Introduction

In this chapter, we introduce the book about early childhood mathematics that arose from the Perspectives On Early Mathematics learning (POEM) conference, which was held in Bari, Italy in May 2024. The different presentations at this conference were expanded into the chapters included in this book and peer reviewed. The presentations were of two kinds, ones about developmental work and the others were traditional empirical research chapters. In the chapters, regardless of type, there has been much focus on tasks, digital or analogue, and the teachers, or future teachers, in early childhood institutions. There was less focus than in previous conferences on what children from their own interests can do in their play situations which could be recognized as mathematics.