Rating: - A terrific how-to manual for teaching K-6 math skills
I would never again begin to attempt to teach elementary math without this book on my desk. If you are fed up with the "new-new" math and want to find out the clearest and simplest way to help children learn basic computational skills this book is just what you need. This text would be especially helpful to homeschoolers who want consistent language that helps children understand place value when they do arithemetic, or fractions when they are learning to manipulate them. This text would also be needed by teachers whose college training only prepared them to engage their students in interesting math activities but never showed how to explain addition and subtraction of unlike fractions, or how to effectively organize math facts memorization, or even any strategies for solving word problems. All these and many more are covered in helpful detail in this text. There are invaluable tips for correcting common errors, or better yet-how to avoid them. All explanations support each other in a way that helps students tie new learning to the necessary prior knowledge. I have used this as a text in curriculum methods courses in three universities and most students come away with the feeling that this book is an incredible reference book that they wish to keep handy throughout their teaching careers.