Previous research has demonstrated a link between children's ability to name canonical finger configurations and their mathematical abilities. This study aimed to investigate the nature of this association, specifically exploring whether the relationship is skill and handshape specific and identifying the underlying mechanisms involved.…

Historically there has always been a lively research discussion on whether the development of number concept should be considered as innate, or whether the catalyst for the development of the number concept -- and for counting -- is hearing number words combined with seeing concrete examples. One can recognize these theories as the nativist view…

Various measures have been used to investigate number processing in children, including a number comparison or a number line estimation task. The present study aimed to examine whether and to which extent these different measures of number representation are related to performance on a curriculum-based standardized mathematics achievement test in…

This experiment aimed to expand previous findings on the development of mental number representation. We tested the hypothesis that children's familiarity with numbers is directly reflected by the shape of their mental number line. This mental number line was expected to be linear as long as numbers lay within the range of numbers children were…

Mathematical concepts and experiences are recalled and organized in a flow chart format. The power of unifying ideas in mathematics often causes this sequence to be forgotten or assigned less importance than it should be. (SD)

Ways in which parents, the media and commercial educational materials contribute to the development of erroneous number concepts in pre-school children are identified. Cautions against these practices are suggested which include the use of more than one set of numerals for representing numbers. (JP)

The author argues on theoretical grounds that not all "logical" pre-number activities are equally relevant for numeracy, and concludes with a practical suggestion for the kind of activity which does have particular relevance. (MN)

Activities for the development of the association of number value and symbols using wooden numerals and pages are described. (MN)

The author criticizes some highly publicized psychological research on the development of number concepts, arguing that the research was poorly executed and emotively reported. (SD)

Seven papers presented at a research conference on number and measurement are presented in this volume. The first paper provides an overview of research concerning number and measurement, and suggests directions for future research. The second paper discusses the relationships between measurement and number concepts, and psychological and…

Described is an activity where base-10 blocks are used to develop students' skills in reading, writing, and visualizing large numbers. An activity sheet that helps students with decimal points is included. (KR)

The processes and strategies used by Finnish second graders in solving verbal multiplication and division tasks were investigated, and the relationship of these processes and strategies to Piagetian abilities, memory capacity skills, and rational number concepts was charted. Three categories of strategies were classified: operations based on…

An intensive, naturalistic study tracked one six year old's learning for six months and more. The study was inspired by the hope that with concepts of Artificial Intelligence and sufficiently detailed observation, the path of knowledge development could be described through observing significant learning experiences. Included is a reasonably…

Field experience during teacher preparation enables the prospective teacher to observe children as they develop -- emotionally, socially, intellectually, and physically. Children, at different stages of development, exhibit characteristics of behavior which may or may not affect how and what they learn in the formal classroom environment. Thus,…

To build cognitive foundation for number, twenty-six low-performing, low-SES first graders did mathematical physical-knowledge activities, such as "bowling," during the first half of the year. As their arithmetic readiness developed, they tried more word problems and games. At the end of the year, these children did better in mental arithmetic and…