How the Body, Language and Experience Create the Foundations of Mathematical Thinking
Mathematical thinking begins long before numbers appear. Its first roots grow in the body. Long before a child can speak or recognise symbols, their movements, sensations, balance, rhythm and gestures are already organising experience in a mathematical way. Every reach, fall, climb and imitation traces the first patterns of order. The body measures long before the mind knows it is measuring and through these small actions the organism prepares the ground on which later understanding will stand.