The SMEM project aimed to: -Change some traditional methods of teaching mathematics and provide teachers with powerful tools to create "rich" activities from early childhood; -Analyse the paths of pre-school math curricula and help to embrace the basic concepts for future math learning; -Help reduce the gender gap in the choice of studies related to STEM; -Encourage creativity and human-centric skills (cooperation, empathy, social awareness, citizenship…); -Approach basic math concepts, processes and ways of thinking through friendly approaches; and to combat the negative image of mathematics; -Entertain and bring a joyful math experience in these first years of life. We aspire to offer an increasingly positive view of mathematics by starting with the youngest learners, in order to bring the language of mathematics closer to everybody by using a much kinder perspective than has traditionally been the case, thus contributing to the formulation of solid and valid mathematical concepts for future generations.
The main priority of the project “Significant Mathematics for Early Mathematicians” (SMEM) has been to improve and extend the supply of high-quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of young school learners and their educators, bolstering significant mathematical skills using an interactive methodology to induce their interest. These learning opportunities consist of gamified, story-driven, non-formal mathematical tools, in the form of museum exhibits and open educational resources to set pop-up exhibitions at the museum, at school and at home, that are not easily repeatable in other situations. The target audience of the project consists mainly of children aged 3-8 years old and their educators, but it also includes any institution that wants to create an encouraging space for learning mathematics. This EU Erasmus+ context has provided a unique opportunity to combine the experience accumulated by the partners Imaginary (Germany), Mathematikum (Germany), MMACA (Spain), Fermat Science (France), Citizens in Power (Cyprus), and MD Arhimedes (Serbia) in hands-on activities and teacher trainings for using new and interactive methodologies.