Mathematics Methods for Early Childhood

Reviewed by Fred Coon, Assistant Professor, Anderson University on 5/17/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

I appreciate that Stramel touches on all the basic early mathematics for young children as well addressing algebraic thinking, geometry, and data analysis. The text also touches on grade level specific items for algebraic thinking and as a former high school math teacher, I see the value in how this make that first year of high school math easier on students.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not find any inaccuracies. Appears to be error-free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

There are lots of linked supplements to the text. Many of the ideas are new but old (if that makes sense) and will last for some time.

Clarity rating: 5

It is an easy read and easy to follow.

Consistency rating: 5

The text maintained consistent format that was easy to follow.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is broken into sections that are easy to follow. I enjoyed the text and plan on incorporating it into my course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I appreciated how Stramel stepped through the different aspects of teaching mathematics and the topics to be taught as well. The sections built on each other.

Interface rating: 5

The interface with the text seemed seamless.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not find any grammatical mistakes.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book is very useful. I will recommend it to my students as additional reading.

Reviewed by Tsitsi Nyabando, Assistant Professor, Eastern New Mexico University on 6/1/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covers appropriate math instruction for the early childhood period. It provides a good discussion of the importance of fostering emergent mathematics and developmentally appropriate ways to help young children develop foundational math skills and attitudes. The author discussed strategies and examples of activities for different stages of early childhood. Several visuals in the book enhance or add knowledge of the math concepts and activities the author discusses. Instructors can use the various supporting resources for in-class activities or guided learning outside the classroom.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Content seems accurate, connected to research, and the sources are credible. I did not see any biased content.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The author incorporated relevant ideas and activities. The author also provided links to articles, videos, and websites that can be easily updated if there is a need. The content directly relates to teaching math in early childhood classrooms.

Clarity rating: 5

The author presented information in a manner that is easy to understand and clear. Examples and visuals help to enhance clarity. In Chapter 4, the author provided an overview of Early Childhood Math standards for the state of Kansas. Parts of the Kansas State standards are also cited a few times in other parts of the book. Although some similarities may exist among different state standards, this can be a drawback. Generally, the author provided context and clear descriptions to help readers from other states understand the content.

Consistency rating: 5

The author was consistent in the presentation of the material. Each chapter format is the same. The author used terminology that early childhood educators are familiar with throughout the textbook. There is a glossary at the end of the text, and the language in the book is simple and understandable to preservice early childhood teachers.

Modularity rating: 5

Different sections of the text can be easily assigned at different points in a course. The headings are helpful for navigation.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Chapters are organized logically. The subheadings make it easy to find information and to follow the discussion. The images help break the text up and add to the clear organization, and the pages do not look cluttered.

Interface rating: 4

There are a few areas where the font size is too large or too small. This may distract the reader. All the links in the book are working, and I can navigate chapters in the ebook using the sidebar on the left side of the page. Because there are links for supporting resources provided in the book, readers will benefit more if they use the ebook.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Pictures in the book show diverse children and adults. I did not notice any culturally insensitive or offensive topics or information.

Comments

I think this is a well-written textbook, and I will use it in my courses.

Reviewed by Stephanie Daniel, Associate Professor, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College on 3/29/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Overall, this textbook is arranged in a logical order and include relevant math topics appropriate for early childhood learning. There is a table of contents and glossary which is very helpful when searching for specific topics.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book reflects accurate information. I have taught this course using other resources and I find that the information in this text is accurate and up to date. No errors or biased in my opinion was evident in my review of the textbook.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This textbook includes relevant topics that are arranged in a logical way. The information shared about the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics was thoroughly written along with suggested activities which is helpful for early childhood education teachers, especially because most teachers are already working in the field.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is well written. The flow of the text was easy to follow. I appreciate the images throughout the text as visuals for content discussed. It’s always great to have visuals that are relevant to the text. For some readers it makes the content meaningful and easy to digest, especially when it’s a lot of text on one page. The only added feedback is maybe making sure all the text is the same font if it is not a header. Some of the text had smaller font and large font in one sentence. Maybe work on the format to make it consistent.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is somewhat consistent with current research. I’m not sure when the book was written, but a few of the references are over 10 years old. Maybe revise the text adding more current research to support the content. Also, maybe adding objectives and an introduction to each chapter could help with consistency.

Modularity rating: 5

The text features are clear and concise for each chapter, including chapter headers, and a few illustrations throughout the text. Information is presented in manageable chunks, again making the text easy to read. The only added suggestion is maybe adding chapter objectives as mentioned in a previous rating.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Overall, the text is nicely presented beside some of the font being a little off within paragraphs. However, each chapter has content divided into sections making in text easy to navigate through.

Interface rating: 4

Overall, the interface is nicely done. I downloaded it as a PDF, and it was easy to navigate. Most of the content was easy to read and should be easy for other to navigate. Again, the only suggestion is to revise some of the text formatting. For some readers the difference in text size may be an issue, especially if they are using a software screen reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Professional and accurate without grammatical, spelling, or sentence structuring errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Most of the content focused on state standards, so maybe including easy assessable hyperlinks or a note where to find culturally relevant content would be an added asset the textbook.

Comments

Overall, this is a well written book that gives an in-depth look at mathematics methods for early childhood learning. I enjoyed reviewing this resource, and plan to use some of the chapters in my CHD146 Math, Science, and Social Studies for Children course.

Reviewed by Dawn Hendricks, Instructor, Clackamas Community College on 2/23/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

"The chapters cover the components of mathematics for young children. There is no index included. There is a glossary.

There is ample information about the math standards. However, there are not many hands-on ideas or strategies of how teachers can promote children's math learning around the standards. Information pertaining to how to promote mathematical knowledge for infants and toddlers is sparse."

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The contents is accurate for Kansas mathematical standards. However, since the focus is heavily on Kansas math standards, it would be challenging to use or adapt this book in other states.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The contents will be relativity easy to update with new research as each component of mathematics has its own chapter.

Clarity rating: 5

Use of jargon is minimal and easy-to-use definitions are included when needed.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology used is consistent with standards in the field of early childhood mathematics.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter is chunked into smaller sections that are easy to read.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics are presented in an organized, sequential manner

Interface rating: 4

When accessing the book directly online, the interface is organized, clean and easy to use. However, when downloading the PDF and Word versions, the font is varied and not well formatted.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were found.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The contents appear to be bias-free.