Assessing preschool children’s maps against the first four levels of the primary curriculum: lessons to learn

In Australia, more attention is being paid to inclusion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (the so-called STEM subjects) concepts in early childhood education and care curricula. In addition, the focus on the quality of learning in the years prior to school is a growing priority, evidenced by pre-election promises to extend the national policy of universal access to 15 hours of preschool for 4-year-old children, to include 3-year-old children. It should not be assumed that this necessarily implies a pushdown of formal curricula into play-based early learning settings. Here, we focus on the M in STEM and in particular on spatial thinking. Drawing on data from a broader study, maps drawn by kindergarten children of the route from home to school were analysed according to the first three levels of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. Many children demonstrated spatial thinking capabilities that aligned with multiple content descriptions for Measurement and Geometry sub-strands at Year 2 level. Two children provided evidence of Year 3 content descriptions - a full 4 years ahead of the starting point of the Geometry and Measurement primary school curriculum. This highlights the importance of teachers in kindergartens and schools being attuned to the diverse capabilities demonstrated by children, as well as to the possibility that children’s capabilities may markedly exceed curriculum-guided expectations. (215)