Mathematics for Elementary Teachers: A Contemporary Approach 9th Edition

Book Preface

Welcome to the study of the foundations of elementary school mathematics. We hope youwill find your studies enlightening, useful, and fun. We salute you for choosing teaching as a profession and hope that your experiences with this book will help prepare you to be the best possible teacher of mathematics that you can be. We have presented this elementary mathematics material from a variety of perspectives so that you will be better equipped to address that broad range of learning styles that you will encounter in your future students. This book also encourages prospective teachers to gain the ability to do the mathematics of elementary school and to understand the underlying concepts so they will be able to assist their students, in turn, to gain a deep understanding of mathematics.

We have also sought to present this material in a manner consistent with the recommendations in (1) The Mathematical Education of Teachers prepared by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, and (2) the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and Curriculum Focal Points. In addition, we have received valuable advice from many of our colleagues around the United States through questionnaires, reviews, focus groups, and personal communications. We have taken great care to respect this advice and to ensure that the content of the book has mathematical integrity and is accessible and helpful to the variety of students who will use it. As always, we look forward to hearing from you about your experiences with our text.

GARY L. MUSSER, [email protected]
BLAKE E. PETERSON, [email protected]