**7. Discussion**

Generally, the findings show the importance of free play in providing educators an opportunity to get access to students' intuitions and interests. Secondly, it is important to observe children without interfering and be patient in order to gain entree to their way of thinking. For example, when the researcher observed that students were tessellating shapes, she made an assumption that they will enjoy filling the pattern frames, instead students piled the pattern blocks to indicate how the perceive space. This could allow the educator to understand that the two dimensional space is not the first practical encounter for young students. Building structures might have become natural for these students. This also challenges the curriculum that always introduces the two dimensional space to students first versus connecting with their experience of the three dimensional space.

Aligning students' intuitive activities with the curriculum guide educators in understanding that counting and its concepts are innate abilities that need to be nurtured from the student's point of view. The findings of this study highlight the counting concepts such as rote counting, object counting, cardinality as concepts

that are already there and need nurturing with stimulating interesting activities and games. The only difference is the level of some learners versus curriculum expectations that are lower. DBE [23] in the curriculum assessment policy statement requires reception class learners to count from 1 to 10 meaningfully. On the other hand, the majority of these learners exceed 20 in counting objects. The question is, what does it mean to these learners when the teacher has to teach them to count from 1 to 10 the whole year while they came to this grade counting more than 20? How do these learners conceptualise the role of school? These findings speak to the research in early childhood mathematics stimulation. According to [3] the majority of these learners are on the progression level of one to one correspondence. Some about 20 are beyond this level at the cardinality level and counting on level. The role of the educator here is to extend these learners' developmental levels to ordering of numbers, composing and decomposing numbers, and the emphasis of the value of the number using objects and number line. However, the curriculum does not indicate so. Is South African mathematics curriculum of the reception class aimed at the level it is supposed to? Literature has indicated that educators who do not have high realistic expectations to their learners impede successful learning [24]. These findings challenge the role of curriculum itself in developing learning at this level.

These findings support the literature on young children's intuitions and intellectual autonomy. Students in this study are interested in counting and have abilities that can be advanced through scaffolding and teacher directed activities at some point mathematising their activities as literature indicates [3, 14]. Already, these students are self-driven their free play shows how they want to try new ideas and learn. In the shape activities it is clear that their experiences are limited, this points to the educator's role in exposing them to puzzles and more activities of similar nature. This chapter argues for nurturing of students' intuitions extending them into formal mathematics without discouraging student's curiosity and interests. In a nut shell this chapter calls for educators to allow student to reach "self-realisation" in their learning through the student's interests.

#### **8. Conclusions**

The findings of this chapter reveal that young students have mathematical intuitions regardless of their socio-economic status. These intuitions form a rich foundation for nurturing independent learning. Students also indicate interests in exploring geometrical ideas like building structures. In this study curriculum for these students is aimed at a lower level. This has influence on how students can lose interest in their learning as it undermines their abilities. This loss of interest is the main variable that takes away curiosity and eagerness to figure out new things and new experiences. The role of schooling becomes a disabling one than a developmental. Therefore, this chapter recommends curriculum that sets high expectations and teachers who respect and embrace students' interests for their development.

#### **Acknowledgements**

I would like to acknowledge National Research Foundation (NRF) for funding the project that enabled this chapter to be written. I would also like to acknowledge the community colleagues who made it possible to engage with schools and engage in data collection during the project, Ms. N. Njovane and Mrs. N. Klass.

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**Author details**

Nosisi Nellie Feza

Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, South Africa

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

\*Address all correspondence to: nosisi.piyose@gmail.com

provided the original work is properly cited.

*Self-Regulation in Early Years of Learning Mathematics: Grade R Observed Self-Efficacy Skills…*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88497*

The author declares no conflict of interest.

**Conflict of interest**

*Self-Regulation in Early Years of Learning Mathematics: Grade R Observed Self-Efficacy Skills… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88497*
