THE ROLE OF PICTURE BOOKS IN DEVELOPING THE CONCEPT OF NATURAL NUMBERS

Abstract

In this paper, the authors point out the significance and role of the picture book in working with preschool children. In particular, they draw attention to the role the picture book can have in developing the concept of natural numbers. The authors consider the picture book to be an integral part which represents a starting point for the activities of children and preschool teachers aimed at whole child development. By using concrete examples, the authors point out the possibilities of using picture books in working with preschool children. Drawing on a sample of preschool teachers (N = 448), the authors conducted research with the aim of investigating: whether preschool teachers use picture books in developing the concept of natural numbers; which purposes they use them for, and in which segment of developing the natural number concept they use them most frequently. The results show that preschool teachers underuse picture books in developing the natural number concept; that they mostly use them for the purpose of increasing motivation for learning in children and also as a starting point for developing the concept of natural numbers, and less so for understanding the natural number structure and number comparison. All this suggests that the potential of picture books in initial mathematics education is underexploited in our teaching context.