ABSTRACT
Typically developing children progress quickly through learning to explore their physical environment and the things in it. They absorb language so quickly that by nursery age the conventional curriculum focuses on teaching them the language of naming shapes in preparation for formal geometric language. Most pupils can participate in practical activities and games and experience the need to make choices by using comparisons. They may learn from hands-on trial and error such as matching and fitting and develop practical responses regarding consequences in activities that involve weight, volume, quantity, etc. Neuroscientists point out that brain areas that are active when thinking about quantity overlap and interact with areas involved in spatial judgements. They even suggest that our existing brain circuitry for number has evolved from areas that were previously dedicated to spatial perception.
