After almost five years of research and testing in 150 classrooms with more than 3,500 students, EDC is launching a new K–5 mathematics curriculum. Think Math! developed by EDC’s Division of Mathematics Learning and Teaching, will be published in January 2007 by Harcourt School Publishers.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, Think Math! increases teachers’ content knowledge while they teach.
Instead of pitting skill development against problem solving, Think Math! fosters students’ computational fluency by providing practice in basic skills building and opportunities to investigate new ideas and solve meaningful problems. Lessons provide glimpses of ideas to come, letting students gain familiarity with and develop conceptual understanding as they apply, sharpen, and maintain skills they already have. For inspiration, researchers looked back 40 years to Math Workshop, a classic mathematics curriculum.
“Learning mathematics shouldn’t be a trade-off: either you memorize your multiplication tables or you learn to think conceptually,” says EDC’s Paul Goldenberg, who has specialized in mathematics education for 30 years. “I want my child to do both. I think most parents do.”
Originally published on September 1, 2006
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