Brushstrokes into the World of Mathematics (ePub)

'I first became aware of Drora's ideas in the 1970s. I was a lecturere in Child Development at the Nursery School Teachers' College, where Drora had trained to become an early childhood teacher. Over a long period she had been developing her theory regarding the value of children's non-representational painting, and what their paintings revealed about early stages of their intellectual development. I saw examples of what she described in my own children's preschool paintings, so I was intrigued and hoped she would continue to both work with children and further explore the links between children's painting and the foundations of mathematical thinking.Drora has indeed gone on to make this her life's work. She has been an inspiration both as a dedicated teacher and a scholar who was prepared to go against received wisdom regarding the way children should be taught to paint, and to study higher mathematics in order to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of children's intuitive pattern-making. The result has been her collection of beautiful children's paintings, the gift to many children of an absorbing and satisfying activity, and a bold and original contribution to our understanding of how children's concepts develop. I hope that research in the future will build on the foundations she has laid, with consequent benefit to the education of our children.'- Leone Huntsman