Children's mathematical knowledge prior to starting school and implications for transition

Research over the past 10 years has established that many children starting school are more mathematically capable than teachers, mathematics curricula and text book writers assume. This issue and implications arising for children’s transition to school are explored in this chapter through examining data for 125 children who participated in the Australian Let’s Count Longitudinal Evaluation Study in 2012, 1438 children who participated in the Australian Early Numeracy Research Project (ENRP) in 2001, and the new Australian Curriculum—Mathematics. The children’s mathematics knowledge was assessed using the Mathematics Assessment Interview. The findings suggest that large numbers of children in both the Let’s Count preschool group and the ENRP Beginning School group met the new Australian Curriculum—Mathematics Foundation Standard prior to beginning school. This suggests that many children may be inadequately challenged by the mathematics tasks and instruction they experience in their first year of school.