Customer Reviews

The Elementary Math Teacher's Book of Lists: With Ready-to-Use Patterns and Worksheets (J-B Ed: Book of Lists)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At first I thought this would be a very good book.

That was based on the table of contents, and on quickly reading some content, and on wishful thinking that this would be a good source to guide how kids should be taught.

Having read the entire book, my opinion has altered. This is nuts. They don't think a teacher should ever teach - they want students to discover mathematics on their own, guided by things like playing with geometric figures. For example, they seem to have the idea that students must master symmetry groups and space filling figures - advanced college level mathematics - before they can learn to count. And apparently you should learn ancient Egyptian, Roman, Chinese, Greek, and Mayan counting systems before you learn ours.

If this is typical of where "new math" eventually went, it is easy to see why there has been a call to return back to basics.

A large fraction of the material is frankly irrelevant to most students, even college level math students.

Some places list this as having a 2008 edition. It was published in 1997, and the publisher says there have been no more recent editions. The bibliography, web links and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards are accordingly out of date.

Find a better book.