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Re: Is this an exceptionally hard set of questions to answer?
Posted:
Sep 30, 2002 7:53 PM
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Several people, including myself, responded to this. Judging by your
subject header, and the note below, I'm disinclined to put in the effort
I put in before... but will at least give you the names of the materials
suggested:
For the student with difficulty learning math:
Cuisinaire rods, and other math manipulatives of this type
TouchMath
Edmark's TouchMoney and Telling Time series
PCI Catalog's Time Families, and various other math games with a
real-life focus
Magi
Karl wrote:
>On 19 September 2002, I asked the participants in the sci.math and
>misc.education newsgroups for advice on a subject I figured they
>would know more about than I: what materials are best for math
>learners of kindergarten to eighth grade level. Perhaps because of
>the vagaries of Usenet newsgroup propagation, I never saw any
>answers to the questions I asked--but it seems hard to believe
>that no one here has anything to see in response to those
>questions. Because the original thread has been retitled and is
>fading off many Usenet servers, let me ask the questions again.
>
>Hi, this is an open invitation to hear opinions from any and all
>of you who read this. I'm wondering what materials (textbook
>series, and nontextbook books, manipulatives, software, games, or
>whatever) you would recommend for young people learning elementary
>(kindergarten through middle school) mathematics. I'll describe
>some particular special cases I am interested in, but I am also
>interested in the general case of a heterogeneous classroom or a
>homeschooling family of unknown characteristics. I am a parent of
>four young children (only two have reached school age) and I may
>face any of the situations I list below, so I appreciate your
>answers.
>
>SPECIAL CASE 1 (MATHEMATICALLY GIFTED CHILD)
>
>What, particularly, would you recommend for a learner who shows
>evidence of unusually high ability in math? (Left unconsidered
>here is whether "unusually high ability" comes from nature or from
>nurture, and whether it is evidenced by standardized test scores,
>advancement in grade placement, or some other proxy of ability.)
>For the highest-ability young mathematics learner, what materials
>are especially suitable for maintaining interest in and correct
>understanding of mathematics, and for building a foundation for
>later advanced study of math? Are there any materials that are
>particularly UNsuitable for learners in this special-case
>population?
>
>SPECIAL CASE 2 (MATH-DISABLED CHILD)
>
>What, particularly, would you recommend for a learner who shows
>evidence of unusual difficulty in learning math? (Again, I am not
>restricting this question to any particular kind of causation or
>ascertainment, and you are welcome to consider subcases of either
>low "general intelligence" or "specific learning disability" in
>answering this question.) For the lowest-ability young mathematics
>learner, what materials are especially suitable for building
>understanding of mathematics and helping the learner to understand
>and apply as much math in the "real world" of adult living as
>possible?
>
>SPECIAL CASE 3 (MATH-EAGER CHILD)
>
>What, particularly, would you recommend for a learner who shows
>consistent, sustained, avid interest in learning mathematics
>(irrespective of the learner's level of math ability)? For the
>most-eager mathematics learner, what materials are especially
>suitable for appealing to that intrinsic interest and using that
>as a foundation for deeper learning of mathematics? Here I'm
>especially interested in suggestions for materials beyond the
>scope of school textbooks, and indeed in suggestions for
>activities (math competitions, perhaps?) outside the scope of
>schoolwork.
>
>SPECIAL CASE 4 (MATH-AVERSE CHILD)
>
>What, particularly, would you recommend for a learner who shows NO
>interest in learning mathematics, doubts the usefulness of math,
>and would rather do almost anything else besides learning math
>(again, irrespective of the learner's ability level)? For the
>learner turned off by math, what materials are especially useful
>for evoking interest in math and showing either an inherent
>attractiveness of or a linkage between math and subjects the
>learner is already interested in?
>
>GENERAL CASE
>
>What, particularly, would you recommend for a learner or group of
>learners who have unknown membership in the special-case
>populations above? What would you recommend for a schoolteacher
>teaching a school class of mixed ability and interest levels? What
>would you recommend to a homeschooling parent who poses a question
>on-line and doesn't identify his or personal math background in
>much detail? In other words, what math materials might tend to be
>optimal for the broadest range of special cases encountered in the
>general population? Are any math materials that are well-suited to
>special populations BADLY suited to the general population? I
>would be interested to know what math materials you would
>recommend as having broadest usefulness and likely benefit, and I
>wouldn't mind knowing what materials you do NOT recommend to
>anyone, no matter what the learner's special characteristics. Are
>some math materials actually harmful, worse than using nothing at
>all?
>
>Thanks for any and all opinions you express, materials you
>recommend, or comments you have on my questions. If you would like
>to reach me by email, feel free to write to
>
>kmbunday AT earthlink DOT net
>
>and later I will anonymously ("a private correspondent said, '. .
>.. '") digest private comments for the group.
>
>By the way, what is the scope of "elementary (K-8) mathematics"?
>What subjects (or more narrow topics) are surely included in
>mathematics learners should learn by eighth grade? What subjects
>(or topics) need not be learned by that age, or even SHOULDN'T be
>learned by that age?
>
>Thanks for letting us all know your thoughts on this important
>issue.
>
>
>
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