Recently our Junior Kindergarten students, spent time exploring their theories and understanding about measurement. The collaboration of the children throughout the process is evident in these images!At Richland, much effort and energy goes in to creating learning environments that are rich in mathematical exploration opportunities for our students. All purposeful teaching of mathematics should:

·         Foster positive mathematical attitudes
·         Focus on understanding
·         Engage children actively in their learning
·         Utilize and connect to children’s prior knowledge
·         Provide developmentally appropriate and authentic learning tasks
·         Respect how each child learns by considering learning styles and other factors
·         Provide a culture and climate for learning
·         Recognize the importance of metacognition
·         Focus on the ‘Big Ideas’ of mathematics
·         Observe and hear the children’s mathematical interest

“One thing is to study whom you are teaching, the other thing is to study the knowledge you are teaching. If you can interweave the two things together nicely, you will succeed…Believe me, it seems to be simple when I talk about it, but when you really engage in this process, it is very complicated, subtle and takes a lot of thought and intention.”  (Ma, 1999)