ABSTRACT
Orwellian doublespeak adversely affects young children in poverty in terms of their health and education in general and mathematical success in particular. Doublespeak contributes to propagandistic practices used by policymakers for the purpose of instilling a distorted sense of importance for high-stakes testing and accountability at the expense of children’s wellbeing. Reverse constructivism sets in as a result, thus contributing to children’s misplaced sense of mathematics without purpose. Through careful observation techniques, parents, practitioners, and researchers can change this opposing trend by highlighting preschoolers’ spatial-quantitative propensities that will help them construct conceptual knowledge rather than engage in rote, mindless tasks.
