Gerstell faculty believe that mathematical concepts are best learned when they proceed from the concrete to the abstract and varied situations are provided for children to manipulate, explore and question. Students are encouraged to develop both logical and divergent thinking skills and to take risks and gain confidence in learning problem strategies. A prerequisite to achieving higher order thinking is a sound grasp of basic facts and an automatic fluency with fundamental operations. Application opportunities are provided for students to master mathematical skills and concepts through incremental review, practice and in a wide variety of contexts.
Every strand is addressed throughout all grade levels of the program. Each level builds on and extends concept understanding so that children approach a new challenge from a firmly established foundation and the development of mathematical intuition and understanding are fostered.
Kindergarten mathematics emphasizes the following content strands, skills, and concepts:
Routines
Ongoing daily routines integrate mathematics into children’s daily life in the classroom.
Numeration
Count, read, and write past 100 and oral counting past 115; explore term “digits” to develop concept of place value; counting on, counting backward; skip counting ; experiences with rational counting
Operations and Computation
Using operations and relations in solving concrete problems from everyday life; make up and act out number stories; explore the inverse operations of addition and subtraction, using relation vocabulary such as bigger, smaller, more, less, the same, fewer, over, under, higher, lower, equal, equivalent.
Data and Chance
Collecting, organizing, and displaying data using concrete objects, charts and graphs.
Geometry
Tracing, drawing, constructing, with simple shapes,; analyze parts of shapes and relationships among sizes and shapes.
Measurement and Reference Frames
Introduce length, weight, volume or capacity, and elapsed time through matching and comparison activities; using appropriate tools to measure and label various units with U.S. customary and metric systems; drawing, comparing, and recording results; introduce money as a tool to explore place value, fractions, equivalence, and decimal system; explore characteristics and values of bills and coins; develop understanding of time and terms such as days, weeks, years, hours, minutes, and seconds; keep track of time on calendars, clocks, and number lines; develop sense of and record sequential order and time.
Patterns and Functions
Sorting and categorizing collections; exploring functions through games
