Barbara Schindelhauer

Ever since my own children were Numberland pioneers in 2004, it has been my mission and my joy to contribute to equal chances for all children and to a happy childhood – by nurturing their natural love for maths. Also to unburden teachers and parents by providing what it needs to let the good things happen. With minimum input and maximum joy and results – to keep the joy in these precious early years!

A German national working internationally, my interests are in early maths and I see myself as an ambassador for joy in the early years and equal chances of all children, inspired by my own young children and their friends in 2004.

I am a published author, teacher trainer, presenter and founded the ifvl (German acronym for institute for preschool learning) which I developed as a small enterprise to develop hands-on teacher training and versatile resources. Dr Gerhard Friedrich is my scientific advisor and co-author of the best-selling German Numberland handbook Komm mit ins Zahlenland, with 75+k copies sold and still in print. For the international audience, I co-authored My Garden is a Square, a children’s rhyming picture book, published in 8 languages.

I have been accompanying many projects and trained hundreds of teachers, in Germany and internationally, in very different settings. I am constantly developing and designing hands-on resources to ensure Numberland can take place anywhere in the world through creative role play. For that, I network with schools, experts, and Non Governmental Organisations worldwide to fully embrace the potential of child driven early mathematics for the entire development of children, including literacy.

I graduated from Business Administration and Psychology at the University of Mannheim, Germany, and have completed a Master of Science at Stirling University, Scotland.