The number sense focus of ORIGO Education’s Stepping Stones program appealed to Eduarda van Klinken, a teacher at Fairholme College in Toowoomba, Queensland.
“It’s a term that means that children have a sense of what numbers are, rather than just learning how to calculate stuff,” said Eduarda, who has a background in research.
“They get a real feel for what numbers are like so they can improvise with strategies and related ideas.
“So, this means they really confidently work things out, in any way, rather than just a segue.”
Eduarda says Stepping Stones provides children a solid foundation for maths learning.
“They do a very thorough job of introducing a new number concept,” Eduarda said.
“For example, with place value, they do it many times but from a slightly different angle each time. Occasionally, children find that difficult, but it does give them a nice thorough, solid understanding and we as teachers, help them through it.”
Stepping Stones’ number sense focus reflects ORIGO Education’s more conceptual way of teaching, which gives children a deeper understanding of maths.
“It’s more conceptually based rather than procedurally based,” Eduarda said.
“Procedure is where you know what to do, as long as everything goes. But a conceptual understanding means that you really understand how it works.”