REPEATING PATTERN ACTIVITIES AT PRESCHOOL AGE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5937/Keywords:
repeating patterns, preschool children, unit of repeatAbstract
Activities with patterns are very common and very important in the period of the early education of children. Patterns are present in different forms and contexts in kindergarten, where preschool children often encounter situations in which they work on noticing or predicting certain regularities, whether they are everyday life situations like arranging in a column (boygirč-boy-girl) or drawing zebra patterns (black-white-black-white), etc. New research on early mathematics education increases this content’s (positive) influence during the development of numerous mathematical competencies, not only those related to algebraic abilities, measurement and spatial reasoning. The aim of this work is to present the development of competences related to the concept of pattern in children of preschool age. In the first part of the paper, the theoretical foundations of mathematical patterns, their categorization and types, their importance at preschool age, as well as specific activities and operations that can be encountered while working with preschool children are presented. The paper also shows the peculiarities of a special category of patterns - patterns of repetition, which are the focus of this paper. Furthermore, the paper presents some of the previous research aimed at children’s activities when identifying the structure of the pattern or units of initiation.
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