Examining the effectiveness of the methods used in teaching basic mathematical concepts to preschool children

The education received in early childhood affects every stage of life and is a very important education period. As in most other developmental areas, children's basic mathematical development is largely built in this period. (Erdoğan, 2006; Clement and Sarama, 2007; Çelik and Kandır, 2013). It is thought that the sufficient level of knowledge about basic concepts in early childhood will make their job easier when learning other mathematics and science subjects they learn in kindergarten and primary school (Unutkan, 2007). This research was conducted to examine the teaching methods that can be used during the teaching of basic mathematical concepts to children aged 48-60 months in early childhood and to determine the effective method. Since the children participating in the research were in predetermined classes in schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education and since it was not possible to assign them to experimental groups without discrimination, the quasi-experimental model, which is suitable for quantitative research designs, was used in the research. 44 children aged 48-60 months who continue their education in kindergartens affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Istanbul participated in the study. The test used to collect data in the study was "Boehm Preschool Basic Concepts Test-3 (BOÖTKT-3)" and since the children were between the ages of 4 years 0 months and 5 years 11 months, items between 25 and 76 of the test were used. First, a pre-test was conducted in the study and the activities to be implemented using music, drama and direct narration methods were planned for four concepts with low known rates by looking at the scores obtained from the test. After the activities were implemented on the children participating in the study for four weeks, no application was made for one week. Then, a post-test was conducted. The data were analyzed using descriptive and predictive statistics. As a result of the findings obtained as a result of the analyses, it was determined that the most effective teaching method among the methods of narration with music, drama and direct narration in teaching basic mathematical concepts in early childhood was narration with music. As a result of the findings, it is expected that the research conducted will shed light on teachers working in institutions providing pre-school education to use narration with music and drama methods more actively. Unlike other methods, it is seen that the direct instruction method is less effective in teaching basic mathematical concepts, and in this context, it can be commented that it would be more efficient for children to learn basic mathematical concepts if teachers working in pre-school institutions used the direct instruction method less.