We believe that you have to understand what you are teaching to teach for understanding.
Learning labs are interactive full- or part-day sessions in which early childhood teachers, coaches, or administrators gain understanding of the math content and math teaching strategies to improve core competencies based on state and federal standards.
Learning labs aim to simultaneously deepen mathematical knowledge, change attitudes, and develop effective instructional practices. To do so, we engage adults in worthwhile math tasks and ask them to reflect on their experience as learners. Then we explore what children’s learning looks by examining video examples and learning progressions. Instructional strategies are highlighted throughout.
Big ideas of foundational math
We created the Big Ideas in Early Mathematics to address the need for a deeper understanding of foundational concepts in math and how they can be included in appropriate early childhood practice. Our Big Ideas use clear language to identify the central concepts within each mathematical topic—such as sets or number sense. Early childhood teachers can use these Big Ideas as a guide for thinking about the kinds of math learning opportunities they need to provide in their classrooms.
Content-focused whole teacher approach
The Whole Teacher Approach is a conceptual framework for the design of professional development designed by Dr. Jie-Qi Chen, the founder of the Early Math Collaborative. While addressing teacher knowledge, attitudes, and practice in an integrated fashion, multiple pathways to teacher development are activated and training is more successful and has longer-lasting effects. This philosophy is used to guide our program design, implementation, and evaluation.
They’ve helped me understand how a 5-year-old brain thinks and helped me connect my teaching to what numbers mean in their world
Teacher Participant from Gale Math and Science Academy
