The Math Learning Center Blog

Children need lots of practice, with various activities in different settings, to develop a strong sense of number. My kindergartners love an activity I call Estimation Bag. I place a small plastic container inside a canvas bag, and a student adds a single type of object: paperclips, pennies, barrettes, etc. We start with 10 or fewer and increase the quantity to between 10 and 20 after a month or...

The Number Pieces app is an excellent tool for teaching and learning place value. Here are a few activities that you can use with kids in grades 1–2. These activities explore base ten concepts and models within 1,000 that will help lay the foundation for learning double-digit computation. Activity 1: Ask the child to show a certain number using the base ten pieces. For example, 3 tens, 7 ones, and...

MLC collaborated with the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators ( AMTE ) to establish a scholarship fund for elementary math specialists. "There is a growing consensus regarding the importance of math specialist at the elementary level" said Rick Ludeman, MLC President. "We were inspired to create this scholarship fund by a column on the topic written by J. Michael Shaughnessy during his...

Math and the Mind’s Eye has helped shape the career of Suzanne Hossler , a middle school mathematics teacher for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada. As Suzanne tells the story, “During my student teaching in 1989 I was privileged to watch a fourth grade classroom using MLC materials. I was so fascinated with the materials, how the students responded, and the depth of...