– Canada is no longer in the global top 10 of math scores. Anne Hopkinson, a former elementary school teacher, says that the Canadian approach to math education makes no sense – the primary curriculum being too extensive and not focusing enough on the fundamental skills. Do really young children need to learn economy and technology or politics and law? Although those matters are important, in early education they are not as critical as math and language skills.

– Most of a child’s math learning is already done prior to entering kindergarten. Children start first grade with varied levels of math skills – some can count to 100 while others are barely able to count to 10. Hopkinson believes children should get 90 minutes of math a day, that school needs to make lessons stimulating, hands-on and flexible, and that early learning should include more practice.

Image: ChildUp.com

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