Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic: Implications of Piaget's Theory, Second Edition

Early Childhood Education

by Constance Kamii, Leslie R. Williams (Series Editor), Leslie Baker Housman (Primary Contributor)

In this fully revised second edition of the classic Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic , Constance Kamii describes and develops an innovative program of teaching arithmetic in the early elementary grades. Kamii bases her educational strategies on renowned constructivist Jean Piaget's scientific ideas of how children develop logico-mathematical thinking. Written in collaboration with a classroom teacher, and premised upon the conviction that children are capable of much more than teachers and parents generally realize, the book provides a rich theoretical foundation and a compelling explanation of educational goals and objectives. Kamii calls attention to the ways in which traditional textbook-based teaching can be harmful to children's development of numerical reasoning, and uses extensive research and classroom-tested studies to illuminate the efficacy of the approach. This book is full of practical suggestions and developmentally appropriate activities that can be used to stimulate numerical thinking among students of varying abilities and learning styles, both within and outside of the classroom. “In this new edition of her important book, Connie Kamii demonstrates scholarship not just in what she has written, but in her willingness to incorporate new ideas and findings. Many people update their books; few assiduously revise them, confronting what they believe to be past errors or gaps in their thinking. Such intellectual honesty, along with consistent connections between theory and practice, make this book a solid contribution to mathematics education of young children.”
-- Douglas Clements , State University of New York at Buffalo
“The development of young children’s logico-mathematical knowledge is at the heart of this text. Similar to the first edition, this revision of Young Children Reinvent Implications of Piaget’s Theory provides a rich theoretical foundation as well as child-centered activities and principles of teaching that support problem solving, communicating, reasoning, making connections, and representing mathematical ideas. In this great resource for preservice and in-service elementary teachers, Professor Kamii continues to help us understand the implications of Piagetian theory.”
-- Frances R. Curcio , New York University

Genres: Education, Mathematics, Teaching, Parenting

254 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1984

About the author

Constance Kamii is a Professor, Early Childhood Education Program Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Reviews

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

super challenging to read w/ lots of technical information on how kids learn math and the experiments to support her research. Once you make it past the dry stuff there are some amazing nuggets of useful information. I love the section on moral development as it relates to math! It has loads of game reccomendations and simple card games for kids to learn mathmatical concepts and logic skills.

[Mrs. · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book about teaching math and math learning