September 6, 2013
Finland's educational system is regularly ranked among the best in the world. Surprisingly, Finnish children are not required to go to start attending school until they are seven years old. Kristiina Kumpulainen explains the specifics of the first two years of Finnish elementary school.
Lyn English explains an exploratory method of teaching math. "The children's learning was extended beyond the curriculum because they discovered a lot of the mathematical ideas themselves."
Joanne Mulligan questions the efficacy of new electronic educational devices.
In Singapore, kindergarten is not mandatory. Yeap Ban Har explains how first- and second-grade teachers in Singapore compensate for the inevitable gap in the math and reading skills of their students.
Liping Ma describes some differences between American and Chinese math educators, specifically concerning the idea of regrouping. "It's always easier for children to subtract three from ten than from thirteen."
Lyn English defines analogical reasoning and describes its importance and prevalence in early math classrooms.
Are the "Math Wars" back like a bad movie sequel? Why does the debate continue, sometimes vehemently, even when most people agree that quality math education must focus on both skills and conceptual understanding?
Research out of John Hopkins University and Michigan State University suggests that a strong link exists between young learners' spatial reasoning and computation abilities.
Yeap Ban Har explains the Lesson Study approach.
We find that one sure fire way to warm up children’s attitude towards mathematics is to build math activities and lessons out of the books they all love to read. When we start to sort…