Tap into the Power of Child-Led Math Teaching and Learning
Winner of the 2022 Excel Silver Award for Technical Book. Everything a child does has mathematical value-these words are at the heart of this completely revised and updated third edition of The Young Child and Mathematics. Grounded in current research, this classic book focuses on how teachers working with children ages 3 to 6 can find and build on the math inherent in children's ideas in ways that are playful and intentional.
This resource
- Illustrates through detailed vignettes how math concepts can be explored in planned learning experiences as well as informal spaces
- Highlights in-the-moment instructional decision-making and childteacher interactions that meaningfully and dynamically support children in making math connections
- Provides an overview of what children know about counting and operations, spatial relations, measurement and data, and patterns and algebra
- Offers examples of informal documentation and assessment approaches that are embedded within classroom practice
- Deepen your understanding of how math is an integral part of your classroom all day, every day.
Includes online video!
Table of Contents:
Preface
About
this Edition
Our Theory
of Learning
Introduction
Everything
a Child Does Has Mathematical Value
Finding
and Building on the Mathematical Value
An Overview
of this Book
Engaging
with this Book
Chapter 1: Counting and Operations
Instructional Activity: Counting Collections
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Counting
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Operations
Assessing Children’s Understanding
Counting and Operations in Informal Spaces
Conclusion
Chapter 2: Spatial Relations
Instructional
Activity: Describe-Draw-Describe
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Describing Spatial
Relations
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Representing Spatial
Relations
Assessing Children’s Understanding
Spatial Relations in Informal Spaces
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Measurement and Data
Measurement
and Data in Informal Spaces
Instructional Activity: What Do You Notice?
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Measurement
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Data
Assessing Children’s Understanding
Conclusion
Chapter 4: Patterns and Algebra
Exploring
Children’s Thinking: Creating and Extending Patterns
Assessing Children’s Understanding: Tea Party Patterns
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Patterns in Counting
Assessing Children’s Understanding: How High Can
Christopher Count?
Exploring Children’s Thinking: Patterns and Algebra in
Storybooks
Assessing Children’s Understanding: Storybook Patterns
Conclusion
Appendix A: A
Research Overview of What Young Children Know
What Young
Children Know: Counting and Operations
What
Young Children Know: Spatial Relations
What Young Children Know: Measurement and Data
What Young Children Know: Patterns and Algebra
Situating What a Child Knows
Appendix B: Using this Book to Support Professional Learning
Bringing
an Instructional Activity into Your Classroom
Making Connections Across Math
Content
Exploring Informal Spaces
Creating Classroom Spaces that
Support Participation
Connecting Classroom Practice to Research
Connecting Theory to Practice
Connecting to Policy and
Standards Documents
References
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the Author :
Angela Chan Turrou,PhD,is senior researcher and teacher educator at the University of California, LosAngeles (UCLA) Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Her worklives at the intersection of children's mathematical thinking, classroompractice, and teacher learning. In her work with teachers and teacher educatorsacross preschool and elementary settings, Angela leverages purposefulInstructional Activities driven by children's mathematical thinking to supportteacher learning, collaboration, and generative growth. She is continually inspiredby teachers who, on a daily basis, create space for children to drive the mathematicalwork and challenge the broader discourse of who does and does not get to be "goodat math." Angela is coauthor of YoungChildren's Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction in Early ChildhoodEducation (Heinemann, 2017) and coeditor of Choral Counting and Counting Collections: Transforming the PreK5 MathClassroom (Stenhouse, 2018). Angela lives in Los Angeles, CA. Find her onTwitter @Angelaturrou.
Nicholas C. Johnson, PhD, is assistantprofessor in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University(SDSU). His work investigates how classrooms shape children's opportunities toparticipate and learn. A former classroom teacher, instructional coach, andcounty office coordinator, Nick partners with new and practicing teachers toexplore children's mathematical ideas and expand what "counts" as math in school.He is a member of SDSU's Center for Research in Mathematics and ScienceEducation, coauthor of Young Children'sMathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction in Early Childhood Education
(Heinemann, 2017), and a contributor (withNatali Gaxiola) to Choral Counting andCounting Collections: Transforming the PreK5 Math Classroom (Stenhouse, 2018).Nick lives in San Diego, CA. Find him on Twitter @CarrythZero.
Megan L. Franke, PhD, is professorof education at UCLA. Dr. Franke's work focuses on understanding and supportingteacher learning for both preservice and in-service teachers. She isparticularly interested in how teaching mathematics with attention to students'mathematical thinking (Cognitively Guided Instruction, or CGI) can challengeexisting school structures and create opportunities for students who are oftenmarginalized to mathematically thrive. Dr. Franke is a member of theDevelopment and Research in Early Mathematics Education (DREME) Network atStanford University where she is studying pre-K2 coherence and designingresources for early childhood teacher educators. She lives in Santa Monica, CA.Find her on Twitter @meganlfranke.
Review :
The Young Child and Mathematics is an important resource that
extends our view of both learning and teaching mathematics. Grounded in
research, guided by concerns for equity, built from practical experiences, and
permeated with the principle that children’s mathematical thinking is
paramount, this is the resource that will enrich mathematical experiences for
teachers and children.
—Douglas H. Clements, Distinguished University Professor,
Kennedy Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning, and Executive Director of
the Marsico Institute, University of Denver
To read this book is to be
invited into a world of rich interactions among young children and teachers
where children’s mathematical ideas, experiences, and identities are affirmed
and allowed to flourish. With exquisite detail, you’ll develop a fresh
perspective to see the mathematical value in children’s playful and joyful
interactions and discover how to build on them together with your colleagues.
—Elham Kazemi, Professor
of Mathematics Education, University of Washington
Love it! This book is full
of everyday and universal examples of how children make sense of their world
and the math found around them. It is a timely resource that I can use to
remind me of the why and how of engaging young children—not just in math
experiences, but across the range of experiences they encounter throughout the
day. I find a new “aha!” with each turn of the page. This is a welcome addition
to my resource shelf and a must-have for anyone who wants to be responsive and
connect to children’s lives while helping them develop and nurture their math
thinking.
—Tammy D. Dunn, Head
Kindergarten Teacher, Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School
The
Young Child and Mathematics, Third Edition, focuses on finding,
encouraging, and supporting math thinking throughout the day. Math learning
opportunities are highlighted both inside and outside of spaces typically
thought of as “math time.” Rather than a detailed account of what is involved
in early childhood mathematics, this book focuses on a smaller number of math
ideas and dives deeply into them with real-world vignettes from the classroom
as anchors. The authors explore and describe children’s thinking and teachers’
practice within each story, returning to these examples throughout the chapter
to illustrate a mathematical point or emphasize an aspect of math teaching,
learning, or development. It does a great job of translating research-based
recommendations into practical tips for teachers, like how to extend
mathematical problem solving with follow-up questions. Readers will discover
the math all around them—and also how to find it, how to assess it in authentic
ways, and how to raise up children’s math ideas equitably.
—Alissa A. Lange,
Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education and Director of Early
Childhood STEM Lab, East Tennessee State University
This book is a valuable
resource that helps educators intentionally design joyful, creative learning
spaces and activities that empower children as they play with math. In addition
to illuminating vignettes, a strong conceptual framework encourages readers to
delve more deeply into their own personal understandings of how young children
develop mathematical competency and confidence. A must-read for any educator
interested in encouraging a love of math in children!
—Deanna Pecaski McLennan,
Kindergarten Educator and Author of Embracing
Math
This new edition is the
perfect resource for early childhood educators. It serves as a professional
research-based math education textbook as well as an engaging can’t-put-it-down
resource with classroom examples and photos that any educator of young children
will learn from and love!
—DeAnn Jones, Professor of
Early Childhood Education, Purdue University Global and North Seattle College,
and Owner and Teacher, Discovery Place Preschool
The Young Child and Mathematics puts children—their
sensemaking, competencies, languages, and cultures—at the center of math
teaching and learning. Well informed by research on effective teaching, the
book vividly describes how teachers can build on young children’s math
understandings through developmentally appropriate and playful activities.
—Deborah Stipek,
Professor, Stanford University
The third edition of The Young Child and Mathematics is clear, readable, and
beautifully grounded in real classrooms. The authors’ deep respect for young
children, early childhood educators, and important mathematical ideas shines
through on every page!
—Tracy Johnston Zager,
Math Coach and Author of Becoming the
Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had
