[IAEP] 4th Grade Maths wiki and blog by Greg Dek

[Bill Kerr]

http://sugarlabs.org/go/User:Gdk/4th_Grade_Maths

http://gregdek.livejournal.com/45211.html

I think what is missing in the approach outlined by Greg here (and in
curriculum frameworks in general) is no real consideration of the deep
structure of maths or of how children learn maths, the psychology of
children's reasoning

There is already constructionist software on the xo (turtle art, etoys,
scratch) so what would be wrong with having some other programs with narrow
but clear learning objectives?

Is it complementary or oppositional? I think I complement these sorts of
objectives with other, richer approaches in my teaching. But I think Papert
presents it as more oppositional in his writings, eg. The Childrens Machine
(Papert) and also in Cynthia Solomons book, Computer Environments for
Children.

Greg's approach seems much the same as Patrick Suppes to me, as explained in
these writings

It might be worthwhile is to complement Greg's approach to the sort of ideas
outlined in the following books:

Children Doing Mathematics by Terezinha Nunes and Peter Bryant (1996), 268pp
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=CSINjqKYc1gC&dq=nunes+bryant+%22children+doing+mathematics%22&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=YXzWaP18k-&sig=Hn14LWozl4ebbtlAb_ygmZZ5Gsk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPP1,M1

They are psychologists who are interested in children's reasoning ... Keith
Devlin recommends this book for its treatment of multiplication
(Multiplication is not repeated addition). This book is entirely devoted to
an understanding of number

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics by Liping Ma (2000), 166pp
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=EjkKBotJcyIC&dq=Liping+Ma&printsec=frontcover&source=an&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result

This book asserts and documents the claim that maths is better taught in
China than in the USA because Chinese teachers have a more profound
understanding of maths knowledge. One thing that appeals to me here is that
it contains concrete examples of a good way and a not so good way of
teaching various maths concepts.

IMO it would be a mistake to ignore the information contained in these books
because it violates one of Greg's principles - they are not free
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