Teaching Number Sense

Since the introduction of a National Curriculum in Mathematics in 1988 the issue of what arithmetic to teach and how to teach it most effectively have been at the forefront of public and political debate. This book relates recent research findings and practical classroom experiences to arithmetic teaching. It covers the key issues in teaching arithmetic that have influenced the National Numeracy Framework. It deals with aspects such as place, value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and proposes an approach that encourages the development of number sense rather than the mastery of discrete arithmetic skills. Both research findings and the recommendations of government reports are presented in a way that should be meaningful to the non-specialist reader and are related to activities and tasks for classroom use.