Foundational number sense : A framework for analysing early number-related teaching

In this paper, by means of an extensive review of the literature, we discuss the development of a framework for analysing the opportunities, both implicit and explicit, that grade one students receive for acquiring those number-related understandings necessary for later mathematical achievement but which do not occur without formal instruction. The framework, which we have called foundational number sense, currently comprises seven interrelated components, although additional components may exist. Each component, as warranted by earlier research, is known to underpin later mathematical understanding and, when viewed collectively, addresses a definitional gap in the literature.