Mathematics in preschool education: The order of tens
AUTHORS
Carlos Pereira dos Santos | cmfsantos@fc.ul.pt | University of Lisbon
Ricardo Cunha Teixeira | ricardo.ec.teixeira@uac.pt | NICA-UAc & FCT-UAc
SUMMARY
Our numerical system is a positional, base-ten system. It is positional because the value of symbols depends on the position they occupy. It is base-ten because ten lower-order units are needed to compose one of the immediately higher order. Although we consider this system simple and natural when we use it in our daily lives, we should not forget how sophisticated and ingenious it is. It took humanity a long time to have a numerical system like the one we use today. There were even times when advanced civilizations used different systems simultaneously, some considerably worse than the current one. Therefore, we cannot expect a preschool child to fully understand the decimal system. In fact, the subject of numerical orders, and in particular the order of tens, is quite delicate. In this article, we will explore some ways of approaching the concept of the order of tens with children from the age of five. The ideas presented are inspired by Singapore Math, a method used for teaching early mathematics in Singapore, a successful example of the “concrete-pictorial-abstract” approach.
KEYWORDS
“concrete-pictorial-abstract”; preschool education; order of tens; numerical orders; decimal system
RELEVANT DATES
Published: 2015/12/22