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Maths Handbook for Teachers and Parents
Jack Bana, Linda Marshall, Paul Swan
R.I.C. Publications
The book is aimed at teachers and parents of children in Years 3 – 9 and explains the Maths concepts and understandings that children need to develop throughout these school years. There is a brief overview of the Maths that should be found up to Year 3, but the book does not focus on the earlier years. As a Year 2 teacher, it gave me a snapshot of where the children in my class will be heading.
Each strand within the Australian Curriculum Mathematics is covered, with detailed descriptions starting from the simple and moving to the more complex. I found that I read the beginning of each chapter and stopped reading when the content was no longer relevant to me.
Year levels are not mentioned within the chapters, so a parent may find it difficult to know exactly what their child should be learning in what particular year. What the book does do is thoroughly explain terminology used within the Australian Curriculum and give examples of what is meant. Easy to read summaries are given within each section.
I was sold on this book almost before I even opened it. I’m a huge Paul Swan fan, love the way he thinks about Maths and the activities he has developed. I’d recommend this book for teachers who want to ensure they are using the correct terminology (I’ve been teaching for a long time and still found I had misunderstood a couple of terms) and current best practice, and for parents who’d like to understand just why Maths is taught so differently from when they were at school.
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