The continuing popularity of this book is testimony to the importance of its central message: Young children can think mathematically and instruction that builds on their thinking takes them further and deeper into the core concepts of arithmetic than teachers might imagine.
James Hiebert, Robert J. Barkley Professor of Education, University of Delaware
Cognitively Guided Instruction not only changed the way I teach and restored my passion for teaching; it has had a positive impact on thousands of children.
Debbie Gates, elementary mathematics specialist
I am far more engaged and excited about teaching math myself because Children's Mathematics helped me understand what questions to ask and what student comments to listen for that will lead to student discovery.
Lesley Wagner, elementary school teacher
Children’s Mathematics is a must-read for all elementary teachers, coaches, and professional educators. The CGI frameworks help us attend closely to what children do and understand and provide a vision for how children’s ideas advance through well planned learning experiences.
Elham Kazemi, Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Washington
Children’s Mathematics has shown us that understanding “how” children think mathematically is so much more valuable to their ongoing development than trying to “give” them the way to think. Our students have flourished!
Kathy Goecke, elementary principal
There are some excellent videos to watch and some great examples of problems that get kids thinking...the examples really got me thinking about how I can ask more base ten multiplication and measurement division problems of kids at all grade levels.
Tara Trudo, mathematics specialist, theelementarymathmaniac.blogspot.com
Children’s Mathematics is by far the most powerful and practical book that I have used in my work with teachers. The potential it has to not only deepen students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics but their teachers as well is unparalleled.
Andrew Jenkins, principal
Children’s Mathematics gives readers a fascinating glimpse into children’s mathematical ideas and their foundational role in instruction…This exemplary resource is essential for teachers, professional developers, and researchers who are interested in understanding, supporting, and extending children’s ways of reasoning.
Vicki Jacobs, Yopp Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education, UNC Greensboro
This new edition continues to cognitively guide teachers and researchers to look at children as earnest thinkers and doers of mathematics.
James Brickwedde, Assistant Professor, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN
As anyone involved in leading change understands, the most difficult work is that of modifying deep-seated beliefs. CGI in mathematics, especially as so thoughtfully detailed in this most recent edition of Children's Mathematics, has the power to do just that. Children's Mathematics should be at the top of the resource list of any teacher/leader who believes in the power of children's mathematical capability. The authors thoughtfully and thoroughly allow us to peek inside children's minds as they construct flexible mathematical understanding. Everyone wins- the reader, their colleagues, and the children in their classrooms.
Turtle Toms, mathematics specialist
CGI gives us a concrete example of what it means to develop math instruction based on the ideas students already have. This principle should inform all mathematics instruction. Let's teach algebra based on the ideas students have about variables, geometry based on their ideas about shapes, and so on. Children's Mathematics shows us by example what this looks like in the classroom.
Christopher Danielson, Mathematics Instructor at Normandale Community College who blogs at Talking Math with Your Kids
This book is about helping students make sense of math. But don’t be surprised if you start to make more sense of math yourself, which in turn will help you in teaching.
Susan Gehn, mathematics specialist
Through the second edition of Children’s Mathematics, the authors empower teachers to effectively transform their math instruction.
Tanya Vik Blais, elementary mathematics PD consultant
Children’s Mathematics guides teachers so we know how to create favorable conditions for students to make sense, what to look and listen for, and how to recognize important mathematics in our students’ thinking. Rather than prescribe how we should teach, the authors describe how students learn, and equip teachers to make effective instructional decisions grounded in research.
Tracy Johnston Zager, author of Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had
