This is Kasandra, and in her words, it's "a soccer picture of me when I was a chubby little four year old!" When you read her entry, you'll see that she's done a nice job not only remembering a little from her own preschool years, but applying information from chapter 3 to her current experiences with young children. Enjoy!
When you ask a two year old how old they are, they usually look back and hold up two fingers to show you. While they know how many fingers to hold up to represent their age, do they really know what the number two means? In chapter three, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff explore the process of children’s understanding of quantity. Previous to reading this chapter, I had never really put much thought into when or how children learn what numbers truly mean. I knew there was a certain age they learned to count from one to ten, but I never considered that even though they knew the numbers, they didn’t know what they truly meant. I can’t personally recall when I began to understand numbers. I do, though, recall when I realized numbers go on for infinity. I was a third grader, and wrapping my mind around that was a lot to take in.
I agree with the authors when they say parents in our society are too worried that their child is going to be behind in school before they even start preschool. Parents hear that infants should be able to add and subtract numbers, and automatically think their child is behind. They then go out and buy flashcards and math videos to help their children catch back up to speed. This reminds me of a very important lesson I learned in one of my psychology classes. Parents need to learn what sources to listen to and which ones to just ignore completely. To know what information is legitimate you need to learn what a credible source is; you can’t listen to everything you hear.
I was at a baseball game with my family and my three year old cousin Vinny asked me for quarters so he could by some candy at the snack shack. I didn’t have any quarters so I gave him two dimes and a nickel and told him it was the same amount. My Dad then proceeded to give him two quarters, so Vinny then gave me my change back. After reading this chapter and looking back at this incident, I realized Vinny didn’t know that a quarter was twenty-five cents; he just knew that he needed a quarter to buy some licorice, and that was all that mattered to him. He has yet to completely understand the true value of a number, though he does know that a quarter has a money value.
While reading this chapter I kept thinking of children I interact with at the daycare where I work. I am curious to know what goes through their young minds when playing with the manipulatives we set out every day. I also wonder what they think about when I ask them how old they are. Reading this chapter made me realize how complex the brain truly is. As Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff stated, “Nature has programmed children to learn about numbers”(p.42). Doing exercises with children to assist them to better understand quantity is excellent; however, children will learn on their own the true meaning of numbers.
I love your example about Vinny, Kasandra. Understanding number and numerals takes time, and understanding the value of different forms of money adds another complex abstract layer for children. My brother Jim is 3 years older than me, and when I was a preschooler, he used to be able to talk me into trading my dimes for his nickles...they were bigger, so of course, my preoperational mind thought I was getting a bargain!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog because it reminded me of how uneducated I was before studying child development. I was unaware that if a child could count to ten at the age of three or four, that they were just counting and they have not grasped the concept of quantity and what those numbers really meant. In my eyes if a preschooler could count to ten, they were "So Smart". I remember taking my baby brother to high school with me and I would brag because he could say his numbers, one to ten. "My baby brother is so smart, my baby brother is so smart". How foolish of me. I have shared Vinny moments with my own family and I laugh at what I did not know then, compared to what I know now.
ReplyDelete~Monique Campbell
I felt like we have many similarities. First, I remember being a kid and struggling with the concept of infinity for numbers. That numbers were never ending and could go on and on... even past the "millions billions trillions gazillions" that I used to say. Secondly, I agree that I do not understand or remember when I began to realize that numbers had an actual meaning to them. The reading surprised me a little when it suggests that parents feel their children are behind for not being able to add/subtract at a young age. Maybe because we are child development majors, we understand that children who are preschoolers should not feel this pressure.
ReplyDeleteAmy Wilson
Like you, I never truly realized how complex the concept of numbers are. I did not think twice to think that a children do not understand all that a number means and represents when a child would hold up their fingers for how old they were. I really liked the example of Vinny because his behavior was such a great example of children understanding parts of concepts before completely understanding everything about it. I also agree with you that parents definitely "jump the gun" and think that their children are behind if they are not able to fully comprehend things like numbers at an early age. It is so important it is to be an informed consumer.
ReplyDelete-Kylie Riddle
This blog was very interesting to me because I have paid attention to children all around me dealing with numbers. I may not have been thinking it at the time, but now that I have read this blog I can go back to a few incidents that have occurred and wonder, do children really understand what these numbers mean? When I was traveling with my Fresno State Soccer team this August to Malibu, we were sitting at dinner waiting for our food; while soon enough I kept seeing a little blonde head peeking up in the seat behind me. The little girl and I kept playing peek-a-boo back and forth until I finally asked for her name and how old she was. When I asked her how old she was, she said two, but held up three fingers, then four, then three again. She knew she was two, but wasnt sure how to show that on her hands. Just like Vinny and from reading this blog, I was able to understand it a bit more through my own experience I had with the little girl at dinner. I agree completely that parents don't need to waste their time and money on flashcards and math videos at such a young age, children need to learn on their own through example by the parents and people around them. This was a very interesting topic in the chapter because I never really thought that deeply as to what numbers really mean to children until now. It is truley an amazing thing!
ReplyDelete-Nicole Duff
Reading this blog took me back to when I was a young child. When I was four and five, I knew how old I was, but when representing that number on my fingers, I would mix them up. My sisters use to tease me about that. But now learning and understanding our cognitive development, it is completely normal for that to happen. If parents can better understand their child's cognitive growth, they wouldn't buy those extra educational tools for their toddlers to "catch up". This aspect of the chapter was interesting, because this topic of numbers is so universal that people can relate with their own experiences.
ReplyDelete~~Alex Jensen
I agree with Kasandra that I did not know when and how children learn what numbers truly mean. I just assumed that children knew the meaning of numbers. If children do not understand numbers right away parents should be ok with it. They do not need to go out and buy math flashcards.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing Kassandra said that I agree with is, “Parents need to learn what sources to listen to and which ones to just ignore completely. To know what information is legitimate you need to learn what a credible source is; you can’t listen to everything you hear.”
Sometimes parents do not use common sense very well. I believe that social pressure forces children to know numbers so some children pretend to know them but do not necessarily really understand them.
I totally agree that fully understanding what numbers mean is something that will be individual: some will understand when they are 2-3 and others 4-5. Doing exercises with them using objects (marbles, blocks, cards, crayons, etc.) will help them visualize what the numbers "stand for." We use symbols to represent concepts. When you say “7,” it symbolizes seven objects of whatever you’re referring to. The child has to have a grasp of this symbolism. When that actually happens, may well be shown in studies performed by psychologists.