Make sense of students' math frustration with these critical research-based insights

Number Sense and Number Nonsense
Understanding the Challenges of Learning Math
By Nancy Krasa, Ph.D., & Sara Shunkwiler, M.Ed.

"A game changer for math educators. Teacher-friendly and comprehensive, this review of recent neuroscience provides critical insights into how the brain learns (or fails to learn) math." —Earl Oremus, Headmaster, Marburn Academy – School for Learning Disabilities, Columbus, Ohio "Brief and lively ... Especially interesting are [the] case studies of children with math learning disabilities and ideas about how to help such children learn more effectively." —Robert Siegler, Ph.D., Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University

How do children learn math—and why do some children struggle with it? The answers are in Number Sense and Number Nonsense, a straightforward, reader-friendly book for education professionals and an invaluable multidisciplinary resource for researchers. More than a first-ever research synthesis, this highly accessible book brings math difficulties into clear focus, helping educators and psychologists get inside students' heads so they can devise the best way to help children learn.

Clinical psychologist Nancy Krasa and middle-school teacher Sara Shunkwiler combine their expertise for an eye-opening exploration of how the brain works during the many complex facets of math learning. Readers will gain a complete, research-based understanding of what it means when students struggle with

• understanding relative values
  
  
• comprehending spatial configurations
  
  
• reading and writing numerals or other symbols
  
  
• mastering arithmetic facts or algorithms
  
  
• deciphering word problems or fractions
  
  
• paying attention, tracking information, planning ahead, or thinking flexibly and critically
  
  
• reasoning abstractly and arguing logically

Educators will improve their math instruction with the classroom examples and helpful samples of student work, and psychologists will effectively evaluate math learning problems with the assessment guidelines and clinical case illustrations.

With this in-depth guided tour of essential math skills and the difficulties students may encounter with each, education professionals will gain the insight they need to turn number nonsense into number sense for children who struggle with math.

ORDERING INFO
ISBN 978-1-59857-020-5
Paperback / 248 pages / 7 x 10 / 2009 / $32.95
Stock# 70205

About the Authors
Preface
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Introduction

Section I: Thinking Spatially

Chapter 2. Number Sense

Chapter 3. Math and Spatial Skills

Section II: The Language of Mathematics

Chapter 4. Speaking Mathematics

Chapter 5. Reading and Writing Mathematics

Chapter 6. The Brain and Conventional Mathematics

Chapter 7. More Sharks in the Mathematical Waters

Section III: Solving Problems

Chapter 8. Executive Functions

Chapter 9. Reasoning

Section IV: Professional Implications

Chapter 10. Evaluation

Chapter 11. Teaching

Bibliography
Index