"Throughout the kindergarten year, children are learning more than just mathematics. They learn a lot about the nature of mathematics--what it is, what it means to do it, and their view of themselves as math students. The attitudes they develop now will strongly influence their future mathematical performance and whether they choose to continue their study of mathematics."

This quote was taken from the summary of the article "Little Kids--Powerful Problem Solvers." I found this quote to be ecspecially important because it really shows that the experiences children have with math (even as early on as Kindergarten) will influence their attitudes about math for the rest of their lives. One of the first blogs that we had to post for this course was about our own mathematical experiences and the majority of students wrote and shared that they had negative experiences with math, which made them feel apprehensive about teaching math to others.

No matter what the content area, research has shown that children learn best through play. The environment must be one that encourages the children's natural curiousity about the world around them and allows for them to develop their own theories about the world they live in. The materials and manipulatives in the environment will enourage this inquiry. As teachers we must provide this environment as well as observe their play so that we may extend their learning and build upon their prior knowledge.

Allowing for children to have hands-on, minds-on experiences will encourage them to want to be more involved with the content area that they are learning and will in return allow for them to develop their own ideas about the content and hopefully not have such negative feelings about learning.

1. Does it meet my curricular goals?

If the software does not meet my curricular goals, then it is really not benefiting or reinforcing any of the concepts.

2. Is it appropriate for young children?

The software must be relevant to what the children know and can do. If it is more focused on items that they have not learned yet or will not be using, then it is not benefiting them or contributing to their self-esteem.

3. Does the software reflect the backgrounds of all children, families, and staff in the program?

It is extremely important as an educator to provide materials that are reflective of all children, families, and lifestyles. Children who can identify to the content, materials, etc. will be more likely to engage.

4. Does the software offer the children opportunities for social interaction?

Providing children time to be independent is extremely important. However, so is allowing time for the to develop their interpersonal skills, which will in return build upon their intrapersonal skills.

5. Does the software offer the children experiences that enhance self-esteem?

Having software that the children cannot use or will not understand will not benefit their self-esteem. Children need to feel good about what they are doing, which will in return allow for them to become more engaged.

As a child, I remember timed multiplication table tests where you had to see how many you could get in a minute. If you got "enough" of them, then you passed and got to move on to the next number's multiplication tables. I remember how frustrating and upsetting it was to have a teacher in the background calling out "15 seconds..." and you are trying with all you have to remember 4x8. "10 seconds..." you still have 3 more to answer and you know that if you don't get them then you cannot move on to the 5's. Adding stress and basically forcing a child to learn something is the complete WRONG way to go about it. I look back on these days, and yes, we all knew the children who were on there 3's when everyone else was on the 7's and 8's and I think about how low that made their self-esteem. In a sense, now that I am older, I can see a little logic because it almost differentiate's the instruction so that all children are on the level that they need to be on, however, many times they were not moving on because they had such anxiety taking these tests that they just couldn't pass, even if you would ask them 5 minutes after the test to go through all of their times tables and they would. There was no follow through. If I have learned anything at all from this, it's that I need to find another method (other than making children feel anxious, stressed, and self-concious) to teach them so that each child is on the level that they feel comfortable at and will be able to excell in. Fortunately for me, I took a different approach to math after taking several math courses at the undergraduate level that have provided me with many other resources for educating children so that hopefully one day if they have to answer a question like this, their experiences were much different.

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