from Frontiers in Education
It is normal for us to learn to count
using our fingers, only to be
discouraged from doing so by
generations of teachers when learning
math. The study in Frontiers in
Education involved six and seven year
olds. Some were encouraged to use
finger games or games that used
number symbols like dominoes. Others
were simply exposed to math with their
teachers. Both groups of students who
were able to use their fingers as a
bridge to understanding numbers did
much better than students who only
received classroom math. The study
suggests that understanding can be a
useful tool for teachers to support the
introduction of math to a child and,
further, that using fingers may be a
much more important part of learning
math than previously thought.