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Parents often get a jump on formal instruction when it comes to language and literacy by reading to their toddlers and teaching the alphabet before their kids ever set foot in a classroom. But getting a head start on mathematics is often restricted to teaching children to count, says Lynn McGarvey, a professor of elementary education at the University of Alberta whose research looks at teaching and learning math in early childhood.
McGarvey says her research focus on instilling mathematical concepts in young learners aims to promote numeracy the way literacy has been emphasized as a foundational educational experience.
"When educators and parents create opportunities for mathematical engagement in day-to-day activities, then children will experience mathematics not just as a skill or a tool, but a way of thinking and being in the world," she says.
McGarvey says there are a few things math-minded parents and early childhood educators can think about when interacting with young learners.
I've tried lots of things to get my kids interested in math. So far, the most effective has been demonstrating the power of purposeful laziness. What are your experiences?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by art guerrilla on Tuesday March 22 2016, @11:31PM
"The other problem is it doesn't matter how many grade school teachers read it, its in direct opposition to drill -n- kill traditions and common core principles, and since deviation from micromanaged curricula will merely get them fired rather than changing anything, reading it will accomplish little other than depressing them."
*ouch*
that needs a 'sad-but-all-too-true' moderation...
the sad reality on the frontlines of teaching: the administration WILL throw you overboard whenever there is a wrinkle in the space-time continuum which questions the teach-to-the-test regimen...
SWMBO is between that rock and hard place, and that is ALL the teacher-rats are allowed: run the maze, memorize the maze, no deviations, no wrong turns, no imagination, no fucking teaching, simply rote and regurgitate...
oh, and test, Test, TEST ! ! !
with the results -literally- almost NEVER seen by the teachers until WAY AFTER THE FACT... they have NOTHING to do with 'evaluating/teaching/learning', and EVERYTHING to do with a scam to enrich connected pukes, and an authoritarian means of dumbing down public education, and consequently, the populace...
all we need stupid proles for, is dying in wars, and washing the floors of their betters...
(since we got the computer-based voting fixed, we dont' even need to pwetend their votes are needed...)