Integrated Approach to Learning of Preschool Children – Practical Application of GeoGebra

Abstract

Introducing basic mathematical concepts is often seen as a challenge for preschool teachers but with the improvement of multimedia technologies, potential difficulties can be overcome and the quality of educational activities can be significantly improved. In that sense, the availability of a non-commercial, dynamic, open-source mathematical software package – GeoGebra can encourage preschool teachers to explore a wide range of mathematical concepts with children through an integrated approach to learning. This paper presents the procedure of creating a dynamic illustration in GeoGebra as a tool in the process of developing the mathematical concept of the cardinality of a set in children. The case study was conducted in the preschool institution “Svitac” in Sremska Kamenica. Anecdotal records showed that introducing carefully designed application games (activities in GeoGebra), with an emphasis on analyzing, concluding, creative and critical thinking, to 4-6 year-olds represents an effective way to learn new concepts about the number and properties of the elements of a set.

Keywords

• integrated approach
• geogebra
• preschool teachers
• dynamic illustration
• basic mathematical concepts