Welcome to the Math Coach's Corner

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Number Sense

It is well known that children learn in many different ways. Some students like to act out situations when learning, some prefer to listen, and almost all like to talk about what they know! One of the most important concepts that we as teachers are tasked with teaching students is number sense.

Number sense is somewhat hard to define, but when a student has good number sense, it is so easy to see! A student that has good number sense seems to instinctually know where numbers land on a number line or can quickly tell how many objects are in a group without counting. Students in 3rd and 4th grade work diligently on developing number sense about fractions -- one of the absolute essential skills to being able to perform higher level mathematics in middle and high school. Students in 5th - 7th grade work on developing number sense with rational numbers (positive and negative integers, fractions and decimals). 

Green Hills' math program is heavily founded upon activities that help students gain an exceptionally high level of number sense. Activities involving counters, place value charts, number lines, etc. help students to gauge the magnitude of numbers and their place in relation to other numbers. 

The author of the article below, Kevin Dehlin, notes that number sense is so important because it "encourages students how to think flexibly and promotes confidence with numbers". Flexibility and confidence are two essential ingredients to being a great math student.

Please read the short article below to learn even more about the strategies we use in our classrooms to help your child become the best math student he or she can be!

Number Sense: The Most Important Mathematical Concept in 21st Century K-12 Education