The Real World of Toddler Mathematics

The focus of this paper is the expression ‘mathematizing’, which was introduced by the famous Dutch mathematician Hans Freudenthal. His starting point was that mathematics should be taught so that the knowledge becomes useful for the learner, which is why all mathematics teaching should be based on the learner’s world and experiences. He referred to the learner’s world as a context relevant to those who are to learn where the ‘real world’ ought to precede the mathematics. Based on empirical examples, we elaborate in this paper on what ‘real world’ and thus mathematizing may imply in the context of preschool mathematics with the youngest learners in the education system. The results show that ‘real world’ can involve both imagination and play, but mathematization is only noticed when there is a problem that, from the child’s perspective, needs to be solved.