Children as young as 3 can understand the meaning and value of multidigit numbers and might be more ready for direct math instruction when they begin formal schooling than previously believed, according to new research by developmental psychologists.
"Contrary to the view that young children do not understand place value and multidigit numbers, we found that they actually know quite a lot about it," said Kelly Mix, a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University and a lead investigator on the study.
"They certainly haven't mastered it, but the new insight is that they can pick up on patterns, start to make inferences, and they're starting kindergarten with a lot more partial knowledge than what people have believed," said Mix, who worked with Richard Prather and Linda Smith, both of Indiana University.