Critique Article - Math for the young child or any math critique Essay

Critique Article - Math for the young child or any math critique article that deals with children - Essay Example There is immense value to the content of the article as it summarizes the results of the four year long researches on developing  the  Ã¢â‚¬ËœBig  Math  for  Little Kids’ pre-kindergarten and kindergarten mathematics program. The authors present ‘Big  Math  for  Little Kids’ as the  product of their effort from 1998 to 2002, to develop â€Å"a research-based and developmentally appropriate early childhood mathematics program  for  all pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children.† (Balfanz, Robert. et al, 2003, p. 264). The program consists of an all-inclusive set of sequenced learning activities and the lesson units of this program includes numbers, shapes, patterns and logic, measurement, operations on numbers, and spatial relations. The program, as the authors claim, combines mathematics into the daily routines and other early learning areas of the children such as music, art, movement, reading, writing, and science. It also presents mathematical symbols and words in the most cautious and meaningful ways aiming at the children’s lighthearted but purposeful learning of Mathematics. In their article, the authors not only provide the theoretical and research based evidences to the effectiveness of the program, but more significantly the evidences of the practical success of the ‘Big  Math  for  Little Kids’ from their observed results. After introducing the program the ‘Big  Math  for  Little Kids’ in detail, the authors deal with its research base which includes psychological and educational research as well as the design principles. They maintain that every child is capable of learning mathematics at a  young  age based on their researches. According to the authors, it is important to provide the children with adult guidance along with opportunity for play and they also specify that low-income children should