The job of an educator is to teach students to see vitality in themselves.
—Joseph Campbell
The main goals of the math curriculum is that students
- appreciate math as a discipline and understand its place in their present and future lives
- develop the ability to solve mathematical problems in a variety of school, home and work settings
- develop thinking and reasoning skills
- learn to communicate mathematically
- compute fluently and to solve problems creatively and resourcefully.
Mathematics
Early Program Mathematics
In Early Program, the children use hands-on Montessori math materials to discover and explore mathematical ideas. The materials and exercises are designed to illustrate specific mathematical concepts, progressing through three stages, beginning with quantity, then symbol, and the third combining both quantity and symbol. At this stage in their development, these activities represent sensorial experiences that will reinforce the mathematical understanding that comes later when they are developmentally ready to make abstractions. Children develop at their own pace and are motivated by individual interests and abilities throughout their early development. This influences the direction a child takes in moving through the progression of materials. New materials are introduces as each child is ready for them.
Elementary Math Program
Building upon the hands-on, experience-based learning process begun in the Early Program, the children are introduced to new mathematical concepts using manipulatives that provide tactile and concrete understanding of mathematical concepts.
Age appropriate learning is related to purposeful, real-life examples, in order that the children will gain the skills they will need to apply math in school and in the world. Beginning in the early grades, children are taught the process of problem solving as well as basic calculation skills. Continual practice, using a wide repertoire of strategies, prepares them to successfully solve mathematical problems. Children are taught to make predictions, gather information, record their data, and then reach conclusions by applying the mathematical skills they have acquired.
As abstract understanding becomes secure, the children use standard algorithms, calculators, and computers as tools to solve problems. An ever-increasing emphasis is placed on comprehensive, efficient solutions, and on the written and verbal expression of their reasoning.
At Caedmon, we believe that creative, student-constructed learning promotes mathematical confidence, while building a strong knowledge base. By making math interesting, challenging, and enjoyable, we guide each child to his or her fullest mathematical potential.
