Abstract
The present study was aimed at investigating preschool teachers' support for 5-year-old children's mathematical understanding by examining types and frequency of mathematical activity practiced in preschools, as well as details of the teachers' support in such activities. Ten preschool classrooms were observed for a total of 20 days. As a result, no activities focuses on teaching mathematics were observed. However, teachers' behaviors to support children's mathematical understanding were found fairly frequently in varieties of activities in which teachers' goal was other than teaching mathematics. Teachers embedded mathematics in everyday activities, for example, by letting children collect certain number of materials when creating art projects, by asking the number of children who were present in the classroom when taking attendance, and by introducing children games that require the use of numbers.
