POEM (A Mathematics Education Perspective on early Mathematics Learning between the Poles of Instruction and Construction) is a conference for researchers within early childhood mathematics education, emphasizing issues concerning in which way – and how much – should children be ‘educated’ in mathematics before entering primary school? In a working atmosphere and in order to maintain a research network in early mathematics learning, researchers have met at POEM conferences in Frankfurt am Main in 2012, Malmö in 2014, Karlsruhe in 2016, Kristiansand in 2018 , Gothenburg 2022, and now in Bari.