Young students develop ideas about what mathematics is, and about themselves as mathematical learners. In the early grades, children are also forming attitudes and habits for learning. In addition to helping students master the basic concepts and skills of mathematics, the goal of Primary School Mathematics Department is that students will enjoy math; and that students will value and use mathematics as a process to understand the world, and solve real-world problems.

Our curriculum has been designed so that, wherever possible, the ideas taught within a particular grade level have a logical and natural connection with each other and with those of earlier grades. Teachers are expected to teach all the standards and objectives specified in the curriculum for their grade level, but may add related concepts and skills.

The objectives of our curriculum are:

·understand place value and build number sense;

·perform the four arithmetic operations with integers; estimate; and apply the properties of operations with integers;

·understand fractions; know how to compare and order fractions and perform the four arithmetic operations with fractions;

·understand decimals; know how to compare decimals and perform the four arithmetic operations with decimals;

·solve equations and inequalities;

·identify and analyze the attributes of plane and solid figures;

·find perimeter, area and volume of two-/three-D figures;

·measure with metric units and customary units of length, weight, and capacity;

·collect, record and analyze data;

·find the probability of events and make predictions based on probability; and

·solve word problems with various strategies;

Mathematics will have relevance to students and be learned much more effectively when they can relate the content to their prior experience and current interests. We offer instructional stories to help students build math backgrounds while improving their reading fluency; we provide students with rich real-world applications that help them discover math in their world.

In addition to activating students’ prior knowledge and further developing their backgrounds, we modify our instruction in specific ways to make the content accessible to every student.

We apply familiar reading and writing strategies to math and explain to students how these strategies can help them become more successful problem solvers.

We use brainstorming, role-playing, and simulations to carry out a variety of math activities. We play fun games to give students additional math practice.

We link math to the development of critical thinking by having students carry out projects that go beyond the curriculum in various ways.