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New Innovation and Idea | Mathematics | Zambia | Volume 12 Issue 4, April 2023
Number Recognition Skills of Non-School going Children: A Pilot Study of Children in Villages Surrounding Tipangeni University, in Zambia
Abstract: This study investigated number recognition skills of thirty-four (34) non-school going children around Tipangeni University in Zambia. Number recognition is a skill of recognising different numbers by their names, by the way they look and by matching them to their representative quantities. The time when it is developed is not well established. An observation checklist and open ended interview questions were used to establish number recognition skills of non-school going children in villages surrounding Tipangeni University. The theory that was used was number identification: a unique developmental pathway in mathematics by Helen Cramman, Sara Gott, John Little, Christine Merell, Peter Tymms and Lee T. Coppings. Mixed methods were used in particular exploratory sequential. The study conducted three pilot studies for triangulation purposes. Among triangulation purposes were, cleaning-up the observation instrument, interview guide and processes of data analysis. In pilot study number one (01), it was found that, the way children recognised numbers varied, numeral two was recognised by most children and numerals five and three were least recognised by children. While in pilot study number two (02), it was found that, some children showed hesitation to answer, scared, gave correct answers, failed to arrange numerals from 1-5, some failed to perform both skills thus arranging and identification, others arranged and recognised but failed to write while others managed to identify the numeral one (01) only and in pilot three (03) it was found that, 04 children were able to recognise numerals from 1 to 5, 06 children were not able to recognise numerals and 01 child was partially able to recognise numerals. The study recommended that, the government should prioritise investing in ECE as this would help children including those with disabilities, vulnerable children to be exposed to new technological advancements, work with public private partners to continue implementing free education policy even at ECE level, address challenges faced by children by improving the existing structure in schools and building modern structures to suit their abilities and need. Children should be put in school; the parents should stand as tutors or as a private teacher in the early childhood stages of their children. Teachers should give more offline and online activities and employ different methodologies (songs and rhymes with number flash cards, play, dancing, and games-finger games among others) to address changing needs of the child. Further study, should investigate children?s ability for them to be deemed as excellent number recognisers and the effect of non-numerate mothers on the development of children?s number recognition skills as well as ways of teaching number recognition to children with special needs.
Keywords: Number recognition, number identification, number naming, number writing, and number arrangement
Edition: Volume 12 Issue 4, April 2023,
Pages: 968 - 979