Traditionally, various meanings of "10" are systematically ignored in early childhood curriculum and children's understanding of numbers is restricted within the solitary mapping between the symbol "10" and quantity concept of "ten." This may be problematic for other ways that mathematics is used, both in modern life…

Kindergarteners need access to blocks as thinking tools to develop, model, test, and articulate their mathematical ideas. In the current educational landscape, resources such as blocks are being pushed to the side and being replaced by procedural worksheets and academic "seat time" in order to address standards. Mathematics research…

Teachers are on the front line in any educational controversy. Increasingly, some bloggers, newspaper articles, and other media have criticized the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010) as being inappropriate for children in kindergarten and first grade. However, both research and expert practice reveal that children are…

How can educators encourage and better prepare students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-based fields? To start, students are more likely to pursue these fields if they enjoy and perceive themselves to be good at them. This means introducing relevant concepts and skills at an early age and embedding them…

In China, the "2001 Kindergarten Education Guidelines (Trial)", or "New Outline", delineates what constitutes high-quality, developmentally appropriate practices in all early childhood education curriculum domains, including mathematics. The "New Outline" is known for advocating a child-centered, play-based approach…

Incorporating the use of children's literature when teaching mathematics to young children is a developmentally appropriate practice: "Literature … provides a means for children to encounter mathematical concepts and vocabulary in the context of something familiar, a story" (Fogelberg et al. 2008). Moreover, introducing culturally…

The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations that address the challenge of teaching early math to children ages 3 to 6. The guide provides practical, clear information on critical topics related to teaching early math and is based on the best available evidence as judged by the authors. The guide…

A summer session, math methods course for elementary teachers incorporates 30 hours of instruction that emphasizes (1) developmentally appropriate instructional strategies, (2) hierarchical levels of increasingly abstract manipulatives, (3) ongoing assessment of student learning, (4) integrated thematic instructional modules, (5) team planning and…

Telling the time is not an easy skill to teach. Ask any adult how they would begin teaching a child to tell the time and the response is likely to be hours, halves and quarters. Why? Because they were taught that way. In this article, the author describes a different method--one that is developmental and leads to a more exact reading of the time.

Recent research has revealed new information about how preschoolers develop an understanding of counting, and offers exciting new strategies for teaching. These new strategies encourage children to problem solve and use reasoning to understand quantities and how counting works rather than simply providing them practice with counting procedures.…

Children's thinking follows natural developmental paths in learning math. When teachers understand those paths and offer activities based on children's progress along them, they build developmentally appropriate math environments. The authors explain math learning trajectories and why teaching math using the trajectories approach is effective. A…

Research suggests that young children's active participation in music supports emergent mathematics knowledge, such as patterning and one-to-one correspondence. The authors define and explain steady beat, rhythm, melody, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and style. They suggest ways teachers can use these elements of music with infants, toddlers, and young…

The subject of the paper presents establishing basic characteristics, forms and levels of knowledge interconnectedness in teaching, especially in mathematics and biology teaching. The analysis was realized by considering basic theoretical views in this field, as well as by establishing features and levels of knowledge interconnectedness in the…

This article describes an approach to teaching linear equations using multiple representations in a highly motivating context. Connections among representations are made explicit to enhance understanding and empower students. (Contains 4 figures.)

Intended for preschool and primary grade teachers, this book draws on guidelines from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) to offer classroom vignettes and teacher-tested activities and strategies that will inspire early childhood teachers to…