ABSTRACT
Evidence of mathematical thinking in young students is also not meant to suggest that preschoolers should be sitting at desks doing mathematics worksheets. Awareness and understanding of mathematics can be seen in children's everyday play. Mathematicians "play" with numbers all of the time. Psychologist Jean Piaget was highly influential in our thinking about sense making and about the cognitive development of young children. Asking students to make sense of new mathematical situations has led to some interesting insights about their thinking. When children are presented with school tasks such as word problems, they can often find solutions without formal instruction. Asking students to make sense of new mathematical situations has led to some interesting insights about their thinking. Although very young children do not typically have much experience with the syntax of mathematics, they do encounter and use mathematical ideas in their lives.
