pasek, K. and Golinkoff, R.M., 2017. The Case of Brain
Science and Guided Play: A Developing Story. YC Young Children, 72(2),
p.45.
Lindon, J., 2001. Understanding children’s play. United Kingdom. Nelson
Thornes Press
Naudé, M & Meier, C (eds). 2014. Teaching foundation phase mathematics:
a guide for South African students and teachers. Pretoria: Van Schaik
Publishers.
Schultz, KA, Colarusso, RP & Strawderman, VW. 1989. Mathematics. For every
young child. Columbus: Merrill Publishing Company.
Tucker, K. 2010. Mathematics through play in the early years. 2nd edition.
London: Sage.
Van Staden, CJS. Numeracy and the young child: Study Guide for PECD025.
Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Wall, ES & Posamentier, AS. 2007. What successful math teachers do, Grades
Pre‑K – 5. California: Corwin Press.
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24
LEARNING UNIT
2 2
The development of number sense in

2
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have completed this learning unit, you should be able to:
•• define number sense

•• explain the importance of number sense in the early years
•• describe how number sense is developed in the early years
•• explain how basic types of technology can be used to teach number concepts
KEY CONCEPTS
•• numerate
•• one-to-one correspondence
•• classification
•• ordering
•• counting
•• rote counting
•• rational counting
•• count all
•• estimation
2.1 INTRODUCTION
A number of the concepts discussed in this unit were introduced in
unit 1. This unit will explore these concepts further, with more suggestions for
classroom activities. A learner’s number concept involves the development of
an understanding of what different numbers mean and how they relate to each
other. Learners’ number concept, as we have already said, is not developed
in a single day or in a few periods of teaching. Teachers must constantly work
on the development of learners’ number concept through culturally sensitive
and developmentally appropriate activities.
Children need to acquire a deep understanding of numbers. An understanding

of numbers is the building block for all content areas in mathematics. Naude
and Meier (2015:79) argue that “a strong sense of numbers is a strong predictor
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25 E M A1501/1

of success in mathematics later in life.” As children develop a sense of numbers,

mathematics takes on meaning and they become numerate. Numerate learners
should be one of our key goals. An early step in becoming numerate is
developing number sense.
2.2 WHAT IS NUMBER SENSE?

Number sense essentially refers to a learner’s “fluidity and flexibility with
numbers”, (Gersten & Chard 2001). Learners must have a sense of what numbers
mean, understand their relationships to one another, be able to perform mental
maths, and understand symbolic representations.
2.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF NUMBER SENSE IN THE EARLY YEARS

Learners with a sense of number are able to understand numbers and can
use numbers effectively in their everyday lives. As indicated above, number
sense is important, because it provides the foundation for other important
mathematical concepts. We begin this section by explaining how to teach
pre-number concepts.
Number sense is an on-going process and something that all learners need to
acquire. Counting is often seen as the starting point for developing number
sense, but young learners develop a sense of numbers even before they begin
to count. They are able to use numbers to answer questions such as: How old
are you? [five] / How many brothers do you have? [three] / What is your street
number? [4]. Early experiences with numbers introduce the names of numbers,
as well as the symbols for these numbers, and learners slowly develop an
understanding of numbers.
A strong number sense means that the learner has:
•• a sense of the size or the “how-many-ness” of a number

•• the ability to break down a number, re-organise it and build it up again in
a variety of ways
•• the ability to use a variety of calculation methods to solve problems
•• the ability to apply their knowledge of numbers to solve problems
7 Ac tivit y 2.1
According to Macmillan (2009:2), number sense is an ability to use numbers,
and an appreciation of number and number relationships. Set up a “post
office” in the corner of your home or Grade R class and observe how
children use number sense in fantasy play. It’s Christmas, perhaps, and
the children want to send cards to a post box in Ulundi. The box must
have a number, and they will need to put a stamp or stamps on their card.
Make up a story and then observe how the children use number in their
free play. Write down their conversations and then identify how the children
are using number and number sense in their fantasy play.
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26
L E AR N I N G U N I T 2: T h e d eve l o p m e nt o f nu m b e r s e ns e i n e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
In fantasy play, Grade R children will frequently demonstrate number
sense as they act out events, often based on a story they have heard or
happenings in their daily lives. Perhaps your topic for the week could be
“people who help us” (the postman) or “communication”, and the items
in your fantasy corner could be envelopes, stamps (drawn) and paper, to
invite the children to run their own post office. This play-based engagement
with number paves the way for more formal counting activities. Young
children often experience number through sharing objects, perhaps during
snack time, or singing number songs before they formally learn to count.
2.4 HOW NUMBER SENSE IS DEVELOPED IN THE EARLY YEARS

Before learners can understand numbers properly, some pre-number (before-
formal) concepts have to be established.
Pre-number concepts
As you have seen in learning unit 1, these concepts include: matching, one-
to-one correspondence, classifying (also called ordering), and conservation
of number. These concepts are important, because they form the basis for
developing a sound sense of number.
2.4.1 One-to-one correspondence

One-to-one correspondence is the most basic component of number concept.
Learners who have grasped one-to-one correspondence understand that one
object can be paired with another in a one-to-one relationship.
Let’s look at figure 2.1 below: You will notice that each flower has a butterfly.
This is an example of one-to-one correspondence.
FIGURE 2.1
One to one correspondence
•• How many ... (flowers are there?)

•• Are there more flowers or butterflies?
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27 E M A1501/1

Pairing or matching leads to the understanding of equivalence (=), more than

(>) and less/fewer than (<). For example in figure 2.2, five is more than four.
FIGURE 2.2
For all of the one-to-one correspondence activities that follow in this paragraph,
the teacher must ask questions such as:
•• How many more... (feet than shoes?)

•• How many less/fewer ... (shoes than feet?)
Use mathematical vocabulary to describe the relationship, e.g. “There are as

many ... as ...”; “There are two more ... than ...”; “There are less/fewer ... than ...”.
As you have seen in learning unit 1, Bruner explained that learners go through
various levels of understanding and learning. Initially the young learner learns
on a concrete level of understanding. Therefore, as far as possible, organise
activities for learners to learn from concrete objects. Remember, concrete
activities include all activities where learners’ bodies and senses are actively
involved. Concrete things are things you can see and touch, for example shoes,
pencils, tables, counters, etc.
After much experience with concrete materials, learners become independent

and do not have to rely as much on the physical materials. That is when they
start to use pictures to represent numbers or quantities. This is referred to as
the semi-concrete level of understanding.
Later on, children advance to the next level, called the semi-abstract level
of understanding. At this level, children use figures to represent a number
or quantity for example tallies, dots or arrays. Lastly, children progress to the
abstract level of understanding, where they can use numbers.
As Piaget explained, learning how to read and write symbols is an important

aspect of the representation of quantities, and how to connect numerals with the
written and spoken words for numbers, and with the concepts they represent.
Young children need to develop some specific skills before they are able to
identify and write numerals.
It is important that learners develop an understanding of the concrete concept

that the abstract symbol represents. We should therefore focus our instruction
on the understanding of number, so that learners may learn the true meaning
of the symbol used to represent a quantity. In other words, learners should
have a deep understanding of, say, the “threeness” of three.
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28
8 Ac tivit y 2. 2
During your teaching practical, identify two children in your class. Speak
to each child on their own and ask them to show you three fingers. They
will probably raise three fingers on one hand. Now ask them to show you
three fingers using two hands. Write down what the child does and ask
them to explain why they chose to do what they did.
A child who does not have a deep understanding of the “threeness” of
three will probably not be able to do this activity. They may show you three
fingers on each hand, i.e. a total of six fingers. Or they may look confused
and uncertain about what to do. Many children can cheerfully chant “one,
two, three, four, five ... (etc)”, but may have little understanding of the full
meaning of what they are chorusing. The evaluation we have asked you
to do is a quick and easy pointer to a possible lack of real understanding
on the part of the child.
In the Sotho culture, the number 6 is shown just by one thumb. This, of
course, creates a lot of difficulties later on when learners have to subtract
or add.
•• Using learners
At first it is easier for learners to understand one-to-one correspondence when
things can be physically joined. You can use learners’ own bodies to practise
this, e.g. call out 5 boys in your class. Let the whole class count them when
they come forward. Now call out 5 girls. Let them stand in two lines, holding
hands (or a piece of string between them), so that they are physically joined.
Learners can see that every girl has a partner (one-to-one correspondence)
and that the two groups (boys and girls) have the same or an equal number of
learners. The two groups both contain the same quantity. There is an equal
number of boys and girls – each boy can be matched to one girl as in figure 2.3.
FIGURE 2.3
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29 E M A1501/1

Now call out another boy to stand in the first row. There will now be one
more learner in the first row than in the second row. Point out to the learners
that the groups are now not the same or equal, they are unequal! (You can
also call out another boy so that there are two more learners.) The groups do
NOT contain the same quantity/number.
Ask the learners what they should do to match the two rows (call out another
girl/s to make the two groups equal.)
Remember to ask the learners questions involving how many / more than /
less than. Use mathematical vocabulary to describe the relationship (e.g. as
many as, one more than, one less than). Increase the number of learners, but
do not exceed 10. Carry on until you are satisfied that learners have grasped
the idea of as many as.
•• Using physical objects
The next step is to reinforce the one-to-one-correspondence concept by letting

learners use real objects. Start with groups of five objects, and gradually work
up to groups of ten. At first use things that can be matched easily, e.g. a sock
and a foot/shoe, or cups and saucers. The number of cups is the same as the
number of saucers.
Using shapes, dots or symbols
Use cut-out shapes, dots or symbols. Have empty tins or boxes available. Draw
(with a black permanent marker) or stick dots with Prestik (the number of dots
up to 10) on each tin (figure 2.4).
Each tin gets its own number of dots between 0 and 10. Give
each learner an empty tin with a number of dots that suits the
learner’s level of ability.
FIGURE 2.4
An empty tin illustrating 4 dots.
Ask the learners to count the dots on their tin and then to put the same number
of sticks/stones/beads in their tin as there are dots on their tin (learners match
the number of objects to the number of dots on their tin). If the learners are
ready, they can write the number symbol on a piece of paper. They then swap
tins around, counting and checking the answers of their peers.
2.4.2 ‌Classification
Classification is a pre-number concept that requires a lot of communication
and experimentation on the part of the children. We classify on a regular
basis, without even considering what we’re doing. We look in indexes that
are alphabetised or numerically arranged, we purchase groceries in areas of
food groups, we classify to sort laundry, we sort our silverware before putting
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30
it away. Children can benefit from a variety of classification activities which

will also support early numeracy concepts.
Classification means that learners can put things together that are alike or that
belong together. When learners are busy with classification, they are practising
sorting and grouping. While learners sort, group and regroup, they find out
how things differ and how things are classified according to their characteristics
(also called attributes or properties). As we have already pointed out in learning
unit 1, these attributes (characteristics) can be sorted or classified according
to their colour, size, length, form, texture, etc. In this manner, learners learn
to distinguish similarities and differences between objects and sort things
together based on their common characteristics. There are many activities that
you can do when teaching learners to classify things. Here are some examples
you can use:
•• Use of the environment
Divide learners into small groups. Take the learners on a nature walk. Ask
each group to collect small natural items, e.g. seeds, pips, stones, feathers,
etc. (These are collected to be used as counters in your class.) Let the learners
bring the items back to class. Talk about the different items and then decide
how they can be grouped. Make sure to discuss the special characteristics
(attributes/properties) of each group of items and have a discussion on the
similarities and differences between the items. (“How are they the same?”;
“How are they different”?)
Let the learners classify (sort) the objects they have collected into the groups
and let them explain why they have grouped the items in a specific group
together.
Also use other objects in your class for classification (sorting) exercises. Classify
(sort) the toys in class in separate groups, e.g. all the plastic items in one group
and all the wooden items in another. Colours can also be used.
Cut out 2 to 4 different shapes (e.g. square, circle and triangle) in varying sizes
and colours. (The sizes of the shapes should be appropriate for small hands
to use!) Provide each learner with more or less 10 shapes. Ask them to put
together the ones that are the same as in figure 2.5.
According to size: large square and According to shapes: large square and
large circle, small square and small small square, large circle and small
circle. circle.
FIGURE 2.5
Classification according to size and shape
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31 E M A1501/1

Ask the learners to explain why they have grouped the shapes the way they
have. Also look at and discuss the different ways the learners have classified
their shapes.
9 Ac tivit y 2. 3
Gather a whole lot of different objects from home, e.g. cotton reels, cutlery,
cleaning products (such as sponges and cloths) or cooking utensils – even
empty boxes, bottles or cans (though not with sharp edges) Ask the children
to work out how many different ways they could classify the items you are
displaying. Encourage them to think of unusual ways of grouping.
Children will often see associations between objects that may not have
occurred to us, e.g. a small packet of tomato sauce from a take-away may
be associated with a particular family outing or occasion. Encouraging
them to talk about the classification they have used, provides opportunities
for reasoning.
2.4.3 Ordering
Ordering involves ordering or arranging items in a sequence from first to last,
big to small, long to short, thick to thin, light to heavy, cool to hot, and so on.
Objects can be ordered according to a particular characteristic or attribute such
as length (shortest to tallest/longest), mass (lightest to heaviest), temperature
(from cool to hot), and so on. Ultimately, learners realise that the same objects
can be ordered in different ways.
•• Ordinal counting
Before entering the classroom, let a few learners (5 to 10) arrange themselves
in two lines (one boys, one girls) and order themselves from shortest to tallest
(ascending) or tallest to shortest (descending). Let them walk into the class and
remain standing in order. While standing in the line, the teacher and learners
say the number in the order in which they stand – John is first, Sipho is second,
Tebogo is third, Moyo is last, etc. This is also called ordinal counting. Ordinal
counting is counting that expresses position in a series, such as first, second
and third.
Let the learners also say what their position in the row is, e.g. “I am first”, “I
am second”, “I am third”, “I am last”. Hand out number cards to the learners
to show their positions:
etc.
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32
Play a game. Be creative and think about fun things for each learner to do, e.g.
let the first learner clap his/her hands once, let the 5th learner turns around 5
times, or let the last learner count to 10.
•• Using physical objects
Let the learners pack out a number of counters (between 3 and 10) of different
colours depicted in figure 2.6. You need to ensure that the learners know their
colours to do this activity. If they do not know all their colours, this will be
too difficult.
yellow blue green white red
FIGURE 2.6
Coloured counters
Ask “Which one is first/second/third/last?” (Check to see if the learners are

able to point this out correctly). Gradually increase the number of counters to
include fourth, … ninth, tenth. Extend this activity by giving instructions such
as: “Place the third counter behind / in front of / next to … .”
Let the learners also arrange the natural items they have previously collected
in a variety of ways, e.g. short to tall; thin to thick; light to heavy, etc.
Piaget (1954, cited in Excell & Linington 2015) considered the concrete stage a
major turning point in the child’s cognitive development, because it marks the
beginning of logical or operational thought. The child is now mature enough
to use logical thought or operations (i.e. rules), even though he/she can only
apply logic to physical objects (hence the term concrete operational).
10 Ac tivit y 2.4
Draw three columns and then tabulate the difference (using one example
each) between one-to-one correspondence, classification and ordering?
One-to-one correspondence is the ability to match each member of one
set with a member of another set.
Classification means putting things together that are alike or that belong
together.
Ordering means ordering or arranging things in a sequence.
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33 E M A1501/1

2.4.4 Counting
Counting is often seen as the starting point of developing number sense.
Counting is the process by which children call number values by name. The
variety and accuracy of their counting strategies and the level of development of
their counting skills are valuable indicators of children’s growth in mathematical
understanding (Naudé & Meier 2015).
The development of counting
How do young learners learn to count? Learners learn the names of numbers
by copying adults and older learners. At first, young learners often say the
number names in any random sequence as in figure 2.7. Have you ever heard
a young child count in this way?
One, two, three, five, seven, twelve, twenty!
FIGURE 2.7
A child counting in random sequence
It is not unusual to hear a young learner count “one, two, three, five, seven,
twelve, twenty”. This counting may sound strange, but it is perfectly natural
during the pre-school stage. It shows that the learner is still struggling to
remember the names of the numbers and their order, both of which are
necessary in order to count with understanding.
There are two distinct kinds of counting: verbal or rote counting and object
or rational counting.
Verbal/rote counting
Rote counting (parrot-like counting) implies that a learner can recite the number
names in the correct order from memory, e.g. the learner says: “One – two –
three – four – five – six – seven – eight – nine – ten” (in the correct sequence,
without using objects).
Rote counting is important, because it teaches learners the sequence and the
language of numbers. Through rote counting, they also gain an understanding
of the rhythm and patterns that are within numbers. Some learners may know
some number names, but not necessarily the right sequence. They learn the
right sequence through unlimited counting experiences, which give them the
opportunity to hear the correct sequence. Learners therefore need frequent
and repeated practice to develop these rote-counting skills.
Counting rhymes can be included. Here is an example:
One, two, three, four, five – once I caught a fish alive.
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34
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten – then I let him go again.

Why did you let him go? Because he bit my finger so.
Which finger did her bite?
This little finger on my right.
Object/rational counting
Rational counting means that the learners count with understanding. We referred
to this earlier on. Rational counting involves the counting of real objects. It
involves matching each number name, in the correct order, with a series of
objects. It means that the learner is able to answer the “how many” question.
In rational counting, the learner must see and handle the real object and
be able to maintain the correct correspondence between the objects being
counted and the names of the numbers. The last number name spoken shows
the total value (the “how-many-ness”). This is also called cardinality, or the
rule of cardinality.
Teachers often assume that learners are able to count when they can recite
the number names in sequence, from one to ten or beyond. This is, however,
not the case. If the learners do not see the relationship between the number
words and the quantity of items (rational counting) yet, they are only reciting
words, without having a sense of what they mean.
Look at the following actual example in figure 2.8 where a learner counts
rationally:
I touch each object and I say the number name.
The last number name I say is the total of the objects
I counted.
FIGURE 2.8
A child counting rationally.
Counting is more accurate and more realistic if the learner touches real objects.
When learners use real objects when they count, they have the opportunity
to count, recount and reflect upon their actions.
The teacher must observe the learners closely while they are counting counters
or objects. Watch to see if they say a number while they are touching the
object. Where do they start? Do they count each counter only once? Do they
say the number sequence in the correct order? Do they skip some counters?
Do they keep up with the rest of the group, or do they get confused? All of
these will indicate if the learner can count with understanding.
Learners need LOTS and LOTS of practice to enable them to count fluently
and accurately.
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11 Ac tivit y 2. 5
List five ways in which parents/caregivers could include a Grade R child
in normal household activities that involve counting. Now write down 5
reasons that you could give to show parents why it is valuable to include
a Grade R child in everyday counting activities in the home.
Parents and siblings can help a young learner develop their counting skills
and understanding by including them in everyday “counting activities” in
the home. When you unpack groceries, for example, let the child count
how many items there are. If you have guests coming for dinner, let the
child count the number of people there will be and, perhaps, put him/her
out the right number of plates.
Levels of counting and number sense
Learners gradually develop number sense and move through the following
levels in counting. Teachers need to be aware of these levels in counting,
and provide differentiated activities that are appropriate to the specific needs
of each individual learner. Levels in counting in the development of number
sense include:
•• Level 1: Count all

•• Level 2: Count on, counting back, skip counting, and counting in groups
•• Level 3: Breaking down and building up numbers
Each of these levels will be discussed.
The focus in Grade R is on Level 1.
Count all
This means that the learner counts all the objects one by one to find the total
number of objects. The learner must count in the correct order: one, two,
three, four … AND must also be able to connect this sequence in a one-to-
one correspondence with the objects in the set being counted. Each object
must get one count only. The learner must be able to count rationally (with
understanding).
As the learner counts the whole group of objects, he/she must touch and push
each object from one place to another to form a new group. He/she must then
report the last number name as the total number of objects.
How to teach counting
When starting to count, learners should first encounter numbers by experiencing

them with their whole body. We call these “kinaesthetic” experiences.
Kinaesthetic experiences include gross motor movements (movements of
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36
large body parts such as the arms and legs) and fine motor movements (smaller
movements of the hands, wrists, fingers, feet and toes), eye-hand coordination,
as well as the senses. When learners hear, see and do, they will have a better
understanding of numbers. Learners should therefore learn to count by counting
with their bodies and their senses!
If we are sure that the learners can count up to 5 and understand the value
of the numbers up to five, we can continue counting to ten. Always start by
counting concrete objects. Start with quantities that the learners understand and
gradually introduce bigger quantities. Some learners may be more advanced
– don’t hold them back!
If there is anything to count – COUNT IT! Remember, in learning unit 1 we

outlined the importance of learning through interacting with concrete objects.
Make use of objects in and outside your classroom and allow the learners to
count as many objects as they can, rather than deciding on a fixed amount
for the whole class. For example:
•• Count real, concrete objects in the classroom such as the girls/boys, chairs,
bottle tops, beads, shells, buttons, stones, fruit pips, plastic animals, leaves,
etc.
•• Count body parts e.g. fingers, toes, eyes, etc.
•• Count while climbing up the steps or walking down the corridor.
•• Count while jumping, e.g. give the instruction to learners to jump up and
down 5 times, with both feet together. Or alternate feet and jump 3 times
on one leg and three times on the other leg, etc.
•• Count while clapping, e.g. learners must clap their hands rhythmically
while counting, or when singing a counting song.
REMEMBER:
•• Counting activities should begin by having the learners touch each object.
•• Learners must link the name of the number with the object they touch
(one-to-one correspondence). Each object gets one number name only.
•• Teach learners to count from left to right.
•• The last number name called gives the total.
Rote counting
In order to learn to count with understanding, learners first need to know the
number sequence. They must therefore learn how numbers follow each other,
or how the numbers are ordered, in other words, the number rhyme: “One, two,
three, ...”. Here are a few ideas on how to teach learners to do rote counting.
•• Number sequence
Let the learners practise to say the number sequence (rote counting). Divide
the learners into small groups. Call each group to sit in front of you. Count out
the number sequence. Let them repeat the sequence after you, first in small
groups, and then as individuals. At first count to 5, then to 10, and then to 15,
and gradually increase the number, depending on the ability of the learners.
Let the learners say the number sequence after you, until they can say it
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37 E M A1501/1

themselves. Ask individual learners in the small group to recall the number
sequence. Allow each learner to count as far as she/he can. Ask the group
members to listen carefully to determine if the counting is correct.
•• Involving learners’ bodies/senses

Reinforce the counting act (to at least ten) by providing learning experiences
involving the learners’ senses. Let them use different senses to hear, see and
do the number sequence, e.g. use rhythm to clap, drum, jump, nod heads,
etc. while counting “one, two, three ...”.
Crossing the midline means that learners must be able to cross their imaginary
“middle line” by crossing their arms or legs over the middle of their bodies, for
instance by touching their left foot with their right arm, and so forth.
Let learners do a variety of movements while counting out loud and crossing
their midlines. Learners could clap their hands to the left and right, crossing
their midlines as they count out loud to 10. Then you can have them repeat
this by swinging their legs from left to right, crossing their midlines.
The use of actions, songs and rhymes
Let the learners perform counting actions, songs or rhymes in the large group,
with corresponding actions. Choose counting activities that physically involve
them.
Here are a few examples:
Simply counting by rote (saying the number sequence) is pointless, unless

meaning is attached to the process. In other words, learners must learn the value
(how-many-ness) of each of the numbers in the number sequence. Although it
is important to know the number rhyme (“One, two, three, …”), learners must
learn HOW to use the counting sequence to count with understanding, i.e. do
rational counting. Next we look at how to teach rational counting.
Rational counting
Starting off the day with counting helps learners focus on numbers. Daily rote
counting develops their vocabulary and teaches them the sequence of numbers,
while rational counting gets them to think what they are doing.
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Rational counting, quite simply, means counting with understanding. Counting

should be done every day, irrespective of the mathematics concept/s you are
focusing on. Counting must be meaningful and interesting and learners must
initially count real objects. They should not just sit passively and count by rote.
•• Using concrete objects
Each learner should receive a number of counters that she/he is able to count.
Let the learners individually count a variety of concrete objects by looking
at and touching each object as they count. Help the beginners to organise
the objects they are counting, by moving objects from one side (left) to the
other side (right) as they are counted shown in figure 2.9. It helps to give each
learner a sheet of paper. Ask them to fold the paper in half and then fold it
open again. Then the learners should place their counters on one half of the
sheet and move them across the fold as they count them.
FIGURE 2.9
Counting using concrete objects
Observe the learners to see that they count systematically and correctly. Keep
a record of how far each learner can count and gradually increase the number
of counters for further counting experiences.
Also arrange objects for the learners to count. Do not always arrange the objects
to be counted in the same order, as they need to realise that four (4) stays four
(4) no matter the order of the arrangement, for example in figure 2.10:
FIGURE 2.10
Counting objects according to different arrangements.
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39 E M A1501/1

You will remember from learning unit 1, that this is called number conservation.
•• Using learners’ bodies and objects
Exercises like beating a drum, clapping hands or tapping your foot can also be
used as an interesting way of presenting a counting activity. This is a way of
including the sense of hearing – which also forms part of the concrete stage.
By listening carefully learners can count the number of times a drum was
beaten, hands were clapped, or a foot was tapped.
Knowing from experience
Knowing from experience (also called visualisation) means that the learner
does not have to touch each object to count it. The learner can come to a
conclusion by seeing and remembering number combinations.
At first, let the learners use counters to make patterns of a specific number.
Start with a small number of objects (three). Work with a small group and
hold three counters in your hand. Open your hand and ask the learners to tell
you – without counting – how many counters there are in your hand. Let the
learners then arrange the same number (three) in different ways as in figure 2.11.
FIGURE 2.11
Arrangement of number 3 in different ways
Increase the number of objects to at least five. In this way learners practise
seeing and remembering arrangements of a number. It also teaches them
conservation of number (i.e. the number of dots stay the same irrespective of
the arrangement of the objects).
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40
•• The use of dot cards

You can help learners recognise a specific number of dots by exposing them to
dot cards as in figure 2.12. Start by making dot cards for the numbers 1 to 10.
Making dot cards for the You will need: Use empty cereal
numbers 1 to 10: Empty cereal boxes boxes to cut out an
A4 size for every dot
Scissors card.
Pencil Draw circles and
Crayons colour them in.
FIGURE 2.12
Dot cards
Dot cards can be used in the following way:
Work with a small group of learners on the carpet. Take out a set of dot cards
from 1 to 10 and a cup of beans/counters. Give each learner a turn to choose
a card. The rest of the group puts out the number of beans that matches the
number of dots on the card.
To expand this activity, learners can be asked to match a picture with the
correct number of dots as in figure 2.13.
FIGURE 2.13
Matching cards
Ask the learners HOW they matched the pictures. Did they have to count each
group of pictures and dots, or could they tell the number from the arrangement
of the pictures?
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41 E M A1501/1

On a more advanced level, give

each learner a set of dot cards with
different numbers of dots, but also
give them cards with the number
symbols and number names as in
figure 2.14. (Each individual
learner must get numbers within
the range they are comfortable
with, e.g. 1 to 5.)
FIGURE 2.14
Dot/number cards
Ask them to arrange the dot cards in order, from the cards with the fewest dots
to those with the most dots on them (i.e. arrange the number cards in ascending
order from smallest to largest). They can then also match the number of dots
with the number symbol and the number name.
FIGURE 2.15
Same-number dot cards
SAME-NUMBER DOT CARDS:

Make dot cards like before. The cards should be large enough for the whole class
to see properly. Paste or draw large dots in patterns to represent each number.
For each number, try to have a variety of patterns (different arrangements).
See three possibilities for the number three above in figure 2.15
HOW TO USE THE DOT CARDS:
Hold up a dot card for three seconds, and ask: “How many?” The learners
must see how quickly they can recognise the dot patterns shown by the
teacher. Once they have answered, ask: “How did you see it?” To build up their
confidence, first start with easy patterns and small numbers. Then introduce
patterns with more dots. (The learners can also flash the cards to each other
as a workstation or paired activity.)
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42
12 Ac tivit y 2.6
Write a paragraph on the difference between rote and rational counting.
Rote counting means being able to recite numbers from memory.
Rational counting means counting with understanding. Do you remember
the example we used earlier in the module that you can use to check
understanding?
Counting backwards
Counting backwards means that the learner can start at any particular point
and count backwards while saying the correct number names, e.g. 5, 4, 3, 2,
1. This skill prepares learners for subtraction sums.
•• Using number rhymes and songs
Many rhymes and poems are available to practise counting backwards in an

informal and fun way. Some examples are provided here.
Five little monkeys (rhyme)
Five little monkeys walked along the shore,

One went a-sailing,
Then there were four.
Four little monkeys climbed up a tree,
One came tumbling down,
Then there were three.
Three little monkeys found a pot of glue,
One got stuck in it,
Then there were two.
Two little monkeys found a currant bun,
One ran away with it,
Then there was one.
One little monkey cried all afternoon –
So they put him in a rocket ship,
And sent him to the moon!
The use of a number track or number line
A number line must first be introduced on the concrete level. Write large
numbers (1 to 10) on A4 paper. Let 10 learners each take a number and organise
themselves into a “number line” from 1 to 10 as in figure 2.16. The rest of the
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43 E M A1501/1

group count from 1 to 10 while they read the numbers on the “number line”.
Let the learners take turns to make a number line of ten (until all the learners
have had a chance). Continue ….
FIGURE 2.16
Learners organised according to numbers.
Now let the learners also count back from 10 to 1.
You can also use this “number line” for number recognition. Ask learners to
show you a number, e.g. “Show me 5”.
When finished, you can paste these numbers on your wall to form a number
track as in figure 2.17. Now use your number track and point to the numbers
as the learners count from 1 to 10 and 10 to 1.
Number track:
FIGURE 2.17
Number track
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44
Comparing numbers: more than / less than
As learners develop a sense of number, they become aware of the different

quantities the numbers represent, and may compare numbers. They begin to
realise that 4 is more than 2, and that 2 is less than 3. However, they might
not necessarily know that 4 is 2 more than 2, or that 2 is 1 less than 3.
Being able to count with understanding and having an idea of the value of
numbers lays the foundation for addition and subtraction. Although addition
and subtraction are not referred to directly in emergent mathematics, they often
form part of problem solving on a daily basis. As a result, we often present and
discuss with our learners story sums which involve addition and subtraction.
2.4.5 ‌Story sums

Story sums are highly significant when it comes to reading comprehension
and understanding basic maths principles. They promote an interest in maths
by illustrating the connection between maths and the “real world”. Generally,
word problems are used to challenge students to think critically. Story sums
are an excellent source to use when teaching and testing the understanding
of new concepts of math.
Below is an example of an appropriate word problem for Grade R. Let the

learners use counters (if necessary) to solve the problem.
There are 10 bananas in a bag. I eat 7 bananas. How many bananas are left?
13 Ac tivit y 2.7
Create a fun story sum activity that you could use in class. Write down the
steps you would follow to introduce the activity.
One example could be. A visitor arrives at the school with a bag of oranges
to share between the two Grade R classes. There are 10 oranges in the
bag. How can we work out how many to give each class?
2.4.6 Estimation and counting

An essential part of number sense and counting is to first estimate, and then
count and verify the number. Estimation means that the learner must make a
reasonable “guess” regarding how many or how much, without counting or
measuring. The learners might estimate how many objects there are in a jar,
or how many feet in the class.
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45 E M A1501/1

However, the learners should not just guess wildly. Estimation is based on prior
knowledge. Therefore, to be able to make a reasonable guess, learners need
to have some counting experience and some sense of number.
Estimation is another way of making numbers easier to work with when we

don’t need to know exactly how many; we just need to know about how
many. An estimate is really an “educated guess”, in other words, a guess that
is based on some prior knowledge or facts. Estimation is often viewed as not
only a maths skill, but also a life skill.
In order to teach learners how you estimate (make a reasonable guess), you
need to allow them to pick up counters, estimate the number of counters, and
then count the total number of counters.
In small groups, learners can play the “guessing game”: One learner picks up
a few counters in one hand, the others estimate how many there are, and then
count them to see if their estimation was correct. Was the estimation more or
less the actual number?
2.4.7 Money
During grade R, learners need to develop an awareness of money. This could
form part of the fantasy play area, or the maths corner. Here the learners can
use fake money to buy things. This provides them with the opportunity to
become familiar with money and to do informal calculations.
2.5 THE USE OF BASIC TECHNOLOGY AND ICT IN TEACHING NUMBER

SENSE
From a very young age children are being exposed to, and are becoming
involved with technology. These devices may include cellphones, tablets
and computers/laptops. Both parents and teachers encourage the use of
technology as stimulation and an opportunity for problem solving. While there
may be value in doing this, we need to ensure that the games and videos are
age-appropriate.
It is important to create opportunities for learners to engage with technology

in a meaningful and structured manner. When selecting the appropriate
software, you should consider whether it has been approved, and by whom
it has been approved.
There are many software and hardware products that are available in stores
and online, to help with counting skills.
Learners can also encounter technology in the form of objects such as “old
alarm clocks”, landline telephones, cooking timers and suchlike in various
parts of the classroom. These expose the learners to changes in technology.
Such objects can also provide opportunities for discovering maths concepts,
for example recognising numbers on a clock or a telephone dial.
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46
In learning unit 1, we discussed different kinds of play. The six kinds of play
can be used during freeplay time to develop learners’ sense of number. For
example, with regard to wordplay, the teacher can place books on counting in
the book corner, and she can also place a tape recorder (basic technology) in
the book corner for learners to freely listen to counting songs. For construction
play, she can put out number puzzles, where learners have to link dots with
numbers. For the fantasy area, she can perhaps make a rule that only 4 learners
may be involved in play at a time. They therefore have to count how many of
them are in the area, and then decide how many have to wait their turn, or
perhaps how many learners may be allowed in, to make up 4 learners. In the
movement area, she can place hoola hoops with number cards and ask the
learners to throw the requested number of bean bags in the hoops.
Learners must be exposed to and encouraged to use the rule of cardinality,

one-to-one correspondence, matching etc during freeplay, to explore the
concepts discovered during the formal teaching activity earlier in the morning.
2.6 RECOMMENDED READING

Clements, DH & Sarama, J. 2009. Learning and teaching early math: the learning
trajectory approach. New York: Routledge. Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Naudé, M & Meier, C. 2015. Teaching Foundation Phase Mathematics: a guide
for South African students and teachers. Pretoria: Van Schaik. Chapter 3.
South Africa. National Department of Education. 2009. National Early Learning
and Development Standards for children birth to four years (NELDS):
draft. Pretoria. Pages 26–27.
South Africa. National Department of Education. 2012. Mathematics Curriculum
and Assessment Policy Statements, Grade R. Pretoria. Pages 41–47.

(1) What is number sense?
(2) Discuss the importance of number sense in emergent mathematics.
(3) Explain the pre-number concepts which are important for a child to learn.
(4) Describe the difference between rational and rote counting.
(5) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using basic technology
and ICT in the teaching of number concepts?
2.8 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit you have learnt about number sense and its importance, the
development of number sense and the role of technology in developing number
sense. First, we explored what number sense is, by focusing on numbers and
their relationship to each other. We then explored the importance of number
sense. Thereafter we explored and considered teaching strategies and concepts
involving number sense. Lastly, we considered the role of basic technology
in developing number sense. After studying this learning unit, you should be
aware of the fact that the teaching of number sense is the very foundation of
the teaching and learning of mathematics.
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47 E M A1501/1


Excell, L & Linington, V (eds). 2015. Teaching Grade R. Cape Town: Juta.
Gersten, R & Chard, D. 1999. Number sense: rethinking arithmetic instruction
for students with mathematical disabilities. The Journal of Special
Education 33(1): 18–28.
Macmillan, A. 2009. Numeracy in early childhood. South Melbourne: Oxford
University Press.
Naudé, M & Meier, C. 2014. Teaching Foundation Phase Mathematics. Pretoria:
Van Schaik.
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48
LEARNING UNIT
3 3
The development of pattern identification

3
LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have completed this learning unit, you should be able to
•• explain what a pattern is

•• discuss the basic importance of patterns in the teaching of emergent
mathematics
•• explain the teaching strategies that could be used to teach the concept of
pattern identification to early grade children.
KEY CONCEPTS
•• pattern
•• pattern identification
•• geometric pattern
•• number pattern
•• algebra
•• perceptual
•• visual
•• auditory
•• kinaesthetic/kinesthetic
3.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous two learning units, we have explored the nature and meaning
of emergent mathematics and number concepts. Now that you have a basic
understanding of emergent mathematics, let us turn our attention to pattern
identification. Patterns were briefly introduced in learning unit 1. In this learning
unit, you will explore pattern-making and the role it plays in developing
mathematical competence.
A play-based early-years curriculum can provide many opportunities for the

enhancement of mathematical concepts. Macmillan (2009:115) identifies pattern
as one of the general principles underlying all mathematics. Pattern, she states that
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49 E M A1501/1

“Pattern is the search for order and or repetition in arrangements of

objects, space, numbers and design”.
In Grade R, pattern-making can be offered during free play, indoors and

outdoors, as well as in teacher-guided activities. A young child can be offered
a range of different media, e.g. bottle tops, Unifix cubes or buttons, as well as
pen and paper to create different patterns. Two wax crayons, a pink and an
orange one, for example, could be used to make a simple pattern of pink –
orange – pink – orange. A child who can do this effectively, is demonstrating
an awareness of patterns.
We will now consider what it is a teacher needs to know to encourage a young

child to make patterns.
3.2 WHAT IS A PATTERN?

A pattern is something that happens in a regular and repeated way, such as
when a child sings “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees
and toes. Heads, shoulders, knees and toes … .” When a collection or array
of objects or numbers such as in figure 3.1
FIGURE 3.1
A pattern using shapes
or 2 1 5 6 are repeated in a specific sequence, this forms a repeating pattern

which can be identified and described as generalised rules or functions (Kruger
& Wessels, cited in Excell & Linington 2015:264). For example, what will the
function of the pattern above be?
The rule of this pattern is: The repetition of two geometric shapes in the same
order, where the first shape is always a triangle and the second a diamond
(Kruger & Wessels, cited in Excell & Linington 2015:264).
Macmillan (2009:213) maintains that pattern-making develops a key

understanding of all aspects of numeracy competence. It creates an awareness
of the necessity for order and sequence, and of the elements of an array or
arrangement that create the order or disturb it: that is, a focus on sameness or
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LE AR N I N G U N I T 3: T h e d eve l o p m e nt o f p at te r n i d e nt i f i c at i o n i n e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
difference. It also encourages perceptual strategies, such as left-to-right eye

movement and one-to-one correspondence.
Patterns bring order to our world and experiences. A pattern can be described
as things that are repeated over and over, following a rule or set of rules.
Another type of pattern is growing patterns. Growing patterns are patterns
that increase (grow) or decrease (shrink) systematically (Naudé & Meier 2015).
In this unit only repeated patterns will be explored. From early on, children
observe patterns in all kinds of situations, as they observe the world around
them. These may be patterns in nature, such as zebra stripes, or man-made
patterns, as seen in floor tiles depicted in figure 3.2. Patterns often play a role
in our cultural heritage.
A B C
FIGURE 3.2
Manmade and natural patterns
14 Ac tivit y 3.1
Which is a natural pattern (A, B or C)
Give a reason for your answer
Design an art activity where you could use animal print to teach patterns
Think about how you could use leopard spots, zebra stripes, tiger stripes,
giraffe spots, peacock feathers, dalmation dogs and so forth.
Out of interest, reflect upon why there is a ban on clothing made from
animal fur!
You should expose your learners to many different kinds of learning experiences
where you help them to develop their thinking about what makes a pattern.
You can show them the ways to explain patterns using language, numbers,
symbols or drawings. For example: the zebra skin’s pattern is black, white,
black, white, black, white. You must also help them to make predictions and
generalise rules from various kinds of patterns.
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51 E M A1501/1

A geometric pattern is the repetition of a geometric shape as in figure 3.3.
FIGURE 3.3
A geometric pattern
A number pattern, on the other hand, is a string of numbers that follows a

rule which determines how the string of numbers continues. See the example
below in figure 3.4:
FIGURE 3.4
Number patterns
Learners first start by copying patterns. Then they learn to extend a pattern
and, lastly, they create their own patterns. We build up to creating patterns
after much experience with copying and extending patterns. In grade R,
learners need to copy and extend geometric patterns. Number patterns are
only introduced from Grade 1 onwards.
As we have already stated, Grade R learners can make patterns with all sorts
of waste items, such as bottle tops of different sizes or colours.
In order to grasp the concepts of patterns, your learners will have to engage in
activities in which they can physically touch, feel and manipulate mathematical
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52
objects. You can ask them to identify, copy, and then extend simple patterns
made with physical objects, colours and shapes. You can start with three-
dimensional objects, for instance wooden blocks, and then we move on to
two-dimensional patterns, using pen and paper.
Creative art activities can provide an enriching context for pattern-making

and innovation. Children can create their own geometric patterns depicting,
perhaps, different patterns they would like to see used as labels on their
classroom lockers.
Patterns in nature and those that feature in cultural heritage could be copied
in paint, crayon or play dough. If you take paint and paper outside, the Grade
R learners could, as a group, create a collage of different patterns with natural
items, which could then be dried and hung against the classroom wall.
Inside, each learner can draw on A3 or A4 paper a pattern of their choice,

and these can be bound together, using string, to create a class book entitled
“Our patterned world – a Grade R perspective”.
15 Ac tivit y 3. 2
Look at the patterns below.
1.
2.
Are both of these geometric patterns? If so, why, and if not, why not?
Explain your answer.
Number 1 is a geometric pattern because the pattern of rectangle, triangle
and star is repeated. The heart, diamond and oval (no 2) do not form a
pattern, as the sequence is not repeated. You need to have at least two
repetitions to show that a pattern is following a specific rule. If you added
two more repetitions of this core pattern, you would have drawn the
beginning of a pattern.
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53 E M A1501/1

3.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF PATTERNS

Patterns in mathematics enable us to see structure in numbers, mathematical
operations, geometric shapes and objects, and in data. They are important
in laying the foundation for the concepts of functions and algebra in the
Foundation Phase. A function, remember, is an input that relates to an output.
For example, in 3 + 1 = 4, 3 and 1 are the the inputs and 4 is the output.
Blanton (2008:46, cited in Naudé & Meier) argues that we as teachers cannot just
briefly cover patterns, but need to present high-quality, challenging experiences
to learners in order to establish firm foundations for future algebra to be
built on. In emergent mathematics, learners should experience patterns at a
concrete level. This means that they should be involved in copying, extending
and creating patterns. Copying a pattern helps them to see the logic in how
the pattern is made.
Once the learners have a good understanding of patterns, they will have
acquired the necessary pre-knowledge for writing rules for patterns. As the
learners investigate patterns, we must encourage them to describe the patterns.
In Grade R where the curriculum is essentially integrated, many learners should
be able to describe patterns using appropriate language such as “the same as”,
“different from”, “bigger than”, “smaller than”, “to the left of”, etc. Continue
to focus, therefore, on developing the language needed to describe patterns.
Language and communication are very important elements of patterning
activities. Encourage learners to “think out loud” as they describe their patterns.
Often learners see patterns in a way that is different from what you might have
anticipated.
16 Ac tivit y 3. 3
Look at the clothes in your cupboard – blouses, ties, dresses, scarves or
other items of clothing. Can you identify a pattern on at least one of the
items?
Remember, there must be at least two repetitions to show that a pattern

is following a specific rule.
Now draw the pattern you have chosen and identify, in writing, at least
three features of the pattern, e.g. a blue square is followed by a red triangle,
the circles are surrounded by pink dots, or whatever features are specific
to your example.
Did your example meet the criteria of a pattern?
When you identified the pattern, you were able to visually discriminate,
i.e. to notice the difference between one object and another.
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54
3.4 TEACHING STRATEGIES SUITABLE FOR TEACHING PATTERN

IDENTIFICATION
Remember that at Grade R-level children learn best when they experience
new concepts (such as matching) first of all with their bodies, secondly by
handling 3-D objects such as cubes or bottle tops, and only then by moving
on to pen-and-paper activities, which are sometimes called 2-D activities.
Patterns should also be presented in a variety of different modes:
•• visually, through sight
•• auditory, through hearing
•• kinaesthetically, through activities involving the use of body movements
•• through taste
•• through touch
Using these different modes helps learners identify and repeat patterns in
different ways, involving all their senses.
You need to provide lots of time, materials and opportunities for learners
to discover, explore and describe patterns in different modes, such as with
movement (actions), music (sound) and real objects (e.g. geometric shapes).
You can start by showing the learners an easy pattern to copy and slowly build
up to extending the pattern. For example:
Hands, feet, hands, feet, hands, feet, hands, feet.

Hands, feet, knees, hands, feet, knees, hands, feet, knees.
Hands, feet, knees, toes, hands, feet, knees, toes, hands, feet, knees, toes.
Hands, feet, knees, toes, fingers, hands, feet, knees, toes ,fingers, hands, feet,
knees, toes, fingers.
This could involve movement as learners act out the pattern, touching their
own body parts as they say the words. They could also clap or tap the pattern,
with you (the teacher) providing the beat.
17 Ac tivit y 3.4
We said at the start of this section that Grade R children learn best when
they first experience new concepts, like making patterns, with their own
bodies. Why do you think we say this? Write down what you think the
reasons for this claim are.
Remember to think about the teaching and learning theories you

are also studying as part of this course.
Then discuss why learners should first learn patterns by using their bodies.
Have you mentioned any of the following?
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55 E M A1501/1

•• Piaget, a constructivist, argued that children construct their own

understanding of the world. He maintained that thought comes from
action, not from words (Peterson & Felton-Collins 1986:7). Children,
therefore, learn best from concrete experience or from “doing”, rather
than from “hearing about.”
•• Grade R learners are aware of their own bodies and like to experiment
with movement, shape and sounds. By experiencing a repetition in
shape or movement, they learn how to create their own patterns, and
what important elements are necessary to form a pattern.
We will now explore how patterns can be taught, using
•• movement, actions and sounds

•• language
•• real objects
•• geometric shapes
•• the world around us
3.4.1 Patterns in movement, actions and sound

Here is a fun activity to do in class, where you let the learners use their bodies:
•• Call one learner forward and ask the learner to make a shape with his/her
body.
•• Now call the next learner to make another shape with his/her body.
•• Do this until you have a core of three learners creating a pattern with their
bodies see figure 3.5.
FIGURE 3.5
Pattern using bodies
•• Use another three learners to repeat the core to form a pattern.
FIGURE 3.5
Pattern using bodies
•• Discuss the pattern created by the six learners and also some important
aspects regarding patterns (the repeating part [core], etc).
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56
•• Now call out another learner and ask: “What comes next?” This learner
should now look at the first learner, and make the same design with his/
her body.
•• Continue to repeat the pattern until all the children are involved.
3.4.2 Patterns in drumming

Drumming provides an excellent means of making patterns with music and
actions (noise patterns). You should ensure that Grade R learners get sufficient
practice in making noise patterns, using musical instruments.
If drums are available for cultural activities in your community, try to borrow
some and plan patterning activities with different rhythms. Alternatively, the
learners can make their own drums with old tins and hide/rubber.Desks or
other surfaces that can make a sound can also be used.
Patterning, as we have explained, involves sequencing and the patterns created

may be kinaesthetic (movement), auditory (sound) or visual (pictures or colours).
In Grade R we plan rings, rather than lessons, and patterning activities can
be used to introduce or close a numeracy ring. For example, you could start
your ring using a clapping pattern.
18 Ac tivit y 3. 5
During your teaching practice sessions, design a movement pattern. Write
down the steps you will follow and the instructions you will give. Try it out
with your learners and write a short reflection on how it went and what,
if anything, you would change if you had to do it again.
Here is an example of a movement pattern:
Use patterns while moving at different speeds, e.g. when stepping:
slow, quick, quick (abb)

quick, quick, slow, slow (bbaa)
3.4.3 Patterns in dance

You can demonstrate a dance with a pattern and ask the learners to repeat the
actions several times. The learners must stand in rows, facing the teacher. Let
them first do the actions separately, and then let them execute the same pattern.
For example: Two claps, one skip, one stamp, two claps, one skip, and one
stamp.
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57 E M A1501/1

3.4.4 Patterns in song

Songs and actions can also be used to create noise patterns. Although used
frequently in Grade R classrooms, one does not often connect the patterns
of repeated sound and words in stories, songs and rhymes and relate them
to mathematics.
There are many children’s rhymes, finger rhymes, stories and songs which
contain a pattern. The rhythm, rhyme and repeating phrases can be used to
introduce learners to the patterns found in language. Find rhymes, stories and
songs from your own context to use in class.
Watch the following clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEje6DRukxg
Umvundlana othile
Umvundlana othile
wangena entsimini
waqakatha
wadibana nembotyi
wayitya kwasemini
wanyantsula wanyantsula
wagoduka ehluthi
A little hare
A little hare
went into a garden
sniffed around searching
and met a bean;
he ate it up till daylight
(dragging action of somebody full)
and went home
Listen to the following rhymes:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=el&lang=Zulu
Five little monkeys
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head
So Momma called the doctor and the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Four little monkeys jumping on the bed

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed

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58
Two little monkeys jumping on the bed

One little monkey jumping on the bed

He fell off and bumped his head
No little monkeys jumping on the bed

None fell off and bumped his head
Put those monkeys back in bed!
19 Ac tivit y 3.6
Design a sound or noise pattern, referring, if you can, to what you have
learnt from trying out your movement pattern with your learners. Write
down the steps you will follow and the instructions you will give. Again, if
you are able, try it out with your learners and write a short reflection on how
it went and what, if anything, you would change if you had to do it again.
Here is an example of an animal sound pattern:
Divide the children into 2 or 3 groups.
Give each group an animal noise.
Conduct the animal orchestra – when you point to each group, the
children make their particular animal sound, e.g. quack, baa, moo,
quack, quack, baa, baa, moo, moo, quack, baa, moo, quack, quack,
baa, baa, moo, moo, and so forth.
3.4.5 Patterns in real objects

There are many resources in our everyday life that we can use to let learners
make patterns. You can use real objects from household waste (bottle tops,
beads, old buttons, used matches, etc) or from the environment (stones, shells,
leaves, seeds, etc). We referred to some of these in the introduction. Here are
some illustrations of these in figure 3.6.
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59 E M A1501/1

Here is an example:
FIGURE 3.6
Patterns using everyday objects
20 Ac tivit y 3.7
Plan an outdoor activity with your Grade R learners, where they collect
anti-waste or natural objects, e.g. grass, or leaves that have fallen from
trees in the school grounds. The “collection” walk could be linked to your
theme of week, e.g. “Autumn”, or “Keeping our environment clean”. If you
do not have a class, perhaps you can try it out with some young family
members of friends in an open area nearby.
Now design an activity where your learners/participants will make

patterning cards with at least 3 repetitions of the available materials.
Write down the steps you will follow, the route the learners will follow on
their “collection walk”, and the instructions you will give. Think about other
resources you will need. You can collect cereal boxes or similar cardboard
boxes/items, which can be cut to make the cards. Again, if you are able, try
it out with your learners and write a short reflection on how it went and
what, if anything, you would change if you had to do it again.
Object patterns can, as we have suggested, be related to your weekly
theme or topic.
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60
The children can place two or three items in a sequence. They can then
chant the pattern, e.g. leaf, leaf, seed, pod; or (depending on the theme)
packet, packet, paper, straw.
3.4.6 Patterns in geometric shapes

Learners can use paper shapes or real shapes (if they are available) to build
and extend patterns like the following in figure 3.7:
FIGURE 3.7
Geometric shapes pattern
3.4.7 Patterns around us

One of the outcomes for learners in Grade R is that they should be able to
identify, copy, extend and create a variety of patterns around them, as they
appear in nature, in modern everyday life, and in our cultural heritage. Ask
the learners to gather information about patterns by using all of their senses
and their observation skills. You must choose activities and patterns that are
appropriate for Grade R learners, or for the grade that you are teaching.
Natural patterns are patterns found in nature (Naudé & Meier 2015:146). Most
learners are very interested in nature and love investigating nature. Use their
natural curiosity as an opportunity to make them aware of patterns in their
natural surroundings. Plan learning opportunities for your learners to observe,
investigate, predict, and, most importantly, describe the regularities found in
patterns in nature. Use the natural world as your “classroom” to teach patterns.
Examples of natural patterns include the day/night/day/night pattern and the
seasonal cycle of winter-spring-summer-autumn (Naudé & Meier 2015:146).
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61 E M A1501/1

•• Animals
Allow learners to investigate the regularities (and try to find the rules) in
the patterns found on animals (see figure 3.8), insects and plants in their
environment.
FIGURE 3.8
Patterns on animals
•• Plants
Patterns on plants are readily available and accessible. Let the learners investigate
different leaves, seeds, cones, or any other plant parts.
To see the patterns in fruits, one often has to slice the fruit open to see the
patterns of the flesh and seeds (figure 3.9).
FIGURE 3.9
Patterns in fruit
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62
•• Buildings
There are a number of man-made patterns all around us. You can find them in
the classroom. Point out the windows, burglar bars, floor tiles and the bricks
of the buildings.
Patterns are often found in buildings and architecture. Let the learners identify
such patterns within the school grounds as in figure 3.10.
FIGURE 3.10
Patterns on a building.
•• Fabric/material
Many patterns can be found on clothing. Let the learners bring some of their
clothing with a pattern on it (a sweater, dress, shirt, skirt or suchlike) to school
to identify, describe, discuss and draw the patterns.
•• Cultural
We often see patterns on cultural objects such as clay pots, beadwork, jewellery,
clothing, the walls of huts, etc (figure 3.11). Bring examples to show the learners.
Let them also bring some examples from home.
FIGURE 3.11
Patterns on cultural objects
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3.5 USING ART TO TEACH PATTERNS

Art is a child’s way to show what they know on a higher level of thinking.
Here are some practical art activities, which involve the use of patterns:
•• Using clay to make patterns
Clay modelling is fun for learners. While they are copying, extending or creating
a pattern, the learners are making use of their fine motor skills and imagination.
•• Using a collage to make patterns
A collage can be created using a pattern of feather and sticks. This can also be
used to make a patterned frame for pictures depicted in figure 3.12.
FIGURE 3.12
Patterned picture frame.
•• Using paint to make patterns
Learners can dip one finger in red paint and one in blue paint. They can
make a pattern with these.
The learners can also create their own wrapping paper, using potato prints:
Cut potatoes in half. Use a sharp knife to cut out a shape on the flat sides
of the halves. Let the learners dip the potatoes in paint and print the shapes
on old cardboard, newspaper or any other paper. (Any other waste material
like toilet rolls, corks, a piece of plastic squeezed into a ball, etc. can be
used for printing. If you don’t have paint, the learners can also dip their
print material into mud or ash and make a print on paper.) See figure 3.13.
Remember, patterns must be created according to rules!
Remember, patterns must be created according to rules!
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64
FIGURE 3.13
Patterns using paint
•• Drawing their own patterns
The learners can draw their own patterns using crayons and pencils.
In learning unit 1 we discussed different kinds of play. The six kinds of play
can be used during freeplay time to develop the learners’ sense of pattern.
For example, for creative play, the teacher can place shapes in a pattern on a
table and provide the opportunity for the learners to copy, extend or create
their own patterns. Books about patterns can be placed in the book corner for
the learners to page through. For construction play, the teacher can provide
puzzles that show/build patterns. In the movement area, she could have music
playing softly and the learners can clap according to the beat of the music.
Learners who are exposed to and use patterns during freeplay, have the
opportunity to explore the concepts discovered during the formal teaching
activity earlier in the morning.
We live a world, which is colourful and regulated by pattern. We can use our
voices, our bodies and different kinds of objects to make patterns. In so doing,
we are taking part in mathematical enquiry. Enjoy.

Hourigan, M & Leavy, A. 2015. Geometric growing patterns: what’s the rule?
Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom 20(4):31–40. EBSCOhost,
https://www.ebscohost.com (accessed on 15/2/2016).
Kieran, C. 2007. What do we know about the teaching and learning of algebra
in the elementary grades? National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,
NCTM Brief 2007a (http://www.nctm.org).
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65 E M A1501/1

South Africa. National Department of Education. 2009. National early learning

and development standards for children birth to four years (NELDS):
draft. Pretoria: Department of Education. Pages 26–27.
South Africa. National Department of Education. 2012. Mathematics curriculum
and assessment policy statements, Grade R. Pretoria: Department of
Education. Pages 26, 49.

(1) Define the concept “pattern”?
(2) Discuss the importance of patterns in emergent mathematics.
(3) Provide reasons for using visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities in
the teaching of patterns.
(4) Discuss three kinds of patterns around us.
3.8 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit you have learnt about patterns, pattern identification and
teaching strategies involving patterns. First, we explored what a pattern is, by
focusing on the definition of a pattern and types of patterns. We then explored
the importance of patterns. Thereafter we considered teaching strategies
involving patterns and discussed the importance of using visual, auditory and
kinaesthetic activities in the teaching of patterns. It should be clear to you
now that the teaching of patterns is an integral part of teaching and learning
in emergent mathematics.

University Press.
Van Schaik.
Peterson, R & Felton-Collins, V. 1986. The Piaget handbook for teachers and
parents. New York and London: Teachers College Press.
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66
LEARNING UNIT
4 4
4 Shape and space in emergent mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOMES
•• identify and explain important concepts related to shape and space in

•• discuss the role of shape and space in emergent mathematics
•• explain how teachers can use play to enhance mathematical development
in relation to space and shape
•• apply teaching strategies to teach the concepts of space and shape
KEY CONCEPTS
•• position
•• direction
•• movement
•• 2-D shapes
•• 3-D objects
•• symmetry
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The mathematical field of geometry is made up of concepts relating to space
and shape – that is why, in the Foundation Phase curriculum, geometry is
often simply referred to as “Space and Shape”. The shapes around us take up
space. Shapes have different characteristics and they can be broken down
into component parts. Typically, a large part of Space and Shape focuses on
learning the names and properties of 2-D shapes and 3‑D objects. Building
vocabulary is essential to this. Another important part of Space and Shape
is recognising shapes and objects in a variety of orientations and positions.
It also deals with the location of objects in a plane (flat surface), including
movement, position, and direction. Geometry (Space and Shape) therefore
helps us represent and describe the world we live in, in an orderly way.
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67 E M A1501/1

In this learning unit, you will learn about the concepts of position and direction
and how to design activities that can be used to teach these concepts. Next,
we will turn our attention to 2-D shapes, 3-D objects and symmetry, and the
teaching strategies for these concepts.
21 Ac tivit y 4.1
Here is an interesting observation. All the letters used to spell the words
“space” and “shape” are the same, with only one letter being different in
each word, namely the “p” in “space” and the “h” in “shape”.
Discuss what each of these concepts mean and how they relate to each
other.
Shape defines an object such as the shape of a square is four equal angles
and sides. Space refers to position and movement. Shapes can move around
in space to change their position. Look at figure 4.1 below to illustrate the
concepts of shape and space.
FIGURE 4.1
Shapes in different positions
4.2 IMPORTANT CONCEPTS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES IN SHAPE AND

SPACE
Let’s begin by looking at the concepts of position and direction. We will also
consider some strategies that can be used to teach these concepts in the early
years. Next we will discuss the concepts of 2D shapes and 3D objects and
teaching strategies around these concepts.
4.2.1 Position and direction

In order to teach position and direction, we need to understand the difference
between these 2 concepts. “Position” refers to the position of things in relation
to one another – for example: above, behind, next to, etc. Following on from
position is “direction”, which involves movement from one place to another,
for instance when giving instructions to get from one place to another. Position
and direction lay the foundation for the learning and teaching of geometry,
as well as for map work.
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68
L E AR N I N G U N I T 4: Sh a p e a n d sp a ce i n e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
Now that you know what the purpose of teaching position and directionality is,
let’s look at some of the strategies that can be used in teaching these concepts.
•• An example of an activity to teach position and direction: using the body

in positioning
As discussed in previous study units, young learners learn new concepts

by using their bodies as a starting point. By structuring an obstacle course
(figure 4.2) you can teach learners positional relationships and different ways
of moving in space.
FIGURE 4.2
Obstacle Course
In an obstacle course there is a starting point and an exit point. In completing

the obstacle course, learners not only learn about positioning, they also learn
about movement (jump, crawl and walk) and about the direction of movement
(over, through, around and behind). Combining as many as possible learning
experiences around positioning in a fun activity, will motivate learners to learn
in an enjoyable way.
Obstacle courses can be made out of all sorts of anti-waste material, empty
boxes, old tyres, a plank placed on two bricks that have been discarded by
the builders. You do not have to have “shop-bought” material. The children
themselves can be the resource. You could, for example, use the following
types of instructions to guide learners to learn about positional relationships
using their own body in relationship to those of their peers (class mates):
•• Jump over Jabu’s legs.

•• Crawl through Jake’s legs.
•• Walk around Judy and hide behind the table.
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69 E M A1501/1

22 Ac tivit y 4. 2
During your teaching practice sessions design an obstacle course you
could set out for your learners. Write down at least 5 instructions for the
learners. The instructions should use position and direction words. Think
about anti – waste material in your community that you could include in
your obstacle course. Old cereal boxes, for example, covered in paper
could be used to create building blocks and different shapes that have
to be jumped over, crawled around etc. Try and include as many different
body movements as possible.
The correct mathematical language is essential to describe positional
relationship. Have your instructions included words such as over, through,
around, in front of, behind etc. You can also ask learners to describe HOW
they completed the obstacle course. Encourage them to use the correct
mathematical language.
•• An example of an activity to teach position and direction: positioning in

relation to each other
Positioning learners in relation to each other provides a range of learning

experiences (figure 4.3).
FIGURE 4.3
Learners lined up
Let the learners line up.
Ask the learners questions like:
•• Who is in front? OR Who is first?

•• Who is in the middle? OR Who is second?
•• Who is last in line? OR Who is third?
The obvious concepts that you would have had the learners explore here, are:
first, second, third, last, behind, in front, and in the middle.
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70
•• An example of an activity to teach position and direction: positioning in

relation to objects
Positioning objects in relation to each other or in relation to the children,

provides a range of learning experiences.
Set up an activity where the learners are in different positions and objects are
placed around. For example:
•• Thembi stands behind her desk.

•• In front of Annie is a ball.
•• The ball is to next to Jabu.
•• The box is under Ntando’s desk.
•• Penny has a hat on her head.
Discuss these positions with the learners and ask them questions. For example:
Where is Thembi?
•• An example of an activity to teach movement and direction
An example of an activity to teach positon and direction is through movement.

When you move in different directions, your relationship to different objects
changes. For example, you can move from in front of the desk to behind the
desk.
An activity to teach movement and direction, is a treasure hunt. Having a

treasure hunt on the playground is an interesting way of getting the learners
to follow directions in a fun way. Below are described the steps to set up a
treasure hunt:
Directions to find the treasure must be worked out by the teacher before the
activity.
Find the treasure I buried on the playground:
•• Start at the classroom door.

•• Walk forward till you reach the big tree.
•• Turn right and look for the painted stone about three giant leaps further on.
•• Pick up the stone and look for the treasure beneath it.
The treasure can be something very simple such as a drawing of a smiling

face with the word ‘CLEVER’ written on it, or if you are in the position to do
it, a sweet or treat for each group member.) Remember Grade R learners are
not yet ‘ reading’. You could produce a simple map that they ‘read’ to find
the treasure. You could draw the ‘signposts’ along the way, a big tree, for
example, and then, to encourage incidental print awareness, you write the
word ‘tree’ underneath.
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71 E M A1501/1

23 Ac tivit y 4. 3
Look at the area outside your home or, if you are teaching, think about
the area outside your classroom. Now draw a simple map that could be
followed by children who are not yet reading in the formal sense. Think
how you could use colour and shape as well as arrows to make your map
clear. If you can, try out the activity with a child of Grade R age and write
a short report on how it went. Think about:
•• Was the learner able to follow your map?

•• If not, what do you think the problem was?
•• Do you need to change anything to make the activity work better? If
so, what needs to change, and how?
Figure 4.4 below, taken outside a Grade R classroom, illustrates how opportunities
for problem – solving and the creation of meaning can pop up unexpectedly.
As wasps moved in, making the jungle gym their new home, the teacher had
to think about how she could redesign the outdoor play area and keep the
children safe. The language of position and direction was central to her plan.
You can see how she dealt with the danger that suddenly arrived. She taped
the wasps’ home and labelled it: ‘Beware! Wasps at work! Absolutely no
touching!’. Finally she discussed the situation with the learners and, together,
they worked out how they could now move throughout their play area avoiding
danger, i.e. not disturbing the wasps.
FIGURE 4.4
The jungle gym
We have looked at ways to teach position and direction using various activities.
We will now look at how to teach 2D shapes in an emergent mathematics
setting.
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72
4.2.2 2D shapes
24 Ac tivit y 4.4
Do you remember what a 2D shape is from your school days? In a table
format, list all the 2D shapes that you are familiar with. Also write down
the properties of the 2D shapes. Then provide examples of these shapes
that you find in and around your environment.
A 2D shape is a flat shape. It only has two dimensions: (1) length and (2)
breadth. Examples of two-dimensional shapes are triangles, squares,
rectangles and circles.
A 2D shape is a flat shape. It only has length and breadth. Examples of

two-dimensional shapes are triangles, squares, rectangles and circles.
2D shapes have a flat surface and have two dimensions:

length and breadth.
Your table format should look something like this:
2D SHAPE PROPERTIES EXAMPLES OF ITEMS

Rectangle Opposites sides are A television screen
equal A door
4 corners A cellphone
4 right angles A window
Now let’s look at some practical ways to teach this important concept to
young children.
Learning styles
As discussed in learning unit 1, in the section on learning theories, children

respond to different learning styles. Therefore the teacher should provide
opportunities for children to learn about 2D shapes in different ways such as:
•• Visual skills: Include the activities included in the act of looking. Learners
must observe, compare and sort shapes by seeing that one is the same as,
or different from another.
•• Tactile (touch) skills: These are developed by handling shapes and feeling
if they are the same or different. It also involves using different shapes to
construct items and other hands-on activities involving drawing, cutting
out and pasting.
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•• Verbal skills: These are enhanced as learners describe the shapes they have
observed or constructed, making it clear what is special about each one.
Example rhymes, verses and songs used to teach shapes.
•• Movement (kinaesthetic) skills: These are enhanced as learners experience
different ways of moving. As they walk, run, climb on and off and crawl
through and over they discover the many things their bodies can do in
space. They learn about the size of particular spaces and problem solve
as they wiggle and push to find a way through space. This kind of play is
often child – initiated and suggestions by the teacher, e.g. ‘Do you think
you could find a different way down the jungle gym?’ can encourage the
use of Mathematical vocabulary and extend learning as well as developing
gross and fine motor skills.
Construction play using 2D shapes
Flat 2D shapes can be used in a variety of play-based activities. You could set
up a ‘shape shop’ in the corner of your class where learners buy, using hand
– drawn 2D money, triangles, squares, rectangles and circles. They could then
build 2D homes and other figures using the different items they have purchased.
As the teacher, you could ask them how many triangles they think they might
need to complete their roof, using this play-based situation to encourage
estimation. The imagination of a Grade R learner is almost limitless. In play,
everyday objects – a pencil, a cup, or a paper 2D sword – can open up a world
of fantasy. Play, as a context for teaching 2D shapes, is full of possibility. The
kind of vocabulary that the teacher uses at this stage is extremely important
in guiding the child to connect her/his visual ideas of objects with the correct
names of the shapes.
25 Ac tivit y 4. 5
Can you think of a 2D shape activity that would involve tactile and
movement skills?
Drawing 2D shapes in sand or salt would involve both tactile and movement
skills. Using different learning styles provides the learners with different
ways of learning.
•• An example of an activity to teach 2D shapes: using the body
Learners can use their bodies to create shapes (and geometrical objects). The
teacher can show the learners a large 2D circle (or a 3D object like a ball) and
ask them to use their bodies to represent the shape. The learners can then
observe the shape closely and use their bodies to make the shape. In some
cases, more than one learner will be required to make a shape. Although their
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74
bodies are three-dimensional, the shapes that they make should be flat, and
therefore two-dimensional.
You can ask the children the following types of questions to guide them to use
their bodies to create shapes like, for instance, the circle:
•• All learners hold hands to make a huge circle – as round as possible as in

figure 4.5. How many sides do your shapes have? (One curved side.) How
many corners? (No corners.)
•• Let all the boys and all the girls separately form circles – as round as possible.
Are both circles? Which circle is bigger/smaller?
FIGURE 4.5
A circle made with bodies
To explore triangles using the body, do the following:
•• Ask the learners: What is the name of the shape I’m holding up? (Triangle).
Use any part of your body and make a triangle. What can you tell me about
a triangle? (It is a shape with 3 sides.)
•• Let learners make groups of three. Let the three learners in the group create
a triangle (figure 4.6).
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FIGURE 4.6
Triangle made with bodies
•• An example of an activity to teach 2D shapes: shapes on the floor or wall
Draw shapes with chalk on the concrete or else perhaps paint shapes on a
wall if you are able to (figure 4.7). The following instructions may be used to
discuss the shapes:
FIGURE 4.7
Shapes on the wall and ground
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•• Touch the big circle.

•• Touch the small square.
•• Which shapes are green?
•• Which shape is round?
•• An example of an activity to teach 2D shapes: plastic or cardboard shapes
You can buy yourself shapes, or make your own shapes using cardboard (recycle
cereal boxes). Tell the learners the names of the shapes one by one, and allow
them to play with the shapes in any way they want to, without you providing
any direction. They can roll or slide the shapes along the floor, or use them in
making their own pictures. The learners can also sort them according to colour,
shape or size. Remember this is free play where they learn on their own, by
handling the shapes. This is especially important for young learners who are
still beginning to learn about shapes. Make sure that you have enough shapes
for the learners to use freely as they choose, to sort, compare, play with and
create shape pictures.
•• An example of an activity to teach 2D shapes: recognising shapes in

pictures
Let learners recognise, identify and name 2D shapes in pictures such as in

magazines, newspapers, or on posters. They can trace the shapes with a crayon
in newspapers and name them. The learners can also cut pictures of shapes
from magazines and newspapers and paste them in a collage on A4 paper,
or in their books.
Hold up a shape and let learners describe the shape. Let the learners help
you to make a large shape (the same shape) on the floor with string/rope
(figure 4.8). Let the learners take turns to “walk” the shape. As they walk, they
should notice the properties e.g. three corners etc.
FIGURE 4.8
Shapes using rope/string
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Hand out a long piece of string/rope to each group of learners (This activity
requires space; therefore make sure that you have enough room for movement
to create large shapes). Let learners work together in groups of four to create
shapes with string or rope. Give instructions, for example: “All groups make
a triangle”. Learners should then work out how many learners are needed to
make the particular shape. Each learner must hold one part of the rope and
move around until they have formed the shape with their rope (each learner
must hold the rope at a corner). In the case of a triangle, three learners will
each hold a corner.
We have looked at a number of activities to teach 2D shapes. We will now

move onto looking at 3D objects and how to teach this concept.
26 Ac tivit y 4.6
Teacher Mbali taught the children the following song about shapes. Look
at the words of the song and then indicate to what extent this song
contributes to the different learning styles of learners. Provide examples
from the song in your discussion.
Make a shape
(Tune: Are You Sleeping?)
Make a circle, make a circle,

Draw it in the sky.
Use your finger, use your finger,
Make it round as a pie.
Draw a square, draw a square,

Make the lines so straight.
Make a square, make a square,
Draw a box in the air.
Draw a triangle, draw a triangle,

Always start at the top.
Make a tent, make a tent,
Use three lines and stop!
Draw an oval, draw an oval,

it looks like an egg.
Make an oval, make an oval,
down by your leg.
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Firstly, you should agree that the song is useful in providing opportunities
for varied learning styles. For example:
Learning through kinesthetic and movement- This is demonstrated when

learners dramatize the actions of the song, when they make a circle by
drawing it in the air.
4.2.3 3D objects
What are three-dimensional objects?
Learners also need the opportunity to explore, discover, describe, sort and
construct with three-dimensional (3D) objects. Learners should recognise
and name 3D objects in the classroom and representations of 3D objects in
pictures, e.g. ball shapes (spheres) and box shapes (prisms). According to the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989), children who develop a
strong sense of spatial relationships and who master the concepts and language
of geometry are better prepared to learn number and measurement ideas, as
well as other advanced mathematical topics.
A three-dimensional object has three dimensions, namely length, width and
height or depth. Examples of three-dimensional objects are prisms, pyramids,
cylinders, spheres and cones (figure 4.9).
FIGURE 4.9
Types of 3D shapes
27 Ac tivit y 4.7
In not more than 100 words, distinguish between 2D shapes and 3D
objects. Remember to include some examples.
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2D shapes are flat. They only have length and breadth. An example of this
is shapes drawn on a piece of paper. The shapes maybe a square, circle
and triangle. 3D objects have length, breadth and height/depth. They
take up space. Most to our world is made up of 3D objects. Examples are
prisms, cubes and spheres.
We will now move onto looking at strategies for teaching 3D objects.
HOW TO TEACH 3D OBJECTS
The real world surrounding learners is the best starting point to make
learners aware of geometrical objects. The real world is built of shape and
space. Provide learners with real life experiences and lots of opportunities
to explore 3D objects by involving as many of their senses as possible.
•• An example of an activity to teach 3D objects: Explore 3D objects in the

Environment
Take learners on a “shape/object-walk” to explore and investigate the shapes

of different objects around them. Ask questions to guide learners to describe
the different features or properties of the 3D objects they observe.
In your questions, include vocabulary like the following:
Taller, wider, round, flat, curved, straight, roll, cannot roll, and slide.
The following types of questions could be asked to guide learners to recognise,

identify and name 3D objects:
•• What box-like objects do you see?

•• What shape do the steps of the ladder form?
•• What ball-like objects do you see?
•• An example of an activity to teach 3D objects: Use empty containers
You can ask your learners to bring different empty containers to school. These
objects are also part of their own world and can be used effectively to help
them to relate mathematical 3D objects to their own world. You can discuss
each shape and its properties, for instance, does it roll or slide? In the same
way that the learners set up a “shapes shop”, they could design a 3D corner
with lots of exhibits that could be used in the construction activities that follow.
•• An example of an activity to teach 3D objects: Compare real objects
Bring a variety of 3D objects with different shapes to school. Ask your learners
to contribute and bring things from home, such as toys, cultural objects,
everyday containers, etc. A range of tasks can guide the learners to compare,
sort, classify and describe the objects. Let them explore and learn!
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The following are examples of the types of questions and tasks that could
guide learners to observe, compare, sort, classify and describe 3D objects:
•• Which of the objects and shapes will slide, not roll? (Compare)
•• Which objects have straight edges? (Compare and classify)
•• Put all the things that can roll together. (Sort)
•• Group together all the objects with round edges. (Sort)
•• An example of an activity to teach 3D objects: Building and constructing

3D objects with concrete materials
Expose the learners to a variety of concrete materials, for example building

blocks, construction sets such as Lego, clay, match boxes, empty medicine
boxes, etc. The more materials the learners are allowed to use, the more
creative they will be.
Sometimes the learners will make their own constructions (free play), and
sometimes they will be asked to use specific shapes or objects (focused play).
Let learners discuss their constructions and structures using the correct
mathematical language (explicitation). If they are not yet able to do so, let
them use their informal language.
•• An example of an activity to teach 3D objects: Box construction
Collect a variety of empty boxes of different sizes, tins, empty pill holders and
other containers that learners can use for constructions.
Put these in a box and store it under your table if no other space is available.
Make sure that you have enough materials so that the children can build and
make their own constructions with them. It is especially important in Grade
R. Let the learners use these materials to freely build their own constructions
(free play). Ask learners to describe their constructions and to explain what
objects they have used. Use their free-play opportunities – sometimes, not
always – to increase learning possibilities. If they have stacked boxes, for
example, ask learners “How many more do you think you could put on top
without it falling?” Prediction and estimation are an essential part of their
present, and future, learning.
28 Ac tivit y 4. 8
Observe your learners, or children of a similar age, in free – play (that is
play that they have initiated) doing some form of construction. Identify at
least two shape/space concepts that are mentioned during the play. Write
down what the learners say and the mathematical concept or content area
that is being referred to.
You will probably hear words about position (where to place a box) and
aspects of space such as above, under, next to.
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We have looked at what a 3D object is and explored strategies for teaching

3D objects. We will move onto looking at symmetry.
4.2.4 Symmetry
We will now look at symmetry. An object is symmetrical when it is the same
on both sides. A shape has symmetry if a central dividing line can be drawn
on it showing that both sides are exactly the same. In emergent mathematics
we mainly concentrate on line symmetry. A line of symmetry divides a figure
into two mirror-image halves. You can think of a line of symmetry as a line on
which you can fold the image. If both halves line up perfectly, that is a line of
symmetry shown in figure 4.10.
FIGURE 4.10
Shapes showing lines of symmetry
Watch “Lines of symmetry” on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIo4fhHDYpw (Accessed on 10 June 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN0JT3ioI7A (Accessed on 10 June 2017)
Activities to teach symmetry
•• Symmetry in real life
For young learners, the body is a good starting point for most learning
experiences – learning about number, shape, patterns, movement, etc. The
same is true for learning about symmetry. Let us therefore start with the body
and symmetry.
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•• The body and symmetry
Let the learners discover the symmetrical properties of their bodies, by asking
questions such as the following:
•• How many hands do you have? Put your hands together, palm to palm. What
can you tell me about the size of your two hands? Are they the same size?
•• What can you tell me about the number of fingers on each hand? Do all
ten fingers look alike? Which fingers look alike? (Learners discover pairs of
fingers. The one hand reflects a mirror image of the other hand.)
•• How many feet do you have? Put them next to each other. Do they look
alike? How are they alike? How are they different?
•• How many legs do you have? How many arms do you have?
•• Does the one side of your body look the same as the other side?
Guide learners in this way to learn that the one side of their bodies is reflected
(duplicated) on the other side. By questions and activities such as described
above, learners learn about the left and right sides of their body.
Bring a few pocket mirrors to school (ask learners - who are able - to do the
same). Organise the mirrors beforehand! Let learners experiment with mirror
images of their body and shapes. For example, the learner places the mirror
flat on the table and puts her/his hand upright next to the mirror (figure 4.11).
FIGURE 4.11
Symmetry using a mirror
•• Symmetry in the environment
Guide your learners to recognise symmetry in their environment. Let them

investigate nature, man-made objects, their clothes and hair styles. Let them
explore magazine and newspaper pictures as well.
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By studying examples from nature, learners would discover that you find
symmetry - such as a butterfly that can be divided into two “equal parts” by
a vertical line of symmetry. You call this line the line of symmetry.
Learners will also discover that you find examples in nature of things being
non-symmetrical. They might even find that the plant, (shows alongside) for
example has no line of symmetry, but that a single flower petal could have
a line of symmetry. Cultural and man-made objects can help us learn more
about symmetry. For example, the shape of the vase or pot.
•• Practical activities for learners
Once the learners have spent time doing the activities outlined above, you
can do a number of practical activities with them in a classroom setting. For
example:
•• Using Lego blocks
Place lego blocks on one side of the tape and guide the child to copy the
design as in figure 4.12.
FIGURE 4.12
Lego blocks showing Symmetry
•• Paper folding
You can ask your learners to try to fold the shape/piece of paper in half in
such a way that the two parts of the shape exactly the same after folding. If
they can make such a fold, then the shape is said to be symmetrical. In this
case the fold line that they have made shows the ‘line of symmetry’. Children
really enjoy folding paper shapes and discovering lines of symmetry.
•• Painting
Painting is a great way to introduce symmetry. Have a look at the following

YouTube video as an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsuu91puija
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84

Frobisher, L., Frobisher, A., Orton, A.& Orton. J. 2007. Learning to teach shape
and space: A handbook for students and teachers in the primary school.
National Department of Education, 2009. National early learning and
development standards for children birth to four years (NELDS): draft.
Pretoria: department of education. (page 26–27)
National Department of Education, 2012. Mathematics Curriculum and
assessment policy statements Grade R. Pretoria. Department of education.
(Page 50–51)

(1) Explain the importance of shape and space in emergent mathematics.
(2) Discuss the role of visual, verbal, movement and tactile skills in learning
shape and space.
(3) Compare 2D shapes and 3D objects and explain why both are important
in teaching shape and space.
(4) Suggest ways you could assist a child who is struggling to understand
symmetry.
4.5 CONCLUSION
In this study unit you learnt about the concepts involved in shape and space as
part of emergent mathematics. First we explored what is meant by shape and
space and its importance for the young child. We then explored the concepts
of position, direction and movement and 2D shapes and 3D objects as well
as teaching strategies to use when teaching these concepts in a play – based
process. We concluded the unit by exploring symmetry and its role in the
teaching of shape and space. By now you should be aware that shape and
space is the foundation of geometry in mathematics teaching. You should also
be aware that teaching strategies in relation to shape and space should actively
involve the child on a physical, visual and verbal level. Mathematics learning
is embedded in the everyday practices of a learner’s family, community and
culture. Grade R should build on this and child or learner – initiated play
provides many opportunities for this to happen.
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LEARNING UNIT
5 5
5 Measurement in emergent mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOMES
•• explain the importance of measurement in emergent mathematics, from a

play-based approach
•• identify and explain the primary concepts related to measurement
•• apply strategies (using teacher-directed and free play) to teach measurement
KEY CONCEPTS
•• time
•• length/distance
•• mass
•• capacity/volume
•• non-standard units
•• standard units
5.1 ISNTRODUCTION
In the previous units we dealt with number concepts, patterns and shape and
space. Our focus in this unit will be on measurement. We will be exploring
the key concepts of measurement, namely time, length, mass and capacity/
volume. Once you have an understanding of these concepts, we will consider
teaching strategies to teach them.
5.2 WHAT IS MEASUREMENT?

The measurement of something refers to a number that shows the size or amount
of that thing. It is not enough to teach the method of measuring – we also have
to help the children to understand the concept of measurement. A concept is
an idea. Lengths, mass, capacity and time are the measurable attributes that
can be measured in the classroom. An attribute in relation to measurement
refers to the features of an item that can be measured, for example the height
of a door, or the amount of liquid a cup can hold.
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LE AR N I N G U N I T 5: M e asu r e m e nt i n e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
When teaching measurement, we often refer to non-standard and standard

units of measurement. It is important that you understand these terms.
A non-standard unit is a unit that is used for teaching purposes. It is a measurement

which is chosen for convenience and which is not standardised/determined
scientifically. For example: a hand is a non-standard unit of measurement, as
the sizes of people’s hands differ. When measuring the length of the desk with
my hands, I may get 10 hands, while you may get 8 hands.
A standardised unit is a unit that is used worldwide and is standard/equal

everywhere, for example, millimetres, centimetres and metres. We can find
out the length of the desk using a ruler, and the unit of measurement will be
centimetres. The desk will be the same length, regardless of what ruler/tape
measure we use.
5.3 MEASUREMENT AS A DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS

Children learn measurement developmentally, or in stages. Inskeep, cited
in Piaget and Inhelder (1969), suggested the following stages for children’s
development of the concept of measurement:
I. Pre-measurement (Perception)
In this stage, children have an intuitive/instinctive sense of attributes such as

length, mass and time. The way in which children perceive measurement will
be discussed later on.
II. Measurement as comparison
In this stage, children are able to compare two things in terms of measurement.
For example, they can say that one person is taller than another, or that a brick
is heavier than a piece of paper (or that the mass of the brick is greater than that
of the piece of paper). In this stage, children can start to learn the vocabulary
related to the measurement.
III. Measurement as the quest for a referent (non-standard units)
Here, children are developing the idea that they can use a unit (an object such
as a hand, block or stick) to talk and think about measurement. Often, this
is a non-standard unit, but it could also be a standard unit, such as 2 litres.
Children tend to use non-standard units such as their hands, or the length of
their steps. They will also use things that they know, for example the height of
their father. Without their father being present, they may say that their father is
taller than their teacher. In this stage, children continue to learn the vocabulary
of measurement, and they start to learn about the measuring process.
IV. Measurement as a system (standard units)
This is the last stage, which is when children learn about the metric system of
measurement (length: centimetres, metres, kilometres; mass: grams, kilograms;
volume: millilitres, litres). This stage is not part of the emergent mathematics of
pre-schoolers, but is discussed here for the sake of completeness. There are,
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of course, other measurement systems too, such as angle measure (degrees or

radians), and time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc).
Stages I and II do not involve any counting. Stages III and IV require that the
child uses counting, and herein lies the key to understanding how children
perceive measurement. They rely on their prior knowledge of counting, but
now they must also use a suitable unit of measurement – the metric system.
Our focus in emergent mathematics is on Stages I and II of the developmental

process. Therefore we introduce non-standard units of measurement in a Grade
R class, in a problem-solving and exploratory/playful manner.
29 Ac tivit y 5.1
When asked how tall she was, a little girl responded, “A little above the
kitchen table.” At what stage of measurement is she functioning? Explain
you reasoning.
The little girl is at the comparison stage. She is comparing her height to that
of the kitchen table. She also shows signs of measuring with non-standard
units. The non-standard unit of measurement in this case is the table.
Now let’s consider the measurement of time.
5.4 TIME
Understanding time is an important life skill. Understanding time helps people
to make sense of questions like: When is the taxi arriving? How many months
until your birthday?
Time is naturally more challenging for children to understand than other forms
of measurement. Time cannot be seen or touched like the other concepts.
We cannot touch the months of the year, or the hours of a day. But we can
touch something that is short or tall. However, the learning of time can also
be separated into non-standard and standard measurements:
•• Non-standardised time is measured according to routines (for example getting

ready for school in the morning) and events (when the sun is out, it is day).
•• Standardised time is measured using standard units such as hours, days,
months, etc.
The use of such words as before, after, soon, now, later, bedtime, lunchtime,
etc, helps the child to develop an understanding of time. Once again, you can
see that a lot of emergent mathematics revolves around learning the correct
vocabulary and applying it in a sensible and correct manner.
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There are different constructs of time namely:
•• Sequencing of time. This involves extended events such as growing a seed,

or waking up and preparing for school.
•• Duration of time. This refers to measuring the amount of time it takes
to complete an activity.
•• Passing of time. This involves the time that has elapsed (passed) between
two events, for example the time between sunrise and sunset.
Activities to teach the concept of time
•• Play-acting
Read the following scenario, which shows how Ms Moloi makes use of play-
acting in her Grade R class to teach concepts of time – describing the time of
day, using vocabulary (words) such as early, late morning, afternoon and night.
Here is Ms Moloi making use of play-acting to teach time-concepts to her

Grade Rs:
The Grade Rs are all on the mat in the front of the class.
Ms Moloi: I’m so tired (yawns) and you?

Learners: Yes!
Ms Moloi: Let’s lie down and sleep. (They all lie down.) Look how dark it is.
My goodness, children! What time of day is it?
Learner: It’s night time!
Ms Moloi: How do we know it is night time?
Learners: It’s dark and the moon and stars are shining.
Ms Moloi: But look! What is that bright light moving across the sky?
Learners: It is the sun.
Ms Moloi: Yes! The sun has just risen! So what time of day is it now?
Learner: Day.
Ms Moloi: That’s right. But if the sun has just risen what time of day is it? Is
it early morning or afternoon?
Learners: Early morning.
•• Daily programme, birthday charts and calendars
The daily programme can be displayed in the class (Figure 5.1). Discuss the
activities with the learners to show the sequence of events.
Below is an example of a daily programme, which shows the sequence of

events/time.
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FIGURE 5.1
The Grade R Daily Programme
You can use pictures to show the sequence of events as they happen every
day, for example:
Children arriving at school

Children playing outdoors
Snack time
Children listening to the teacher reading a story
Children resting on small mattresses
A birthday chart as seen in figure 5.2 is a useful resource in teaching the

concept of emergent time.
FIGURE 5.2
Birthday calendar
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In every class, a calendar showing the months of year should be displayed

(Figure 5.2). Each child’s birthday should be recorded on the calendar. During
the morning you can refer to the calendar and ask: What day is it? Whose
birthday is it? What day will it be tomorrow?
•• Weather and seasons chart
You may also want to keep a weather chart (figure 5.3) in your classroom and
discuss how the weather is today, compared to yesterday. You can also include
discussions around seasons. Children soon begin to learn that spring follows
winter, autumn follows summer, and so on.
FIGURE 5.3
Weather chart
•• Songs and rhymes
The learners can learn songs about the days of the week. You can repeat these
songs daily.
Days of the week
Days of the Week (Clap, clap)

Days of the Week, Days of the Week, Days of the Week! (Clap, clap)
There’s Sunday and there’s Monday

There’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday
There’s Thursday and there’s Friday
And then there’s Saturday!

Days of the Week, Days of the Week, Days of the Week! (Clap, clap)
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Days of the week
(to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”)
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday too.

Wednesday, Thursday just for you.
Friday, Saturday that’s the end.
Now let’s say those days again!
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!
30 Ac tivit y 5. 2
A Grade R teacher will usually celebrate a child’s birthday. If possible, the
learner’s parents or caregiver will be asked to come to school to take part
in the celebration, bringing, if appropriate, a small cupcake or sweet for
each member of the class. Each birthday ring follows the same pattern. For
example, the birthday boy or girl could be given a birthday crown made
out of cardboard and invited to come and sit at a small table near the
front of the carpet. They are allowed to choose three friends to join them.
If a child is turning six, the teacher may ask him/her to choose six songs
and the whole class then sings together. This may be followed by six claps
and so on.
During your teaching practical, design a birthday ring that you could use
in your class. There needs to be a set sequence of events, so that your
learners will soon come to know and expect one action to always follow
another, until the ring is ended. Write down the steps and, if possible, try
it out with a child who has a birthday during your time at the school.
A fixed sequence of events in a birthday ring reinforces the idea that events
in a learner’s life, like their birthday ring at school, always follows a specific
order. In the same way, the days of the week and the seasons are part of a
sequence or natural order. Tuesday, for instance, won’t suddenly come after
Sunday, without Monday having passed. When you discuss the passing of
time and the sequence of life’s events with your class, use the language
of time which we referred to earlier – words like before, after, soon, now,
later, bedtime, lunchtime, etc.
We have spent some time looking at activities for teaching the concept
of time, using routines and events in everyday life. We will now move on
to length.
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5.5 LENGTH
Length is usually the first attribute learners learn to measure. Many learners
in grade R already have some understanding of length and some vocabulary
associated with it.
Length has to do with how tall/short/long something is. Distance has to do

with how far two points are from one another. We usually use length when
we refer to shorter measures and we use distance when we refer to very long
measures, such as those between places or countries. We do not mix the
measuring concepts distance and length when we teach the measurement of
length. Although related, we teach them separately.
Words (vocabulary) that must be developed in order to describe concepts

relating to length are:
long narrow tall low shorter

short thick short deep longer
wide thin high shallow shortest
longest as long as as short as broad tallest
Activities to teach the concept of length
As discussed above, our focus in emergent mathematics is on the use of non-

standard units of measurement. When exploring length using non-standard
units, you can make use of our feet, hands string, pencils etc. Activities may
include: How many steps around the classroom? Or: Let us use a piece of
string to measure how tall you are.
The standard units of measurement for length are millimetres, centimetres,

metres and kilometres. The metre is introduced in Grade 2, and the others in
the higher grades.
All measuring activities should start with activities where NO standard units
are involved and where the learners measure through comparison.
Learners must compare the lengths of objects by
–– looking to see if they look the same or different

–– comparing the objects directly by placing them next to each other
–– using a third object to which they can compare two other objects
•• Comparing lengths using body parts
The concepts of short, long, shorter, longer, taller are concepts learners can
grasp through using their bodies.
–– Let the learners compare the lengths of their fingers, feet, legs, and arms
to determine which is long, longer and short, shorter?
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–– Let them stand back to back to determine the difference between tall and
short and compare: taller and shorter.
•• Comparing the lengths of real objects visually
It is important that you give learners in Grade R the opportunity to compare

the lengths of real objects by placing the objects next to each other (figure
5.4). Have a collection of long, thin objects available, such as wooden rods
(or sticks), pencils and crayons.
FIGURE 5.4
Comparing lengths of real objects
Did you know that:
•• Bamboo is used for building roads. ...

•• Bamboo is used for medicinal purposes. ...
•• Bamboo is used to promote fertility in cows. ...
•• Bamboo is used to build houses and schools. ...
•• Bamboo is used to make clothes.
Please conserve, protect and preserve our plants
At first, to help learners understand the concept of length as an attribute of

long things, they should compare the same type of objects (same type, same
colour, etc), with only the length differing.
Hold up two equally long objects and a short object. Ask the learners to tell
which is different. Also ask them HOW it is different. If the learners struggle
to explain how the objects are different, ask them: “Which is longer?” Use the
vocabulary of shorter, taller, longer, shortest and longest.
•• Comparing lengths using real objects
Let the learners compare real objects such as shoes, books and sticks and
discuss these in terms of length.
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31 Ac tivit y 5. 3
From the table of “length words” above, list the words that a Grade R
teacher is most likely to use in teaching length.
The “length words” used most commonly in a Grade R class are long, short,
tall, longest, and shortest. These are used first, because they are used in
everyday life. However, you should try to use the complete list of suitable
words to model the use of maths vocabulary.
Story time is another opportunity for exploring concepts like long, short,
tall, thick and thin. You could make up a story to tell the children about Mr
Tall and Mr Short, for instance. Perhaps they went to the shop together.
They had been at work all day and were both tired. They wanted to buy
what they needed quickly and with as little effort as possible. So, it was
agreed – Mr Tall would reach for all the items they needed that were within
his reach on the top shelves of the supermarket, and Mr Short would get
those he could reach. Think too of other stories you could make up using
these attributes of length.
We have explored various activities to introduce learners to length, using

non-standard units of measurement. Next, we will look at mass.
5.6 MASS
Mass can be defined as how much matter an object has, or the amount of
substance in an object. Mass is different from weight. Weight refers to the force
of gravity acting on an object, and is measured in Newtons.
The standard units of measurement for mass are grams and kilograms. The
mass of an object is measured by balancing the object on a scale.
The words (vocabulary) we must introduce to describe concepts relating to

mass are the following:
mass heavy heavier light lighter

heaviest lightest balance compare estimate
more less a greater less mass/a the same
mass than smaller mass mass as
than
find the gram kilogram scale feel
mass of
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The first step of the measurement process is to provide opportunities for the
learners to get a “feel” for mass by using non-standard units of measurement.
The learners should first experience mass by using their bodies. Then move
on to letting them talk about mass – they may, for instance, say that something
is heavy or light. Then go on to explain that mass can be measured by using
instruments. There should be a direct transfer of knowledge from using the
hands/body to using measuring instruments. With that I mean: when presenting
mass activities, let the learners first estimate which objects will be heavy or
light. They will often think that the bigger item will also be the heavier item,
in other words, that a big balloon will be heavier than a small tennis ball. Then
let the learners feel which object is heavy or light. At this point, you should
explain to them that it is not always the bigger item that is heavier. More
examples can then be compared. Thereafter they can go over to measure
these items – say the balloon and the tennis ball – with a balance scale. So,
the knowledge gained with the direct measuring activity, and the estimation
done, is now physically tested with the balance scale to confirm whether we
are right or wrong.
Activities to teach the concept of mass
•• Measuring by comparison, using real objects
Divide your learners into groups. Let them use their hands to feel the mass
of objects. Give them a variety of everyday objects that they must compare
in terms of ‘heavy’ and ‘light’. Collect the objects that you want to use for the
activity beforehand. Make sure the objects cover a range of masses from ‘heavy’
to ‘light’. Any objects can be used, e.g. a pencil and a ball of play dough.
You can also ask your learners to bring objects from home to illustrate ‘heavy’
and ‘light’. Some objects that you can use are shown below (figure 5.5). Make
sure that all the learners are involved and participate actively in the activity.
FIGURE 5.5
Objects covering a range of masses
At the start, the learners must hold any two objects – one in each hand.
Ask learners questions like:
•• Which of these two objects is heavier?

•• Which of these has more mass?
•• Why do you say this object is heavier?
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You can then move on to more than two objects and ask the learners:
•• Can you arrange the objects from light to heavy?

•• Which one will be first? Which one will be last?
Let your learners arrange the objects from lightest to heaviest, and the other
way round. Let them physically put the objects in a row.
•• Measuring using a balance scale
Use a wire-hanger balance to balance objects, in order to find out which

objects are heavier than others. Such a balance scale is a non-standard unit
of measurement, as it does not measure in grams and kilograms. Make the
balance by using a wire hanger and two empty 500 g yoghurt or margarine
containers (see the diagram below). Fasten the containers to each end of the
hanger, using string. Make sure that the containers will not shift. Wind tape
around the point where the string and the hanger connect. Hang the wire-
hanger balance from a doorknob or hook in the classroom (Figure 5.6).
If you can, make a few of these, so that all the learners can be involved and
all of them can learn as much as possible. It is important that they must see
for themselves what effect heavier and lighter objects have on the balance.
FIGURE 5.6
A balancing scale
32 Ac tivit y 5.4
Using a sandpit and buckets/containers as your resources, write down
mass activities which you could do with a group of learners (for example,
presenting the learner with two buckets of sand and asking which is
lighter/heavier).
Learners at this developmental stage learn through using their bodies
and being actively involved. A great deal of free playtime is spent in the
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sandpit, which presents excellent opportunities to discover mass. Using

containers of various sizes, the learners can explore which container will
hold the most sand. They can predict which container will hold the most
sand and will discover that containers of different shapes can sometimes
hold the same amount of sand, and sometimes more or less. When the
different containers are full, the learners can compare their mass using the
appropriate language, such as lighter than, or heavier than.
We have now investigated the concepts of length and mass, and activities
to teach these concepts. Next, we take a look at capacity and volume.
5.7 CAPACITY AND VOLUME

Capacity and volume are not exactly the same.
CAPACITY refers to how much a container can hold. Capacity and volume
are often used interchangeably, which is not strictly correct. The capacity of
a container does not change, whereas volume can.
The VOLUME of a container (or of a substance in the container) is the amount

of space it occupies.
When learners explore capacity, encourage them to use the correct terminology.
The words (vocabulary) we use to describe concepts related to capacity are:
full empty half empty half full holds less

than
most as much as the same as least holds more
than
cup bucket tablespoon teaspoon litre
half estimate container level volume
Practical experiences, such as water play, or using a bucket of water, will give
the learners an opportunity to understand capacity. This could involve pouring
water into containers, filling cups or other containers, measuring with spoons
and cups, etc.
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Activities to teach the concept of capacity
•• Measuring capacity through comparison
Bring a variety of empty containers to school. Ask your learners to contribute

too. Using a container full of water, explore the capacity of the containers.
Discuss with the learners which containers will hold more than the others. Let
them, for example, estimate (guess) how many cups will fill the jug (figure 5.7).
FIGURE 5.7
A variety of containers
The children must practically fill the containers with water and test their
estimations (guesses).
Here are examples of possible questions, tasks and problems to teach capacity:
•• How many teacups will fill the jug/glass/mug? Guess (estimate) and then
measure it.
•• How many spoons will fill the jug/glass/mug? Guess and then measure it.
•• Which two containers do you think hold more or less the same amount?
Guess and then measure it.
Remember, Grade R learners first start to compare the volume in two identical
containers, filled up to different levels, placed next to each other as in figure 5.8.
Use language Use language Use language

such as more such as full/ such as the
than/less than. empty. same as.
FIGURE 5.8
Comparing two containers
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•• Measuring capacity using the body
Ask the learners to work out how many handfuls of soil they will need to fill
a flower pot.( Figure 5.9) This will give them the capacity of the flower pot
in handfuls of soil/sand. It is important that they should be able to count to
a certain number in the correct order. Otherwise the activity won’t work. In
fact, very few measurement activities will work if the learners cannot count.
FIGURE 5.9
How many handfuls of soil do you need to full the pot?
Discuss whether or not you can hold water in your hands to work out how
many handfuls of water you will need to fill a bottle with water. The learners
will make the deduction that their hands are not good containers for liquids.
•• Measuring capacity using household items
Let your learners work in groups. Each group will need a tablespoon (and a
teaspoon, if time permits) and a cup as in figure 5.10.
A tablespoon and a teaspoon A cup
FIGURE 5.10
Objects for measuring capacity
Let your learners fetch water in a container for the group. Tell them to work
carefully with the water and NOT to waste water!
Let them now use the cup to find out how many tablespoons of water will
fill the cup. Make sure that everyone participates – give different learners a
chance to “measure” the water. Remind them to pour the water used for the
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measuring activity back into the container. (If you have time, let them also
find out how many teaspoons of water will fill the cup.)
33 Ac tivit y 5. 5
Reflect upon why we should involve our learners in practical activities
when teaching capacity?
In the previous learning units, we have discussed the importance of using
the body in learning. If we involve the learners in practical measuring
activities, we are providing a way for them to learn that is suitable for their
stage of development.
5.8 USING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE TO TEACH MEASUREMENT

There are a number of books that you could read to your learners that introduce
and explore units of measurement. Here are a few suggestions:
•• Goldilocks and the Three bears

•• The Best Bug Parade
The activities discussed above are teacher-initiated. With free-play activities,

we can use the six kinds of play discussed in learning unit 1 to plan a wide
range of play activities for the learners. These activities should re-inforce the
measuring concepts discovered during the teacher-directed activities. When
learners are engaged in fantasy play in the doll’s house, measuring concepts
such as full/empty, and so forth, are explored. This can also be re-inforced
by placing books in the reading corner about full/empty etc. Then, of course,
you could read stories like Goldilocks to them, as mentioned previously. Also
during free play, exploratory play can be used, during which learners can fill
different containers with sand (this can be done in the sand-table area in the
class, or outside).

Gifford, S. 2005. Teaching Mathematics 3–5: developing learning in the
foundation stage. Berkshire: Open University Press.
and Assessment Policy Statements Grade R. Pretoria. Department of
Education. Pages 54–57.
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(1) Discuss the four stages during which the concept of measurement is
developed.
(2) Explain the difference between standardised and non-standardised units.
(3) Clarify why it is important for a teacher to do activities with non-standard
units of measurement.
(4) Suggest reasons why understanding time is so difficult for children.
(5) Explain the difference between the sequencing of time, the duration of
time and the passing of time.
(6) Discuss the difference between length and distance.
(7) Suggest reasons why we begin teaching children measurement by using
their bodies.
5.11 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit you have learnt about the concepts of measurement that
form part of emergent mathematics. First, we explored what is meant by
measurement, and the importance of measurement for the young child. We
then discussed the concepts of time, length, mass and capacity, as well as
various teaching strategies. The teaching strategies once again highlighted the
importance of actively involving the learners in their learning. By now you
should be aware that measurement can be taught through teacher-initiated
activities and free play.

Van Schaik.
Piaget, J & Inhelder, B. 1969. The psychology of the child. New York: Basic
Books.
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LEARNING UNIT
6 6
6 Data handling in emergent mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOMES
•• explain what data handling, within the context of emergent mathematics, is

•• identify and explain the processes of data handling
•• explain teaching strategies on how to teach data handling in emergent
mathematics
•• explain how data handling could be taught through teacher-initiated play
KEY CONCEPTS
•• data
•• collect
•• sort
•• represent
•• interpret
•• attribute
6.1 INTRODUCTION
This learning unit focuses on data handling in emergent mathematics. Data
handling is a branch of mathematics in which we use mathematical tools to
collect, organise, represent and interpret numerical information or data. This
is done to answer questions, make sense of situations and make predictions
about the future.
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FIGURE 6.1
The data handling cycle
As indicated in the figure above, there are four processes which make up
the data-handling cycle. They are collecting, organising, representing and
interpreting data. Grade R learners learn how to work with data – starting with
collecting, sorting and drawing the data. In the Foundation Phase, learners
learn to record the data. In this unit you will look at the four elements of the
data-handling cycle, namely the collection, organisation, representation and
interpretation of data, and how to teach this to young leaners.
Children are collectors by nature. You might see children collecting sticks,
stones, toys and books. They will then move on to sorting and ordering these
objects according to one property such as shape, colour or size.
The ability of learners to sort objects and to organise and describe data develops
according to a predictable, but not rigid, pattern. The teacher has to keep in
mind that a learner will develop according to her/his unique personality.
In order to encourage the development of these skills, the learner needs to be

supported while collecting, displaying and analysing data. Many opportunities
for data handling should be created in a developmentally appropriate way.
According to McAfee and Leong (2011:222), most learners master data-handling

skills in the following sequence.
The learner
•• sorts objects that are alike in respect of some attribute, although the choice
of attribute may change from object to object. [An attribute is a property
of an object e.g. its colour, size or shape.]
•• sorts objects by one attribute
•• sorts objects by any attribute, changing the sorting rules; counts and compares
groups in terms of the size of the group or the number of objects
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L E AR N I N G U N I T 6: D at a h a n d li n g i n e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
These three items are the focus of data handling up to Grade 1. The following
items are taught in Grades 1 to 3.
The learner
•• participates in making a simple graph with concrete material.

•• compares simple graphs
•• creates a simple graph using a symbol, such as tally marks or blocks to
represent the object or attribute, for example, the learner places two tally
marks on a piece of paper to stand for the two blocks in the collection
•• represents the data using numerical summaries, for instance by creating a
bar graph using numbers
•• reads and discusses different types of graphs and tables
If you gradually introduce learners to the collection of data by using real objects,
they will learn what collecting data entails. The same is true for organising,
representing and interpreting data.
34 Ac tivit y 6.1
Read the following case study and then answer the questions below.
It is autumn and the area outside the Grade R classroom is covered with
fallen leaves. Mrs Ndlovu decides to use this situation to give her learners
an opportunity to collect and sort data. She asks her learners to collect
leaves and sort them into different groups. They can use any criteria or
attributes they wish to use.
The learners run outside, laughing and kicking the leaves, which almost
cover their grass play area. Then they begin to gather different leaves, so
that they can make their own collections.
Jonathan chooses colour as his attribute. Some of the leaves he collects are
reddish in colour, others are brown and crumbly. Carefully, he lays them
out. Jabu asks if he can join Jonathan and together they put the leaves in a
sequence from red to light brown to dark brown. The boys are having fun.
Busi decides to group her leaves. She decides to use “touch” as a sorting
principle. If she touches a leaf and it crumbles, then, she concludes, it
must be close to falling apart. If a leaf still feels rubbery and can’t be
crushed into lots of pieces, perhaps it has just fallen from the tree, she
concludes. She forms two groups, the “easily crushed” and the “more
rubbery”, and compares the number of leaves in each group.
Instructions:
Reread McAfee and Leong’s (2011) sequence of data-handling skills and

decide which stages Jonathan and Jabu and Busi are illustrating. Give
reasons for your answer.
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The boys could be seen as at level four – “participates in making a simple
graph with concrete materials”. The sequence they present is an early
attempt to provide a visual display of their interpretation of the data.
Busi, on the other hand, is working alone. She is “sorting objects by any
attribute and counting and comparing groups in terms of number” (level
3). We don’t read of her changing sorting rules, but it is quite possible that
she could decide to do that later in her data play.
6.2 THE DATA-HANDLING CYCLE
6.2.1 Collecting data

Collecting data is the first stage in the data-handling cycle. This involves
•• posing questions
•• making three decisions about the data collection
Posing questions
The first step in the data-handling process is to formulate a meaningful question.

This question will guide the data collection. In other words, the data will be
collected in order to find an answer to the question. Once you have a question
and have identified the source of data, the next thing to do is collect the data.
Data, remember, is simply a collection of information that is made to determine
an answer to a question, such as “Is milk or water a more popular drink in our
class group?” (Macmillan 2009:121).
For Grade Rs, the question should initially lead to collecting everyday objects.
These objects can be counted and sorted. In Creative Art, for instance, which
should be part of a Grade R daily programme, the learners can investigate
which colour crayons are the most popular among the learners.
Three decisions in data collection
In order to collect data, three decisions must be taken:
(1) Decide on the topic.

(2) Decide from whom or where to collect the data.
(3) Decide how to collect the data.
(1) Deciding on the topic
The topic is usually decided by the teacher. However, this decision could also
be taken together with the learners. For example: What is our class’s favourite
sweet? The learners will then collect data and the question will be answered
through their collection of data. This is the first step in data collection.
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106
Choose a topic that is relevant for your learners (something they will be interested
in) and then formulate a suitable question. We have already mentioned some
examples. When considering the topic, make sure that it is not a sensitive
topic for the learners. You will know your class and what might upset them.
Be sensitive to things such as deaths in the family in particular, and do not
ask about “parents’ cars” when not everyone in the class might have a car. Or
even, perhaps, a living parent.
(2) Deciding from whom to collect the data
In emergent mathematics, the data is usually collected about the learners or

about their surroundings. One could, for example, collect data on each child’s
favourite colour/sweet/cooldrink.
(3) Deciding how to collect the data
Data collection is a practical activity and the children must be actively involved.
In Grade R, data is collected physically, for example by picking up different
shapes/colours of leaves.
35 Ac tivit y 6. 2
Why do you think it is important to have a purpose when collecting data?
Write down some ideas.
It is important to have a purpose, so that the learners will be focused on
what data to collect. It will also start to form their thinking on how to
organise and analyse data. The way in which we ask a question has an
impact on the answer we receive. The questions: “Which television show
do you watch most often?” and “Which television show do you like most?”
could have different answers.
Make sure that the question forms part of the learners’ everyday life, for
example the corners they like to play in the most during indoor free play,
the puzzles they like to build, or the parts of the jungle gym they enjoy
the most, are all possible sources for data gathering.
6.2.2 Organising data

When the data has been collected, the data-handling process has just begun.
The learners must now do something with the data in order to answer the
question. This means that the data must be sorted – which involves organising
the data into lists, graphs and tally tables. Lists, graphs and tally tables are
taught in the Foundation Phase. In Grade R, a pictograph would be used to
organise and represent the data. Here is an example:
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In Grade R, the learners could sort according to a pre-established attribute.

Say the question is: Which balls in the class are the most – the soccer balls or
the tennis balls? The children will collect all the balls in the class. Then they
will sort their “data”: in one hula hoop all the tennis balls, in the other hula all
the soccer balls. They can then construct a “concrete graph” by using stacks of
shoe boxes against the wall. In one vertical row of shoe boxes they can put one
soccer ball per box. In the next column of shoe boxes, they put one tennis ball
per box. This starts to form a “graph”. Now it is easy to count (analyse). How
many tennis balls do we have/how many soccer balls? Put the corresponding
number card on top of each set of boxes. Now we can answer the question,
namely which balls are the most/least. You could also ask other questions, such
as: How many more tennis balls do we have than soccer balls?, and so forth.
The next step is to draw/cut and paste what they have found – that is, they will
draw/cut and paste their soccer balls and tennis balls onto a type of “graph”
made by the class teacher. They can count the number of balls and paste the
correct number at the top of each column of their pictograph. There are many
other ways to display the data, as long as it is first done concretely, and from
there transferred onto a pictograph (figure 6.2).
FIGURE 6.2
A pictograph showing 13 children’s favourite fruit
Sorting data can be more or less difficult to do, depending on the nature of
the data. Learners develop conceptually over time. You need to give them
examples which are at different levels in the different grades, according to the
conceptual difficulty involved in sorting the data. The complexity of sorting
is not only determined by the amount of data; it is also determined by the
number of different ways in which the data can be sorted.
For example, in Grade R you would restrict your sample sizes to smaller numbers
than you would in Grade 1. In addition to this, in Grade R you would use
data that lends itself to sorting in one way – according to clearly recognisable
categories, for example colour.
You will generally work with concrete data. An example of data that can be
sorted in many different ways, is a collection of leaves. This you have already
seen in an earlier activity. You can sort them according to their size, or their
shape, or possibly even their colour. One can also sort buttons according to
their size and shape, and in addition to this, you can sort them according to
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colour, or the number of holes in each button. As a teacher, you will need to
think about other objects to use in data-handling activities.
It is very important that teachers support the children in explaining the reasons
why they chose to sort/classify the objects in the way that they did. Giving
explanations gives learners the opportunity to reflect, and it is through reflection
that they develop their conceptual knowledge.
6.2.3 ‌Representing data

We then have to teach the learners in grade R to represent the data they have
collected. As mentioned previously, grade R learners do not draw tally tables
or graphs, but they should draw a picture to represent the data. The pictures
they draw, or sets they build, may involve some straight lines or marks, e.g.
a specific mark for each learner who comes by taxi. This is all part of their
growing knowledge of the use of symbols to represent meaning.
6.2.4 ‌Interpreting data

When we interpret data, we “read”, “understand” or “make sense of” the
data. This is the final step of the data-handling cycle. You will use the Grade
R learners’ representations of their data. The teacher will guide the learners
to interpret the data represented in a picture or graph, by asking a variety of
questions based on the picture or graph. For example: Which colour is used
most?
36 Ac tivit y 6. 3
Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow.
The first ring of the day is a discussion ring based on the theme of the
week: “Feelings”. Each child, as they arrive at school, draws a face on one
large piece of paper, showing how they are feeling at that moment. Mrs
Ndlovu now has 20 different drawings on one piece of paper. The children
are looking, curiously, at the paper and chatting amongst themselves.
How can Mrs Ndlovu turn this opportunity into a data-handling exercise?
In discussion with the children, she can help them interpret what the
different faces are telling the class about how an individual is feeling. The
pictures can then be sorted, using different categories such as happy,
sad, tired, excited, etc. Once these have been sorted, a discussion could
follow. You may discuss how many children are happy/sad and how most
of the class is feeling today. The teacher can also invite the individual who
drew a certain face to share their reasons for drawing their face with that
particular expression.
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6.3 TEACHING DATA HANDLING

We will now move on to teaching data handling in the emergent mathematics
setting. Grade R learners are only expected to collect, sort and draw data. They
should, however, also be exposed to making graphs, using real objects. The
first graph learners can make is to stand in rows of boys and girls. This can be
represented in a graph, when the learners draw themselves.
Examples of “real” objects that can be used in a graph are types of shoes,
shapes, coloured crayons and recyclable items.
Example
We will be using different colour circles/buttons (figure 6.3) as our example:
FIGURE 6.3
Different colour buttons/circles
1. Collecting data
Divide your class into groups of 4. The teacher has put 14 buttons/counters
of different colours in each of four containers.
The question posed is: Which colour buttons are the most?
Each group collects a container of buttons/counters.
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110
2. Organising the data
The learners can begin by sorting the buttons into their different colours. This
can be done by putting them into straight rows.
FIGURE 6.4
Buttons sorted according to colour
(3) Representing the data
The learners draw the sorted buttons. Each learner can get a piece of paper
and they can lie on their tummies and draw what they see.
(4) Interpreting the data
You can now look at the represented data with your learners and ask questions
such as:
(1) How many green buttons are there?

(2) Which colour button is the most?
(3) Which colour button is the least?
37 Ac tivit y 6.4
During your teaching practical, plan and involve the learners in a data-
handling activity. Ideas for this activity are: wild animal and farm animal
figures; recyclable goods such as bottle tops, cans and bottles. You may
wish to use other objects. Present the activity using the steps of the data-
handling cycle (collect, organise, represent and interpret data). Record
your activity and discuss your observations.
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Here is an example of an activity using farm and wild animals. This activity
is a teacher-initiated activity.
Our question: Do we have more farm animals or wild animals?
The learners are given a variety of animals. They are asked to sort them
using “farm” or “wild” as the attribute. Once they have been sorted, the
learners need to represent the 2 categories. This can be done as a picture
using one half of the page for wild animals and the other for the farm
animals.
Farm animals Wild animals

Chicken, pig, goat, cow, sheep Lion, elephant, zebra, giraffe, impala
(buck)
Once this has been done, you can ask the learners to interpret the picture
and answer the posed question.
Data handling is almost always presented as a teacher-directed activity

in pre-school/ Grade R centres. However, sorting (e.g. sorting shapes
and colours) – which forms a part of the data-handling cycle – can be
encouraged during free-play activities.

McAfee, O & Leong, VG. 2011. Assessing and guiding young children’s
development and learning. Boston, MA: Merrill.
and Assessment Policy Statements Grade R. Pretoria. Department of
Education. Pages 58–59.

(1) Explain what data handling is.
(2) Discuss the four (4) processes of the data-handling cycle.
(3) Clarify why it is important to pose a question when collecting data.
(4) Explain what is meant by the term “sorting”. Use examples.
(5) Why is it important that leaners should be able to sort objects before
they do data handling?
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6.6 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit you have learnt about the concepts involved in data
handling, which forms part of emergent mathematics. First, we discussed the
definition and purpose of data handling. We then explored the processes
in the data-handling cycle, namely collecting, organising, representing and
interpreting data. The teaching strategies which were discussed highlighted the
importance of involving the learners in the data-handling process in an active
and meaningful manner that is appropriate for a Grade R learner. Remember,
Grade R learners learn best through play. To enhance emergent mathematical
skills, you need to use a creative and playful approach.

University Press.
McAfee, O & Leong, VG. 2011. Assessing and guiding young children’s
development and learning. Boston, MA: Merrill.
Van Schaik.
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LEARNING UNIT
7 7
7 Assessment in emergent mathematics
LEARNING OUTCOMES
•• define assessment
•• explain the purpose of assessment in emergent mathematics
•• differentiate between the different types of assessment
•• explain assessment as a process
•• evaluate basic assessment practices pertaining to play-based learning in
case studies
•• explain how children’s mathematical knowledge and skills can be assessed
through play
•• design a basic assessment tool to assess learning in emergent mathematics
KEY CONCEPTS
•• assessment
•• formative assessment (informal assessment)
•• summative assessment (formal assessment)
•• Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)
•• National Early Learning and Development Standards (NELDS)
•• checklist
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous six learning units, we have explored the nature and meaning
of emergent mathematics, number concepts, patterns, measurement, space
and shape, and data handling. Now that you have a basic understanding of
emergent mathematics, we can turn our attention to assessment. In this learning
unit, we will explore the role of assessment in emergent mathematics in the
early grades, up to grade R.
You will discover that assessment is an important part of teaching and learning,
and that it should therefore be part of everyday practice. Assessment helps the
teacher to gauge how the children are progressing, to recognise their needs,
and to plan activities to support learning. In some ways the assessment of
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L E AR N I N G U N I T 7: A ss e ssm e nt i n e m e r g e nt m at h e m ati c s
children from birth to the preschool years differs from that of older children,
as it is primarily based on their developmental needs (Wortham 2015). Unlike
older children, the younger children (below the age of six years) cannot read
or write fluently. Therefore the methods used to assess their knowledge and
skills must be other than written forms of assessment. Hence, young children’s
mathematical knowledge and skills are best assessed through methods such
as practical demonstrations, conversations, discussions and observations. The
teacher must consider the development of children when designing, planning
and implementing assessment strategies. This means that the assessment
strategies used in early childhood education must match the level of mental,
social, and physical development at each stage of child development.
7.2 WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?

In this section, through a basic analysis of different definitions, you will learn
what assessment is. We will then explore the purpose of assessment and the
various types of assessment.
7.2.1 The definition of assessment

Let us first ask ourselves: “What is assessment?” Scholars have advanced many
perspectives and arguments about this question. For example, McAfee, Leong,
and Bodrova (2004:72) state that assessment is the “… process of gathering
information about children from several forms of evidence, then organising
and interpreting the information”.
Aistear (in NCCA 2009:72) maintains that assessment is “the on-going process
of collecting, documenting, reflecting on and using information to develop
rich portraits of children and learners in order to support and enhance their
future learning”.
In its National Protocol for Assessment Grades R-12, the South African
Department of Basic Education (DoE) defines assessment as “… a process of
collecting, analysing and interpreting information to assist teachers, parents and
stakeholders to make decisions about the progress of the learner” (DoE 2012).
The South African National Curriculum Framework (DoE 2009), with its
emphasis on the early years, i.e. from birth to four years of age, defines
assessment as a “continuous, planned process of identifying, gathering and
interpreting information about the development and learning of babies, toddlers
and young children”.
38 Ac tivit y 7.1
Read the four definitions of assessment given in section 7.2.1. Having
studied these four definitions, write down the three aspects of assessment
that you consider to be most important when assessing learning in
emergent mathematics. Include an example of each of these aspects in
your explanation.
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You may have identified some of the following aspects. You may have
concluded that assessment is
•• the process of gathering information to find out what a child knows

and can do
•• about reviewing the information about a child’s progress, and then
using the information to plan educational activities appropriate to the
child’s level of development
•• collecting evidence about the child from different sources
•• an on-going process, because observing and documenting a child’s
work and performance over the course of a year allows the teacher to
accumulate a record of the child’s growth and development
•• used to plan an appropriate curriculum and effective individualised
instruction for each child
•• also about reporting progress to parents
You can look at the guidelines below to explain your examples of the
aspects you consider to be important. We will use an example of an activity
based on measuring capacity. You must explain each of the aspects you
have identified in a similar manner.
Example
•• Briefly explain the concept you plan to assess, for example: “using
non-standard units to measure capacity”.
•• Next state how each of the aspects you have identified is used in
assessment.
Assessment is used to gather information. I will gather information by

assessing the child’s use of non-standard units to measure capacity. I will
gather information about the child by observing the child first using big cups
and then small cups to fill a 2-litre Coke bottle during water play. I will ask
questions, such as: How many small cups did you use to fill the Coke bottle?
How many big cups did you use? Did you use more big cups, or more small
cups? Tell me why.
7.2.2 The purpose of assessment

You would have noticed in section 7.2.1 that both Aistear and the DoE offer
a more comprehensive explanation of assessment in that they include both
a definition and the purpose of assessment. We have already looked at what
assessment is. Let us now focus on the purpose of assessment. In a nutshell,
we can summarise the purpose of assessment as follows:
•• Assessment is used to gather information about the child’s growth in all

areas of development such as their cognitive, physical/motor, language, and
social-emotional development.
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•• Assessment is used by the teacher to identify children who may need

additional support. The teacher then determines if there is a need for
additional support, or a need for referral to professional services
•• Assessment is used to guide teachers in their instructional planning. Teachers
can then plan individualised instruction for a child, or for a group of children
that are at the same stage of development.
•• Assessment helps teachers to evaluate their own teaching or programme.
It makes it possible for teachers to identify the strengths and weaknesses
of their teaching or the programme, and to establish whether the goals and
needs of the children have been met.
•• Assessment provides common ground for teachers and parents or families
to collaborate on a strategy to support the child.
•• Assessment is used for grading purposes.
39 Ac tivit y 7. 2
Write down three things that you liked and three things that you disliked
about assessment when you were at school. Include examples in your
response
Your likes and dislikes about assessment should be based on your own
personal experiences of assessment when you were at school. You may
have reflected on your experiences of traditional forms of assessment
such as tests, examinations, etc. You may also have reflected on how
the comments or feedback given to you by your teacher made you feel.
Also consider how you felt at the end of the term when you were about to
receive your report card, or during parents’ meetings when your teacher
reported to your parents on your progress.
Now that you have explored the different purposes of assessment, let us
move on to the types of assessment.
7.3 TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

Assessment falls into two categories, namely formative and summative
assessment. Formative assessment is a set of informal assessment methods
undertaken by teachers during the learning process/activities. In contrast
to formative assessment, summative assessment refers to the set of formal
activities, such as tests or standardised tests, that takes place at the end of a
learning unit. In other words, formal and informal assessments differ according
to how controlled the conditions are under which they are carried out. Table
7.1 shows the differences between these two types of assessment.
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TABLE 7.1
Differences between formative and summative assessment
Formative Summative
Occurs during the learning activity Takes place at the end of a learning
unit
Used to monitor learning Used to evaluate learning
Used to provide feedback to improve Used to provide and assign scores/
learning marks for grading purposes
Used for planning instruction Used for accountability
Process-driven Product-driven
Occurs continuously to promote Occurs at a particular moment in time
children’s learning and development to establish what the child knows
In Table 7.1 above, you would have noticed some major differences between
formative and summative assessment. In the early years, teachers usually use
informal observation methods to collect data. These methods are easier to use
and more appropriate for planning. They include observing children in the
classroom, collecting samples of their work, interviewing parents, and having
conversations with the children. Summative assessments, on the other hand,
are rarely used in the early years, as formal tests are not appropriate in the
preschool phase.
40 Ac tivit y 7. 3
There are varying views about the purposes of assessment. One view is
that the purpose of assessment is to establish what the child has learnt,
and what the child has not learnt. Another view is that assessment should
be used during the process of learning to support the child’s learning. To
what extent do you agree or disagree with these views within the context
of early childhood teaching? Substantiate your opinion.
After you have studied the different types of assessment, you would
have realised that formative assessment is more suitable in the teaching
of emergent mathematics. You would also have noticed that assessment
can be used to establish not only what children know, but what they don’t
know – but remember that we do not progress or promote learners based
on these assessment results. This only happens in the formal schooling
years, i.e. from Grade 1 onwards. A very significant purpose of assessment
in the early grades is to support the learning and development of the child.
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7.4 A PROCESS-DRIVEN APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT

From what you have learnt of assessment so far, you may have observed that
it involves processes and steps. Figure 7.1 below illustrates the six steps in the
assessment cycle:
FIGURE 7.1
The six steps in the assessment cycle
In figure 7.1, you will notice that:
•• assessment is a cyclical process

•• the assessment cycle includes six steps
•• the assessment process is continuous/on-going
In the following section, we explore the six steps in the assessment cycle in
greater detail.
Step 1: Planning for assessment
Planning is the first step in the cycle of assessment. In the early years, the
teacher needs to plan assessment for every child on a daily basis. Planning
for assessment includes deciding on appropriate assessment criteria, deciding
on the assessment tool to be used, preparing the resources needed for the
activity, etc. The teacher’s planning is guided by curriculum policies and
frameworks, which are developed at the national, provincial or district levels.
The curriculum policies include ranges of assessment criteria which teachers
select to be included in their checklist for assessment. Different countries use
different policy documents or frameworks that include children’s developmental
milestones. In South Africa, for example, the learning standards for children
from birth to four are stated in the National Early Learning and Development
Standards (NELDS) (DoE 2009), while the learning standards for children from
5 to school-going age are stated in the South African National Curriculum,
referred to as the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) (in
this case, for mathematics) (DoE 2012). We suggest that you refer to both
these documents, i.e. NELDS (DoE 2009) for the learning needs of children
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from birth to four, and CAPS (DoE 2012) for the mathematics competencies
required for Grade R.
Study table 7.2 below, which illustrates the mathematical developmental

milestones of children from birth to four years, as taken from the NELDS
document (DoE 2009).
TABLE 7.2
Developmental milestones in early mathematics
Desired result: Children learn about mathematical concepts

Age category Standard 1: Standard 2:
Development of Development of
number sense concepts of symbols,
shape, size and space
Expected competencies Expected competencies
Babies 0–18 Grasps objects and Plays with different sized
months explores them with containers and fills these
hands and mouth with objects or liquids
Enjoys finger plays and Attempts to put objects
rhythmic counting into different shaped
games openings
Count facial features e.g.
nose, both ears
Toddlers 18–24 Counts by rote up to ten Plays with shape puzzles
months or more Plays with four-piece
Understands quantity up puzzles
to 2 or 3 Begins to categorise
Holds up fingers to tell items according to
age characteristics, e.g. length,
shape, colour
Puts objects correctly into
same shaped openings
Young children 3 Counts by rote up to 20 Recognises and names
to 4 years Begins to count simple shapes
objects in one-to-one Uses measuring utensils
correspondence up to Talks about time,
five e.g. yesterday, today,
tomorrow
Classifies and matches
objects
Source: Adapted from the National Early Learning and Development Standards for children
birth to four years (NELDS) (DoE 2009)
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120
Table 7.2 shows the developmental milestones in two critical areas of

mathematics, namely the development of number, and the development of
shape, size and space concepts in children from birth to four. Developmental
milestones refer to the knowledge, skills and attitudes that children are expected
to achieve within a specific age range.
Step 2: Gathering information
This step involves different methods used in gathering information about the
child’s learning and development. The assessment method used is informed
by the learning criteria being assessed. Some learning criteria can be assessed
on paper through colouring, drawing, illustrations or matching activities, such
as drawing a circle around the shapes that are squares. In such cases, the
assessment method used is based on pencil and paper. If the learning criteria
cannot be demonstrated on paper (on worksheets or in workbooks), for instance
when sorting concrete shapes according to colours, then the assessment method
used is observation and discussions.
A variety of assessment methods should be used to gather information about

children’s learning, since no single method can reveal everything about a
child. By using multiple methods, the teacher can obtain complete information
about a child’s progress. Multiple sources of information also reduce errors in
evaluating and assessing the child.
In the following section, we look at the methods of assessment that are most
appropriate to emergent mathematics, namely observation, oral discussion
and portfolios.
Observation Oral discussion Portfolio

•• It is a reliable •• The teacher gathers •• This is a collection
method used in information by of the child’s work,
the early years to engaging the child such as drawings,
build an accurate in discussions about photographs, etc,
picture of a child’s the task. used as evidence of
development and •• The teacher gains the child’s abilities,
learning. insight into the accomplishments
•• It occurs daily as child’s thinking and and progress.
the teacher watches reasoning about •• It is sent home at
and listens carefully tasks. the end of a term
to each young child. •• It is relevant to or at the end of the
•• It is systematic mathematics where year.
and occurs during the process is more •• Samples of the
routines, during the important than the child’s work reflect
child’s interaction final answer. the child’s unique
with the adult and •• During the oral skills and abilities.
peers, and during discussion, the child •• A portfolio should
play. can use resources to be continuously
•• It is on-going. find or show evolving,
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Observation Oral discussion Portfolio
•• It is a planned answers if his/ documenting

process, guided by her vocabulary is evidence of the
assessment criteria. limited. child’s progress.
•• It is recorded as •• The teacher records •• Over time, the
anecdotal notes, the answers and collection of work
or on a checklist or any relevant samples provides
rating scales. observations, for a vivid picture
example, “using of the child’s
fingers when development.
counting”. •• The teacher can
•• The teacher identify unique
uses prompts or characteristics of
rephrases questions each child.
to help the children •• It can take many
understand what forms, such as a
they have been folder, a lever arch
asked to do. file, a cereal box,
pizza boxes, etc.
When we gather information about a child’s learning, it is important to take

cognisance of Ginsburg’s (1997) suggestion that multiple methods of assessment
such as observations, tasks and oral discussions be used together to complement
each other.
In step three below, you will learn how you can record the information gathered
during assessment.
Step 3: Recording information
Several types of assessment tools/aids can be used to record information in

the early years. These include anecdotal records, checklists, rating scales,
samples of work and photographs. Teachers can also interview families to
obtain information. It is important for you to record what has been observed
immediately, at the time of observation, or it may be forgotten. A notebook
may be used for this purpose. Another option would be to keep records on
post-it notes and these notes can then be written in the child’s records at a
later stage. Conversations can be recorded, or photographs can be taken, for
example, in the case of a construction model.
The teacher must record her observations in writing each day, using an
observation book, a checklist or a rating scale. The recording of the assessment
is used to report to parents and other stakeholders. In the early years, no marks
or percentages are given to any child. All assessments are made using comments,
or a checklist.
Step 4: Interpreting the information
Interpretation involves making meaning of the data that has been collected.
Both the parents and the teacher decide what information is important for
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122
making decisions about the child’s developmental needs and learning interests.
An objective judgement is made when the teacher interprets a record based
on the observation of a child, an incident or an episode. The interpretation
may provide insight into the child’s temperament, disposition, learning or self-
regulation. Interpretation is most meaningful when observation is carried out
over a period, as this helps the educator to reflect on how the child is growing
and developing (Ebbeck & Waniganayake 2010).
Step 5: Reporting of findings
Assessment results/reports are used to inform parents and families about

their child’s developmental status and achievement. Reporting is the process
of communicating the observational data about the child’s development and
learning to parents, schools, and other stakeholders. Reporting starts with
written descriptions of the child’s development and learning. There are three
sets of people who have to be kept informed of each child’s needs and interests,
namely the parents and family of the child; professional colleagues, if the child
has special needs which require specialised attention; and practitioners in the
Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme and in Grade R, just before
the child moves to that class in the school. Discussions with parents are based
on the evidence that has been collected in the observational records.
Reporting takes place both informally and formally, through discussions.

Informal reporting takes place in the following ways: when the parents bring
and collect the child each day, through phone calls, and by writing notes to the
parents in the child’s home-programme notebook. Reporting is formal during
individual parent-teacher meetings which are arranged in advance.
Step 6: Planning for activities
After completing the first five steps of the process, planning for the next stage
takes place. Children who have not yet achieved what was expected of them,
are given more help. Those who have demonstrated understanding of certain
topics will benefit from opportunities to use their understanding in problem-
solving contexts. The information gathered can therefore be used in instructional
planning, to provide interventions for individual learners.
Now that you have learnt about the process-driven approach to assessment,
read activity 7.4 which is about assessing the skills of estimating and counting.
Then answer the questions that follow.
41 Ac tivit y 7.4
Outcomes: Estimating and checking
Activity: The teacher randomly places 8 blocks under a counting mat. The
teacher shows the children the blocks briefly and poses the following
questions:
Teacher: “About how many blocks do you think are under here?”
Teacher: “Count, check and see exactly how many there are.”
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During the planning stage, the teacher decides that she is going to
look for the following:
•• Can the child make a reasonable estimate of the number (is 8 within
the child’s comfort zone)?
•• Does the child know the sequence of number names in counting
objects?
•• Does the child move the objects and count, or simply look and count?
•• Is the method accurate?
•• Can the child count systematically by 1s, using all of the above skills?
She then prepares the following rating sheet to record the assessment:
Activity: Estimating and checking by counting

Scale Criteria
1 Very unrealistic estimate and incorrect count
2 Does not estimate between 5 and 10
3 Counts in unsystematic ways
4 Estimates between 5 and 10
5 Counts accurately to 8
6 Uses all of the counting principles listed above
7 As with level 6, but with confidence and motivation
Answer the following questions based on the counting activity above:
(1) Briefly discuss what the teacher needs to do in order to plan for this
activity?
(2) What method of assessment do you consider to be most appropriate
for assessing this activity? Substantiate your answer by providing
reasons.
(3) Write down two important features of the assessment tool used in
this activity. Explain your understanding of these features.
(4) Suppose the learner achieved level 1 in this activity. In 200 words,
suggest what the teacher could do to support the child in the next
lesson.
You will notice that this activity is about assessment as a process in learning.
(1) The first question is about the planning stage: Here you must explain
how you will go about preparing for the lesson. List the resources
required for the activity and what you will need to record the results.
Plan how will you conduct the assessment (for example, by asking
questions), and prepare the questions you will ask in advance.
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124
(2) The second question is about the method of assessment used. First
look at what the child needs to do to show understanding. Ask yourself:
Is she/he going to write, draw, speak, demonstrate, etc? In this case,
the child is going to speak. We know this, because the teacher is going
to ask the child questions. Let’s recall the methods of assessment
(observation, written, oral, demonstration). Because young children
cannot read or write, the most effective method used in assessing
children in the early years, is observation.
(3) The assessment tool used in this activity is a rating scale. Its two main
features are the levels of achievement, and the accompanying criteria.
(4) The fourth question is about interpreting the results, in order to plan the
next lesson. The interpretation of the assessment results will inform the
teacher of the specific needs of the children. Estimating and counting
are basic skills required in mathematics. Consider using alternative
teaching strategies. These children could benefit from working in a
small-group setting outside the classroom, to build or strengthen early
estimation and counting skills.
In the following section, you will learn about the checklist, which is one of
the most commonly used recording tools in assessing young children. You
will learn about the purpose of the checklist, and how to design a checklist.
7.5 THE CHECKLIST AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL
7.5.1 The purpose of a checklist

A checklist is developed from a range of learning objectives or assessment
criteria found in curriculum policies. Checklists are designed to record the
presence or absence of specific traits or behaviours by using “yes” or “no”
answers, or ticks and crosses. Although commonly used, checklists have to
be used with caution, because they do not give exact descriptions of how a
learner experiences a certain mathematical concept. A checklist, because of
its brevity, usually says very little about what the child really knows about the
concept. The child usually knows much more than the checklist makes room for.
The items listed in the checklist are arranged to give the teacher an overview
of their sequence and how they relate to each other. The teacher uses the list
of items from the checklist for various purposes in the instruction programme.
Because the checklist is representative of the curriculum, it becomes a framework
for assessment, instructional planning, record keeping, and reporting to parents
on what is taught and how the child is progressing.
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7.5.2 How to design a checklist

The teacher must first identify the major concepts within an activity. These
become the main focus of the assessment. The following four steps will guide
the teacher in designing a checklist:
FIGURE 7.2
The four steps in designing a checklist
Step 1: Identify the skills to be included
Based on the topic/concept that is being taught, the teacher identifies the
required skills / the relevant assessment criteria. For example, if the concept
is “shape, size and space”, the following criteria will be used for children
between 3 and 4 years:
•• Recognises and names simple shapes

•• Sorts out objects according to shapes
•• Sorts out shapes according to size
•• Classifies and matches objects
Step 2: Separate listing of target behaviours
If a series of items or behaviours are included in the criteria, the target items
should be listed separately, so that they can be recorded separately (Irwin &
Bushwell 1980). For the criterion “Recognises and names simple shapes”, the
items could be listed separately, as follows:
•• Squares
•• Circles
•• Triangles
•• Rectangles
Step 3: Sequential organisation of checklist
The skills on the checklist should be organised sequentially in order of difficulty

or complexity. For example, the ability to name and recognise shapes must
precede the ability to sort out objects according to shapes.
Step 4: Record keeping
Different record-keeping strategies may be used. As explained above, two

types of indicators that are frequently used are “yes/no”, and “ticks/crosses”.
Checklists can be used to record individual or group progress. Whether the
teacher uses observation, lesson activities or tasks for assessment, the checklist
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126
is used to keep a record of the child’s progress. The information on the checklist
can be shared with parents.
Below is an example of a checklist designed to assess the concept of space

and shape in Grade R.
TABLE 7.3
An example of a checklist for Grade R
Content area: Space and shape

Content Criteria √ or X Comments
Describe, sort Compares which of two given
and compare 3-D objects/collections of objects
objects according is bigger, smaller, biggest,
to various criteria: smallest
Sorts objects according to
size – big and small/from big
to small
Colour – primary colours (red,
yellow, blue)
Shape – circle, triangle and
square
Objects that roll
Objects that slide
Source: Adapted from CAPS (DoE 2012)
In the activity that follows, you are required to design a checklist using the
four steps discussed in section 7.5.2.
42 Ac tivit y 7. 5
Read the case study below and design a checklist for the counting activity
given. You can use the steps for designing a checklist in section ‌to guide
you in this activity.
Case study: Assessing emergent counting skills
A teacher places 10 differently coloured mats on the classroom floor.

Each mat is spaced a step apart. The teacher gives Sandy (5 years old) the
following instructions and observes her:
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Teacher’s instruction Sandy’s response

Take 4 steps forward on As Sandy steps on each mat, she counts
the mats aloud: 1, 2, 3 and 4. Then she stops on the
4th mat.
Now take 3 more steps From the 4th mat, Sandy takes 3 more steps.
from where you are. Counts again 1, 2 and 3. Then stops.
What number mat did you Sandy looks back and starts counting from
land on? the first mat. As she counts, she points to
each mat: 1, 2, 3, 4 (pauses … she remembers
that she stopped on that mat), then counts
on: 5, 6, 7. She then says: “7 steps”.
Now, Sandy, take 2 steps Sandy takes 2 steps backwards from the 7th
backwards. mat, but does not count.
What is the number of the Sandy pauses and tries to think. She then
mat on which you landed? goes back to the start. Steps again on
the mats and tries to count. She cannot
remember where she needs to stop and
goes to the end. Then says: “8”.
You will notice that activity 7.5 is on counting. To be able to assess counting,
you need to have a good knowledge of the types of counting and their
characteristics.
First, let me take you back to learning unit 2 to recap what you have learnt
about counting. Figure 7.3 below shows you the characteristics of the
two types of counting, i.e. rote counting and rational counting. Study the
characteristics of the two types of counting. You will need this knowledge
to assess Sandy’s counting skills.
FIGURE 7.3
Types of counting and the associated characteristics
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128
Now that you have been reminded of the characteristics of the types of
counting, follow the steps in designing the checklist to assess and record
Sandy’s counting skills.
Step 1: Identify the concept. Study the activity and decide whether it
involves rote or rational counting (refer to figure 7.3).
Step 2: Identify the relevant criteria (skills). Refer to the characteristics of

rational counting in figure 7.3, namely numeral names attached in correct
sequence, the last counting word shows the cardinal value of what has
been counted, one-to-one correspondence, counting all, counting back,
counting on.
Step 3: Record the skills sequentially.
Step 4: Decide on the indicators to be used, i.e. yes/no, or ticks/crosses.
Does the checklist look something like the one shown below?
Checklist for rational counting Yes No

Learner can count from 1 to 7 in the correct order
Last counting word shows cardinal value (7)
Learner uses one-to-one correspondence – says the
number names as she steps on the mats
Learner can count on
Learner counts backwards
Learner counts all
Now that you have learnt how to design a checklist, we will show you how
to use a checklist in assessing children’s problem-solving skills. Problem-
solving is an integral part of children’s experiences. Children encounter
problems daily and throughout their lives. Therefore it is an important
skill to teach them and to assess.
7.6 ASSESSING MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THROUGH

PLAY
As discussed in the previous six learning units, play provides ample opportunities
for children to learn new skills and knowledge, practise their existing abilities,
and build their interests, especially in mathematics. Hence ongoing observation
during adult-guided play and free play is essential in assessing children’s
mathematical knowledge and skills. While many of these mathematics skills
need to be explicitly taught, including playful activities and games in the
early education curriculum can give children opportunities to practise their
numeracy and spatial skills (Ramani 2014). For example, children can practise
...........
129 E M A1501/1

counting skills when playing with pretend money, spatial skills when putting
together a puzzle, and geometry when building with blocks.
In fact, building blocks is an ideal play activity for promoting early geometric
and spatial sense. Children’s spatial reasoning, knowledge of geometric shapes,
numerical knowledge, and problem-solving skills can be effectively assessed
through block play. Building with blocks not only engages individual learners,
but also groups of learners, especially when block building takes the form of
guided play, i.e. fun activities which are structured to provide opportunities
for exploration and learning. Guided play can be used in early childhood
classrooms to engage children in play activities that are connected to the
curriculum and will promote learning. Studies have found that teaching children
through guided play can be more effective than didactic instruction, because
it encourages children to take on an active role in their exploration (Alfieri,
Brooks, Aldrich, & Tenenbaum 2011). The method of assessment used during
play is mainly observation
Children’s problem-solving skills are assessed during play, as well as across a

range of mathematical concepts, such as measurement, shapes, time, money,
etc. Let’s take a cursory look at some of the indicators that can be used to
assess children’s problem-solving skills. Questions to ask are:
Can the child
•• identify a problem
•• make a plan, either verbally or as a picture, or both
•• work at their plans, and revise their plans
•• recall what has been done; they should talk about what they have done
43 Ac tivit y 7.6
Read the case study below. Then use the checklist to assess Mhlongo’s
problem-solving skills.
Mhlongo is a five-year-old boy who decided to build a hut so that three

dolls of different sizes (mother, father and baby) could all live together in
the same hut. He used blocks made from clay, sticks and grass to build
the hut. With the help of the teacher, he planned the construction of the
hut. He was able to successfully construct the hut, but the father doll (the
tallest) could not go into the hut, as the doorway was too low.
Mhlongo: “The doorway is too small. I think I need a bigger hut.”
Bongani (Mhlongo’s friend): “Try using bigger blocks.”
Mhlongo: “Yes. But the bigger blocks are heavier. How am I going to do
that? I’d rather go and play football.”
The following day, Mhlongo’s friend, Bongani, decided to follow the plan
to build the new hut, using bigger blocks to make it bigger. During the
process of construction, he tested if the tallest doll would fit through the
doorway. When he was satisfied that the tallest doll could fit in, he called
...........
130
Mhlongo. Mhlongo then came over and wanted to see whether the father
doll would fit inside. Surprised, he said: “Eish, they all can fit inside now!”
TASK: Use the checklist below to assess Mhlongo’s problem-solving

skills
Content: Problem-solving
Assessment criteria √ or X Comments
1. Identifies a problem
2. Recognises that mathematical aspects
can be used to solve the problem
3. Makes a plan
4. Carries out the plan
5. Evaluates the outcome
6. Shows confidence. Never gives up
You should have concluded that Mhlongo has successfully achieved
assessment criteria 1, 2 and 5 (“Eish they all can fit inside now.”). Therefore
you will indicate this using a tick. Assessment criteria 3, 4 and 6 were not
achieved. (“Yes. But the bigger blocks are heavier. How am I going to do that?
I’d rather go and play football.”) Mhlongo lacks confidence and perseverance.

Clarke, S & Atkinson, S. 1996. Tracking significant achievement in primary
mathematics. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
McAfee, O, Leong, D & Bodrova, E. 2004. Basics of assessment: a primer for
early childhood professionals. National Association for the Education of
Young Children, 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC.
National Department of Education. 2009. National early learning and
development standards for children birth to four years (NELDS): draft.
Pretoria. Pages 34–40.
National Department of Education. 2012. Mathematics Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statements, Grade R. Pretoria. Pages 13–17.
Ramani, GB, Zippert, E, Schweitzer, S & Pan, S. 2014. Preschool children’s
joint block building during a guided play activity. Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology 35:326–336.
...........
131 E M A1501/1


(1) Explain the purpose of assessment in emergent mathematics.
(2) Differentiate between formal assessment and informal assessment.
(3) Discuss three methods that can be used in assessing children’s emergent
mathematic abilities.
(4) Provide reasons why observation is an appropriate method for assessing
young learners.
(5) According to Ginsburg (1997), multiple methods of assessment should be
used in assessing a child. To what extent do you agree or disagree with
this view? Substantiate your answer by providing reasons why you agree
or disagree
7.9 CONCLUSION
In this learning unit you have learnt about the role of assessment in emergent
mathematics. First we explored what assessment is, by focusing on the
definition, the purpose and the types of assessment. We then explored the
process-driven approach to assessment to help you to implement this approach
in emergent mathematics. We also looked at the assessment tools used in
emergent mathematics. We then discussed the potential of play in mathematical
learning and how foundational mathematical skills can be assessed during
play and games. By now, you should know that assessment is an integral part
of teaching and learning emergent mathematics. You should also understand
that assessment is crucial to collect evidence as to whether or not the child
has achieved the relevant learning outcomes for a particular topic in emergent
mathematics.

Alfieri, L, Brooks, PJ, Aldrich, NJ & Tenenbaum, HR. 2011. Does discovery-
based instruction enhance learning? Journal of Educational Psychology
103(1): 1–18.
Ebbeck, M & Waniganayake, M. 2010. Play in early childhood education. Learning
in Diverse contexts. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Ginsburg, HP, Lee, JS & Boyd, JS. 1997. Mathematics education for young
children: what it is and how to promote it. Social Policy Report 22(1): 3–22
Irwin, DM & Bushnell, MM. 1980. Observational strategies for child study.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
McAfee, O, Leong, DJ & Bodrova, E. 2004. Basics of assessment. Washington
DC: NAEYC.
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. 2009. Aistear: The early
childhood curriculum framework and the primary school curriculum.
Dublin.
NCCA. See National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
Ramani, GB & Brownell, CA. 2014. Preschoolers’ cooperative problem
solving: integrating play and problem solving. Journal of Early Childhood
Research 12(1): 92–108.
...........
132
Republic of South Africa. Department of Basic Education. 2009. Report of

the Ministerial Task Team for the Review of the Implementation of the
National Curriculum Statement. Pretoria: Department of Basic Education.
Republic of South Africa. Department of Basic Education. 2012. National
protocol for assessment: Grade R-12. Pretoria: Department of Basic
Education.
Wortham, SC & Hardin, BJ. 2015. Assessment in early childhood education.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
...........
133 E M A1501/1

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5.7 CAPACITY AND VOLUME 98

THE PURPOSE OF THIS MODULE

LINK TO OTHER COURSES OR MODULES

THE OUTCOMES AND ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR THE

The student is able to:

•• explain what “emergent mathematics” is

LEARNING OUTCOME 2: Demonstrate an understanding of how to teach

The student is able to:

•• define number sense

LEARNING OUTCOME 3: Explain the concept of patterns in emergent

The student is able to:

•• explain what a pattern is

LEARNING OUTCOME 4: Explain the concepts of space and shape within

The student is able to:

•• identify and explain important concepts related to shape and space in

LEARNING OUTCOME 5: Demonstrate an understanding of measurement

The student is able to:

•• explain the importance of measurement in emergent mathematics from a

LEARNING OUTCOME 6: Explain concepts related to data handling in

The student is able to:

•• explain what data handling, within the context of emergent mathematics, is

LEARNING OUTCOME 7: Demonstrate an understanding of the role, purpose

The student is able to:

•• explain the purpose of assessment in emergent mathematics

OUTLINE OF THE MODULE

GUIDELINES ON PLANNING AND MANAGING YOUR TIME

Yet there never seems to be enough time to get everything done!

THE APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THIS MODULE

8. Approach Work your way systematically through the various

11. E-tutor An e-tutor will be allocated to you. Kindly liaise with

Open educational resources (OERs)

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials

Kindly see the screen shot of TESSA on the next page.

Recommended / estimated notional hours to be spent for this module

Learning unit Notional hours

Your lecturers, in the Department of Early Childhood Education

1 Introduction to emergent mathematics

When you have completed this module, you should be able to

•• explain what “emergent mathematics” is

1.2 WHAT IS EMERGENT MATHEMATICS?

A comprehensive definition of emergent mathematics (numeracy) is provided

Emergent mathematics includes understanding simple ideas such

Based on this definition, we can say that emergent mathematics is the

Hassinger-Das, Hirsch-Pasek and Golinkoff (2017) point out that decades of

Free play is child-initiated. As children play, they are exploring, imagining,

It is important that you understand the difference between mathematical skills

•• that emergent mathematics forms the foundation for all other

All of these spontaneous and intuitive learning activities contribute to the

Mathematics does not happen in a vacuum, but is part of an integrated approach

Teachers need a good knowledge and sound understanding of mathematics

should therefore use their own good mathematical knowledge and

In the following section, we will look at the theories underpinning teaching

1.3 CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND EMERGENT MATHEMATICS

You will be introduced to the different stages from childhood to adulthood in

5.7 CAPACITY AND VOLUME 98