Cultivation of Mathematical Thinking in Young Children
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 July 2026 | Viewed by 39
Special Issue Editors
Interests: early childhood mathematics; early childhood STEM education and development; classroom quality; family engagement; measurement; assessment; infants; toddlers
Interests: early childhood mathematics; teacher advocacy; public policy; trauma-responsive practices
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The cultivation of mathematical thinking begins in early childhood and reinforces continued development over time. Despite the importance of math in an increasingly technological world, efforts to ensure opportunities for young children’s math learning and development face a variety of hindrances and complex influences—a world-wide teacher shortage, barriers in the preparation of early math teachers, continued false dichotomies of play versus education, and the interplay of curriculum, individualization, and adherence to expectations of instructional leadership.
This Special Issue on the cultivation of mathematical thinking in young children focuses on these complexities. The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight research on the people, practices, and environments that influence high-quality mathematical thinking in early childhood, with a specific focus on children in the years before primary school and the formal and informal settings in which they learn and develop.
We invite you to submit a 500-word abstract about your research for consideration in this Special Issue on the “Cultivation of Mathematical Thinking in Young Children”. Submissions that combine early math learning and development with one or more of the following themes will best fit the scope and aims of this Special Issue.
- Teacher preparation and professional development;
- Family engagement;
- Attitudes and beliefs about developmentally appropriate practice;
- Mathematical discourse—formal and informal math talk;
- Student-centered teaching;
- Risks and benefits of artificial intelligence applications in education;
- Curriculum and differentiation—conflicts and complements;
- Application of learning progressions;
- Research-based frameworks for teaching and learning.
Dr. Shannon Stark Guss
Dr. Jill Davis
Dr. Amber Beisly
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- early-childhood mathematics
- teacher preparation
- professional development
- classroom quality
- family engagement
- formative assessment
- teaching practices
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