POZITIVNE I NEGATIVNE STRANE PET METODIČKIH PRISTUPA U RANOM MATEMATIČKOM OBRAZOVANJU

Abstract

There is a tendency today, both in the world and in our country,for children education to start early. In this context, mathematics education begins early as well, even before children start school, wherein different approaches are used. This paper presented five methodical approaches in early mathematics education, highlighting the good and bad sides of each one – the method of Maria Montessori, the method of the Russian author Nikolai Zaitsev, the system of de- veloping games designed by the Nikitins, the Waldorf pedagogy and the increas- ingly popular Suan Pan method. Most of these approaches are applied within institutionalized forms of early education, with the exception of the system of developing games that the Nikitins have designed for use in family conditions. Some of the approaches have had a very significant impact on the development of curricula in preschool institutions, such as the views of Maria Montessori and Waldorf pedagogy, while other approaches are less known and represented in practice. It is considered as very important to know different theories and ap- proaches while working with children, so that the practical pedagogical work is scientifically based. Nevertheless, the integration of various approaches into a single concept is not simple, as some of these theories are not only different, but also contradictory. This only confirms the need and necessity for early education, including mathematical education, to be interdisciplinary, taking into account knowledge in various fields of science, as well as interactive, including all partici- pants in the child’s development, children, experts and parents.