Our Beliefs and Curriculum: Bridges in Mathematics
These are our beliefs about math education that guide our work in the Lower School:
Math is for everyone. We strongly believe that all students have important mathematical ideas. We do not believe that someone is or isn’t a “math person.” This is rooted in our commitment to approaching math education through a growth mindset. Every math learner has areas where they excel and are confident and areas where they are developing and growing.
We believe that math is a discipline based on sense-making. Our classrooms are not primarily structured around teachers presenting steps for how to solve a problem, but rather teachers presenting and facilitating carefully chosen problems, scenarios, puzzles, and games that invite creativity and help students build new understanding. We believe that thoughtfully chosen visual models and physical manipulatives, such as ten-frames, arrays, and pattern blocks, are instrumental in developing mathematical knowledge for all learners.
We value the development of the content and skills of numbers, shapes, and data, and also the practices of pattern seeking and perseverance. We strive to create classrooms where each learner’s important math ideas are valued and heard, and where we practice the art of communication with others to share our thinking and learn new perspectives.
Learning mathematics is not a straight, linear journey, but rather is complex and multi-faceted. Students build strength in their understanding from making connections to different areas of mathematics. We seek to discover where each student is on their own math learning journey. As teachers we seek to provide experiences that both engage and stretch our students wherever they are.
Bridges in Mathematics (3rd edition), published by the well-regarded Math Learning Center, is our primary curriculum source for our scope and sequence. Bridges is aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and receives top reviews for its cohesiveness and accessibility. We also support and enrich with other resources as needed, often inspired by a network of math educators from around the world including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Our curriculum is dynamic as we try new things and respond to the learners in front of us.