Reading Reflections on first two chapters of the textbook

     Principles and Standards for School Mathematics is so important that all teachers and prospective teachers should be familiar with what it says and have read at least relevant important sections.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) provided detailed discussion of each of Principles and Standards for school mathematics.These principles and standards presented a vision of school mathematics—a set of goals toward which to strive. Throughout the principles and standards, the vision for mathematics education is expressed using words like "should, will, can, and must" to convey to readers the kind of mathematics teaching and learning that NCTM proposes.
     The NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) clearly defines five process standards (Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, Communication, Connections, and Representations) for the learning of mathematics. These processes function as simultaneous goals for student learning, activities, habits, and processes through which mathematical content is learned. Thus, for instance, while it may be a goal for teachers to get students communicating mathematics to one another, the process of communicating also leads to the learning of mathematics.

     Developing a solid mathematical foundation from pre-kindergarten through Primary One is essential for every child. In these years, students are building beliefs about what mathematics is, about what it means to know and do mathematics, and about themselves as mathematics learners. These beliefs influence their thinking about, performance in, and attitudes toward, mathematics and decisions related to studying mathematics in later years. Children develop many mathematical concepts, at least in their intuitive beginnings, even before they reach school age. 

     From my teaching experiences, toddlers spontaneously recognize and discriminate among small numbers of objects, and many preschool children possess a substantial body of informal mathematical knowledge. Hence, after reading the 2^nd chapter, I felt that it was crucial for educators to foster children's mathematical development from the youngest ages by providing environments rich in language and where thinking is encouraged, uniqueness is valued, and exploration is supported.