MATHEMATICAL LITERACY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: THE IMPORTANCE OF MATHEMATICS IN CHILDREN’S DAILY LIVES

Abstract

This article addresses the importance of mathematical literacy in early childhood education, considering that mathematics is present in various situations in children's daily lives, even before they attend school. Counting objects, comparing sizes, organizing toys, perceiving shapes, identifying quantities, understanding notions of time and space, and making small choices are all situations that involve mathematical knowledge. In this sense, the objective of this article is to discuss the importance of mathematical literacy in early childhood education and to reflect on possibilities for developing this knowledge in a meaningful, contextualized, and playful way. To this end, a bibliographic and documentary research was carried out, consulting studies on Mathematics Education, official documents, and research related to the development of mathematical concepts in childhood. The results of the discussion show that working with mathematics at this stage should not be limited to memorizing numbers or performing repetitive activities. It is important to provide experiences in which children can think, question, compare, hypothesize, solve small problems, and explain their strategies, within a pedagogical intentionality directed and mediated by the teacher.