Teachers' stories capture children's discoveries made in Math Early On

Toddler Engineers |  Kathy Paradies
Toddler Engineers | Kathy Paradies

Through images and teachers’ descriptions of the processes of early intellectual discovery for young children, “Learning the Language of Nature: Young Children as Mathematical Thinkers” illustrates the partnership forged between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Math Early On grant and Educare of Omaha.

Math Early On, supported by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, offers professional development opportunities to Educare teachers that build on past successes of UNL’s NebraskaMATH grant and the Primarily Math initiative. Principal investigators Ruth Heaton, project leader and Gilmartin Professor of Math Education, in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education; Carolyn Pope Edwards, Willa Cather Emeriti Professor of Psychology and Child, Youth and Family Studies; and Victoria Molfese, Chancellor’s Professor of Child, Youth and Family Studies, gathered these stories to capture the powerful learning that emerged in the Educares of Omaha at Indian Hill and Kellom, as well as UNL’s Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory.

Created by the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education, “Learning the Language of Nature: Young Children as Mathematical Thinkers” reveals, unpacks and shares moments and processes of mathematical discovery in early childhood education, in the model of an exhibit from the Hawkins Centers of Learning in Boulder, Colorado, as well as Italian-style documentation.

Edwards presented this booklet in March 2016 to the director of the Educational and Documentation Center at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in Italy, which displayed it at its bookstore and showcases educational work in countries that use the Reggio Emilia approach.

“We presented copies to leaders of the organization Reggio Children, and the next day the primary conference lecturer, Paola Strozzi, a pedagogical coordinator very interested in emerging mathematics, came to talk to us. She relayed how much she liked the book, especially when she saw how the photos and stories provided an entry into the children’s thinking and investigation,” Edwards said.

Besides strengthening math instruction, the collaborative partnership between UNL and Educare leadership creates, nurtures and spreads the ideas and insights that emerge from its professional development. Learn more and download a PDF of this booklet online: http://scimath.unl.edu/csmce/math-early-on