Learning mathematics through the body

The present study aimed to address the educational and teaching aspects related to the development of logical and mathematical thinking of the child. Going beyond the mind-body dualism, neuroscience has shown that mind and body are indivisibly united and shape all aspects of knowledge through a dialectical relationship with the external environment. The child gets to know the world thanks to its sensorimotor experiences that allow them to build the concepts, increasing the capability to discriminate, classify, process and contribute to the construction of logical-mathematical thinking. In addition to these scientific assumptions, this study was based on a survey carried out by the Third International Mathematics Science Study conducted in 1998, which showed the difficulty that children encounter in different types of schools when dealing with mathematical reasoning. The aim of this study was to test if a teaching / learning strategy based on active and constructive action that encourages exploration and research, would promote the comparison, discussion, creativity and reflective thinking of the child. The resource pack "Learning Mathematics through the Body" was used as a guide to plan the 14 units taught in the fourmonth period of this study which was conducted in a primary school in the province of Naples. The methodology included a first recreational sensorimotor phase in which the child becomes aware of the proposed objective, followed by a second phase characterized by the representation of the experience on an abstract level. The final phase included a structured test to assess the knowledge and skills acquired and provide the data to compare the control and experimental groups. The analysis of the data clearly evidenced that the experimental group acquired and assimilated more knowledge and skills. This highlighted the value of the methodology applied and can be concluded that body, mind and the environment, coexisting with each other, allow the child to assimilate mathematical symbolism more easily when applying it to real life situations.