The How and Why of Teaching Elementary Mathematics

The first edition of The How and Why of Teaching Elementary Mathematics is a resource of over 280 questions and answers spanning a range of topics central to successful and effective mathematics teaching. It represents all I know (and some things I didn’t know) based in large part on decades of experience providing training courses, workshops and lectures to elementary teachers and teachers-to-be in mathematics curriculum, learning, teaching, and assessment, both in Australia and the United States.


Content is grouped into 13 broad topics:

• Manipulatives, Aids, and Concrete Materials

• Attitudes, Beliefs, and Culture

• Chance and Data

• Assessment and Learning Theory

• Early Number Leading to Place Value

• Geometry

• Measurement

• Number facts and Basic Operations

• Whole Number Computation

• Fractions, Decimals, Ratio, and Proportion

• Number Systems, Principles, and Number Sense

• Pattern

• Problem Solving


The core audience for this book includes practicing elementary teachers, teachers-in-training, and mathematics teacher educators. Parents and carers interested in detailed explanations for methods of mathematics teaching used in modern elementary classrooms would also benefit from having access to this resource.