TITLE:
A Unique Program (“Senso-Math”) for Teaching Mathematics in Preschool: Evaluating Facilitator Training
AUTHORS:
Dina Hassidov, Bat Sheva Ilany
KEYWORDS:
Facilitators, Mathematics Education, Preschool, Kindergarten, Senso-Math
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.5 No.11,
June
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study followed a five-year program, entitled “Senso-Math”, whose
goal was to train facilitators involved in the promotion of early childhood
mathematical knowledge in preschool—an important goal in preschool education
today—following which the trained facilitators taught mathematics in preschool alongside
the regular preschool teachers. During the program, 500 facilitators activated
10,000 three-to-six-year-old children. The program included various demographic
sectors. This study examines both the program’s contribution to the
professional development of the mathematical education facilitators, and the
facilitators’ attitudes to mathematical education in the preschool. While the
results indicated that, overall, the program contributed positively to the
facilitators’ professional development and showed a positive trend in the
participants’ attitude regarding mathematics education in the preschool, the
findings also revealed differences among the various demographic sectors
studied (Jewish Orthodox, Jewish immigrants from the Caucasus, and Druze).