**1. Introduction**

Independent learning is a powerful skill needed by all students across nations to achieve and reach educational levels that will address societal challenges and eradicate poverty. The fourth industrial revolution demands creative thinkers to make connection between technology and soft skills. This cannot be realised if students are highly dependent on educators for their own learning. However, many students do not possess these skills. The sad thing is that these skills are natural skills a child is born with as they try to venture their world. New born babies are explorers of their world in order to navigate it safely, know it and conquer it.

Literature suggests that active participation of children in their mathematics development lead to improved performance especially for children from low socio economic backgrounds [1, 2]. This active participation is promoted through games and resulted in increased number development of young children [1, 3, 4]. This chapter capitalises on these innate abilities and intuitions of children as bases for their independent learning and mathematics development. Young children have natural curiosity and elasticity to learn new ideas and explore new things.

This could be used for their benefit in developing their self-regulated skills towards learning. This chapter teases out these intuitions to inform instruction of young students that nurtures independent learning and self-regulation skills. This chapter aims to explore young children's mathematical intuitions before they enter formal schooling. This is achieved by conducting clinical interviews with 5–6 years old entering reception class for the first time. These intuitions are explored to inform research on possibilities of developing self-regulation of students while they are young and flexible to attain good habits, furthermore natural self-regulation can still be nurtured and sustained during the early years of education. This chapter responds to the following questions: (1) How do young children demonstrate their mathematical intuitions? (2) How are these intuitions aligned with curriculum specifically South African Curriculum for reception class? and (3) How do these intuitions mediate self-regulated learning?
