Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/after-school-fun-with-math-collections-sorting-and-graphing-games/5015850/
“We live in a mathematical world . . . . Students are building beliefs about what mathematics is, about what it means to know and do mathematics, and about themselves as mathematics learners. These beliefs influence their thinking about, performance in, and attitudes toward, mathematics and decisions related to studying mathematics in later years.”National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2004)
Erin carefully removed the tissue paper from around each gray-and-white figurine and placed it on the desk in front of her. Her wolf collection was a prized possession and she had shared it earlier that day for show-and-tell with her teacher and kindergarten classmates. Without guidance, Erin now lined up her wolves from largest to smallest. For Erin, the concept of size-differentiation had taken root and she had developed a strategy to estimate the size of each item and was practicing categorization. Erin thought she was just playing.
In a recent Exchange article, David Elkind (2003) described how parents focus on their children’s reading and math skills believing that these ensure their success in first grade. First grade teachers, however, emphasize children’s ability to listen and follow instructions, to start a task and work independently to finish, and to ...