Ontario’s new math curriculum was written by competent mathematicians relying on the latest research, and includes both coding and social-emotional learning.
The extent to which parents and educators encourage children to think mathematically in the years before they enter grade one are critically important for math foundations.
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Technology in the math classroom should enhance and extend, rather than replace, how to think mathematically.
Why don’t students say math is imaginative? Here, the White Rabbit character originally from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, written under mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s pen name, Lewis Carroll.
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Mathematician Peter Taylor taught high school math to prepare to develop a new ‘RabbitMath’ curriculum that emphasizes collaborative creativity and learning to work with complex systems.
Parents have a responsibility for their children’s math development too.
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Instead of getting “back to basics” to improve math skills, we should make math literacy a priority by developing, attracting and supporting skilled teachers, and improving math literacy at home.
The Ontario government “back to basics” approach to the curriculum will not best serve children who need a mixture of traditional and discovery learning methods.
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Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Education Lisa Thompson have told elementary school teachers to expect curriculum change directives for “back to basics” mathematics, a move that could hurt students.
Teaching students about how ancient civilizations used geometry to build structures like the pyramids in Egypt is part of a new integrated approach to learning science, technology, engineering and math.
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To get more students interested in STEM subjects, teachers must break out of the traditional subject-matter silos and use an approach that helps kids understand how math is used in the real world.
B.C.’s ambitious new school curriculum includes mandatory financial literacy instruction within math courses at every grade level, starting from kindergarten.
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Financial literacy is non-intuitive to the human brain and fundamental to survival today. We should follow British Columbia’s example and make financial literacy mandatory in every grade - across the country.
What can be done to get more kids interested in STEM?
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