MATHEMATICAL COMPETENCES AS A PREREQUISITE FOR PERFORMING CERTAIN PREREADING EXERCISES WITH CHILDREN OF PRE-SCHOOL AGE

Abstract

The emphasis of the research presented in this paper is on pre-reading exercises with preschool-age children and the exploration of logical-mathematical competences, which are considered prerequisites for performing these exercises. The study involved examining children aged five to six, where they were given pre-reading and mathematical tasks. The objective was to uncover potential interdependencies between these competences in terms of how they are solved and their relationship with children’s abilities in both areas. This investigation aims to inspire methodological approaches for integrating these domains. Data was collected from twenty children through individual testing and interviews. The results we obtained indicate, among other findings, that the following mathematical competencies are essential for promoting early literacy: a) understanding 1:1 correspondence during vote counting, b) comparing word lengths by using a non-standard measuring unit, c) knowledge of ordinal numbers and positional relationships when determining the position of a sound within a word, and d) comprehension of sets (understanding the relationship between the whole and its parts) during the transition from the iconic representation of a complete word to the indexical representation of a word segment (sound).