Algebra ideas in early grades.

Early algebraic thinking has not been explicitly mentioned in the elementary school mathematics curriculum in Indonesia. However, whether students are able to develop important algebraic ideas from a general arithmetic perspective through the current curriculum. This study aims to explore the learning experiences of elementary school students and construct the meaning behind these learning experiences in the emergence of early algebraic thinking. Researchers analyzed how students construct meaning through in-depth interviews with students in grades IV to VI. The results of this study suggest that the habit of thinking certain algebraic ideas should be deliberately nurtured in the curriculum from the early grades, because these ideas do not develop naturally in students as they develop through primary school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]