Activities and research-based strategies that build math skills, concepts, and vocabulary into classroom routines, learning centers, and more.

Integrating Math and Science in Early Childhood Classrooms Through Big Ideas offers teachers a way to think about the future classroom and to meet the needs of children who come to into it with diverse experience, knowledge, and abilities. "Change how we think about math and science for young children," the authors say in their Preface. "Instead of separating the disciplines, planning lessons and topics and projects aimed at math OR science content, let's look at the world the way the child does. Children think in terms of big ideas." In this unique book, the authors focus on big ideas-like patterns, transformation, movement, balance, and relationships-as a way to think about content, and they integrate science and mathematics through these big ideas, rather than linking them topically. The book looks at why it is important to think about thinking, introduces assessment early to help the teacher plan for assessment before teaching even begins, and sets up an environment that will support the construction of the big ideas that integrate math and science. Real-life scenarios provide invaluable insights into the teacher's thinking and planning, and each chapter includes two modules to be used for in-depth exploration of different aspects of the big ideas. It's a unique exploration of thinking and learning. The First Edition of Integrating Math and Science in Early Childhood Classrooms Through Big Ideas includes: Show future teachers why it is important to think about thinking. The first part of the book looks at this new way of teaching--the underlying framework of big ideas as a way to integrate math and science. Help students plan for assessment before teaching begins. Chapter 2 provides the knowledge needed in this critical area of teaching. Help students construct meaningful understandings of how math and science can be integrated through the big ideas that form the structure for any curriculum. Engage students in classroom experiences through real-life scenarios, illustrations, and photos. Introduce students to the ideas that form the foundation of a well-integrated curriculum. In an engaging style, the book is laid out to support real-life planning in a classroom.

"This book is about how to create invitations for young children to play with math ideas through art, literacy, and outdoor play. The focus of her book is really on math that occurs OUTSIDE of math time. How can we create space for children to play in our classrooms that builds on their own questions as well as the math they are studying in the curriculum? How can we create a joyful and playful space for math so that children feel like mathematical thinkers with valuable ideas from the very start? How can we create connections between math and children's lives so that they see math as creative and purposeful instead of just learning "school math"?"--

Tap into the Power of Child-Led Math Teaching and Learning 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 child-teacher 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!

Gain confidence in your ability to incorporate math into all aspects of your early learning program.

Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. Research demonstrates that virtually all young children have the capability to learn and become competent in mathematics. Furthermore, young children enjoy their early informal experiences with mathematics. Unfortunately, many children's potential in mathematics is not fully realized, especially those children who are economically disadvantaged. This is due, in part, to a lack of opportunities to learn mathematics in early childhood settings or through everyday experiences in the home and in their communities. Improvements in early childhood mathematics education can provide young children with the foundation for school success. Relying on a comprehensive review of the research, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood lays out the critical areas that should be the focus of young children's early mathematics education, explores the extent to which they are currently being incorporated in early childhood settings, and identifies the changes needed to improve the quality of mathematics experiences for young children. This book serves as a call to action to improve the state of early childhood mathematics. It will be especially useful for policy makers and practitioners-those who work directly with children and their families in shaping the policies that affect the education of young children.

"Much of the content in this book is adapted from Teaching Young Children (TYC), NAEYC's award-winning magazine ..."--Page [104]