Mathematical Modeling of Natural and Social Context at Preschool Level of Education

The need for a new approach to mathematics education in early childhood, "opens the door" to mathematical modeling, which basically results in the development of problem solving skills and logical and mathematical thinking.... [ view full abstract ]

The need for a new approach to mathematics education in early childhood, "opens the door" to mathematical modeling, which basically results in the development of problem solving skills and logical and mathematical thinking. Methodical literature sees mathematical modeling as a framework for learning mathematics, in which the mathematical content is used to study other sciences and other areas of life. For preschool children it is to the world in which they live, in which each new situation presents a real problem, and in which mathematical modeling presents some life and social experience that allows exploring and understanding the mathematical dimension of an environment. Modeling at an early age is a revealing activity that involves "mathematization" of a real situation, resulting in mathematical ideas and new mathematical concepts. Therefore, preschool mathematics emphasizes learning mathematics through problem solving and learning problem solving through the creation of mathematical models. Models focus the attention of children to different types of presentation of variables relations which are typical for authentic problems, and which model is the best one for the implementation depends on the situation. An ability to establish and use a wide range of visual models offers children alternative paths to solutions. In particular, the formation of each new model expands the set of tools, which is used to solve problems and the probability of coming to solutions increases. As it is necessary to pay more attention to mathematical modeling at an early age, this paper deals with examining the attitudes of preschool teachers about the values of matheamathical modeling and about indicating models applied in solving real problems that have a mathematical basis.

Keywords: logical and mathematical thinking, mathematical modeling, preschool age, problem solving, visual models