Mathematics for Young Children: A Literature Review

Abstract

A lot of researches have been conducted to identify the importance of mathematics and its benefits for the early childhood. To the contrary, there also emerge concerns about the risk of premature mathematics learning of the young children. In Indonesia, it appears that early childhood education is not yet designed to be a place to give academic study such as mathematics. Meanwhile, most of the research findings in other countries show that both the children's capacity and capability in learning mathematics and the confining policy, directly or indirectly, may have impacts on the instructional practice of mathematics in early childhood education. This article would like to discuss how literature reveals mathematics learning for early childhood through the role of the teacher.