Mathematical knowledge for early childhood teaching: A deep insight on how pre-service teachers prepare mathematical activities

Abstract Geometry concepts are essential to teaching in early childhood. Engaging early childhood in geometric thinking and spatial reasoning can support their overall mathematical and cognitive development. Preparing the mathematics learning process in early childhood, especially the concept of geometry, requires careful planning by paying attention to various aspects both from the psychological side of students and in terms of mathematics content. Early childhood education teachers must have the skills to plan math activities. The research objective was to see the ability of prospective early childhood education teachers to do math activities. The research method used is phenomenology, which examines the experiences of pre-service early childhood education teachers after attending the “Mathematics and Cognitive Development” lecture. The research results were obtained when designing the learning process of pre-service early childhood education teachers by paying attention to the aspects of providing meaningful experiences through games in introducing the concept of geometry.