September - October 2008
Number of Operations

"Two and two are four; four and four are eight; eight and eight are sixteen; sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two."

So goes a children's song. Many more rhymes, jump-rope chants, and songs help children to count, order, and sequence the numbered world. Early experiences with number and manipulating groups begin before children ever cross the school threshold. Once there, much of their days are spent internalizing their own sense of number and fortifying it. These early days lay the foundations for working in algebra, fractions, calculus, and many scientific fields as well.

The articles in this issue help us to see the excitement and the challenges of this cornerstone of mathematics. Number and Operations span the full K-8 spectrum of mathematical learning. The topic also stretches across the history of modern education, from the mathematical concerns of Friedrich Froebel, the nineteenth-century developer of modern kindergartens, to the latest thinking on middle school math contained in the highly regarded Connected Math 2, released just this year.

This issue of Connect explores ways to assist children in developing sound ideas about number and operations, giving them knowledge that allows them to ask questions, to turn problems on their sides, if need be, in order to solve them. The combination of practicing isolated skills and engendering the ability to reason is essential for our learners, and the practitioners writing the articles found here do this artfully.

May-June 2008
Learning Outdoors

The outdoor world presents infinite and indispensable learning opportunities. In this issue we learn about the strong case for taking students outside and doing our part to reunite children with nature.

Today's children have less unsupervised and unscheduled time than in prior generations. How does this affect their understanding of systems like weather or ideas that all life is interrelated, or their connection to a sense of place? Will this have profound impacts on the decisions and priorities that students will make in future years?

Teachers in both public and independent schools tell stories in these pages that offer examples of addressing curricula while in the great outdoors. Here are ideas for fostering curiosity, fondness, and appreciation for the world outside and our place in it. With our help, perhaps more students can embrace their role as stewards to sustain the world and its resources.

Although these sound like lofty ideals, they are not so difficult to achieve—it all starts by simply going outside!