LEARNING MATHEMATICS

THEIR WAY
How Children Learn Math:
Developing Thinking Skills

Community of Learners
Foundation
MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD
As young children
explore their world,
they gather, sort,
and organize
information in an
attempt to make
sense of their
actions and
experiences.

Community of Learners
Foundation
 MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD
Through sensori-motor
explorations, young
children develop the
capacity for intuitive
thought or the ability
to form conclusions
and plan actions
based on immediate
physical impressions.

Community of Learners
Foundation
 LOGICAL THINKING:
ONE-to-ONE CORRESPONDENCE
Matching is the
simplest and most
direct way children
compare whether
collections of
objects are
equivalent or the
same.

Community of Learners
Foundation
 ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCE
• Matches object to object
• Matches object to picture
• Matches picture to
picture
• Matches set of objects to
numeral
• Matches numeral to
number word

Community of Learners
Foundation
 LOGICAL THINKING:
CLASSIFICATION
Children sort and group
things together based
on common attributes
and properties.

Classifying is a basic
strategy children use to
organize the materials,
people and events.

Community of Learners
Foundation
 CLASSIFICATION SKILLS

• grouping objects
based on a single
attribute

Community of Learners
Foundation
 CLASSIFICATION:
- grouping and regrouping objects based on
multiple attributes
Mga gamit pangkain at mga
gamit sa paaralan

Mga gamit na gawa sa

kahoy/ mga gamit na gawa
sa plastik/ mga gamit na
gawa sa goma
Community of Learners
Foundation
 CLASSIFICATION SKILLS
• describes the
relationship between
two sets of objects:
subsets, intersecting
sets

Community of Learners
Foundation
 CLASSIFICATION SKILLS
• understands the concept of an empty set

NO LEGS 1 LEG 2 LEGS 3 LEGS 4 LEGS MANY

LEGS

Community of Learners
Foundation
 LOGICAL THINKING:
SERIATION
Children assign a logical order to a series
of objects based

- on gradual variations in a single

attribute (e.g. length, size)

- on a sequence of attributes that repeats

(e.g. color, shape)

Community of Learners
Foundation
 SERIATION SKILLS
arranges a set of 10 objects in a series based on a given
attribute

“Paano mo pwede ayusin ang mga

kahoy/ straw?”
Community of Learners
Foundation
 SERIATION SKILLS
arranges two sets of 10 objects in a series and makes
a one-to-one correspondence between the two sets
(serial correspondence)

“Paano maaring ayusin ang mga bat at mga

bola para angCommunity
bawa’t isa ay may kaparis?”
of Learners
Foundation
 SERIATION SKILLS
understands ordinal correspondence

“Alin tungkod ang makukuha ng taong ito?”

Community of Learners
Foundation
 SERIATION SKILLS
recognizes patterns or a sequence of
attributes that repeats

Dot patterns

Color patterns

Community of Learners
Foundation
 LOGICAL THINKING:
CONSERVATION
Conservation is the ability to determine that a
certain quantity will remain the same despite
adjustment of the container, shape, or
apparent size.
Children develop an understanding of the idea
that certain physical properties remain the
same no matter the dimensions of the spaces
they occupy.

Community of Learners
Foundation
 CONSERVATION SKILLS
conservation of number
conservation the equivalence of number

“Alin ang Community

mas marami?
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Foundation
CONSERVATION SKILLS
conservation of fractions

“Aling bahaging may kulay ang mas malaki?

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Foundation
 CONSERVATION SKILLS
Conservation of length
Conservation of distance

“Aling tali ang mas mahaba?

“Alin kotse ang mas malayo ang nilakbay?

Community of Learners
Foundation
 CONSERVATION SKILLS
conservation of area

‘Aling baka ang mayroon mas

malaking lupaing pagkakainan ng
damo?’
Kung magtayo ng 2 bahay sa bawa’t
lupain, magkasing laki pa ba ang
lupang pagkakainan ng 2 baka?
Community of Learners
Foundation
 CONSERVATION SKILLS
conservation of volume (discontinuous substance)

“Alin sa dalawang gusali ang gumagamit ng mas malaking espasyo?

Community of Learners
Foundation
 CONSERVATION SKILLS
conservation of volume (continuous substance)

“Aling lalagyan ang mayroong mas

maraming tubig?”

“Aling baso ang mayroong mas

maraming tubig?”

Community of Learners
Foundation
CONSERVATION SKILLS
conservation of mass

Community of Learners
Foundation
 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
1. Instruction should encourage both arithmetic
mastery and mathematical thinking.
2. Instruction should employ a wide variety of
techniques that actively involve the child in
learning.
3. Structured discovery learning should be an
important ingredient in primary-level mathematics.
4. Instruction should be moderately novel.

Community of Learners
Foundation
 References:
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. The Brain and Mathematics.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Press, Alexandria, Virginia, 2001.
• Baratta-Lorton, Mary. Mathematics Their Way. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
Menlo Park, California, 1976.
• Baroody, Arthur. Children’s Mathematical Thinking. A Developmental Framework for
Preschool, Primary and Special Education Teachers. Teachers College Press, New York,
1987.
• Burns, Marilyn. About Teaching Mathematics, a K-8 Resource, 2nd edition. Math Solutions
Publications, Sausalito, California, 2000.
• Copeland, Richard. How Children Learn Mathematics. Teaching Implications of Piaget’s
Research. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1979
• Hohmann, Mary and David P. Weikart. Educationg Young Children. Activve Learning
Practices for Preschool and Child Care Programs. High Scope Press, Ypsilanti, Michigan,
1995.
• Kamii, Constance Kazuko. Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic. Implication of Piaget’s
Theory. Teachers College Press, New York, New York, 1984.
• Moomaw, Sally and Brenda Hieronymus. More Than Counting, Whole Math Activities for
Preschool and Kindergarten. Redleaf Press, St.Paul, MN. 1995.
• Sousa, David. How the Brain Learns Mathematics. Corwin Press, California. 2008

Community of Learners
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