Integrating mathematics in the primary classroom

The £dso identifies eight specific content strands in mathematics: (1)numbers;(2)operations;(3)fractions and decimals;(4) measurement;(5)geometry and spacial sense;(6)probability and statistics;(7) algebra; and (8)patterns and relationships.It emphasizes that the cont^t should be learned in meaningful contexts in which students can solve problems, make conjectures, reason, validate and prove their conjectures and communicate.Mathematics is seen as a social task, rather than knowledge to be passively absorbed.At the elementary level, the 5Candardfe calls for increased emphasis on number sense, place value concepts, the meaning of decimals and fractions, and estimation of quantities; and decreased emphasis on early reading, writing, and ordering numbers symbolically.It stresses the meaning of operations, thinking strategies for basic facts, and the use ofcalculators over complex paper-and-pencil computations.In problem solving, it calls for word problems with a variety ofstructures, use ofeveryday problems, applications, the study of patterns and relationships, and problem-solving strategies; with a decrease in use ofclue words to determine which operations to use.The Standardsalso emphasizes number theory, discrete mathematicsi probability and statistics, geometry, and measurement as critical for dealing with the technological changes in the twenty-first century.Many educators view the Standards as merely calling for changes in content.However, its actual intent is to adl for fundamental changes in instructional practices (Kamii & Lewis, 1990).This holds true in the area of assessment as well.The Standards proposes that the curriculum should dictate the assessment, not the opposite.Current standardized tests stress lower-order mathematics skills.They continue to motivate teachers to keep teaching computational skills(National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics,[NCSM],