Comments on: How One’s ‘Number Sense’ Helps With Mathematics – Article Reprint

By: MrTeach

MrTeach — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:31:24 +0000

I see the exact same thing with 5th graders. That’s what has me confused about this. I guess I just figured it was accepted and didn’t realize it was something that needed studied.

By: blombard

blombard — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:55:01 +0000

Hi MrTeach,
As middle/high school teachers will attest, students who don’t have strong number sense have trouble with “higher math” because part of their attention is diverted to computation, not concepts. While the teacher is explaining a new idea, some students may be looking at the numbers, not the underlying process/concept. This is why it’s a good idea, when starting something new, to begin with “nice” numbers, so students can follow the instruction more easily.
-Mr. L

By: MrTeach

MrTeach — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:40:48 +0000

I must be missing something because I’m not at all surprised by this. Of course, I teach 5th grade, so I might not see how students struggle as they move into more abstract topics. But my students who are good with computation, also succeed in the elementary geometry and algebra we introduce.