Description
The second edition of this time-tested resource for teachers and home educators, back by popular demand. Teach math with imagination and confidence, laying the foundations for life!
Ron Jarman believes there is a maths genius in every child and adult. He shows how children can easily grasp math principles without the drudgery of endless worksheets. Uniquely, Ron draws on Pythagoras, the ancient Greeks, and Rudolf Steiner for re-imagining the vital importance of mathematical learning for human growth. The techniques and exercises in the book have been tried and tested for over a century by Waldorf teachers around the world.
The first chapters cover the Waldorf Maths Curriculum, the relationship between maths, personal development and education, and the question, what engages children at different stages of development? The book then lays out the math learning journey from Grades 1 to 8, with tips, worked examples, exercises, questions and diagrams.
Chapters
- Mathematics and Education
- What Stimulates the Child?
- Examples for Children’s Arithmetic in Classes 1 to 3 (6 to 9 years)
- The Heart of Childhood: child development, arithmetic and geometry
- Examples for Classes 4 and 5 (9-11)
- Grade 6 Math (11-12)
- Arithmetic and Algebra in Grades 7 and 8, (12-14 years)
- Geometry in Grades 7 and 8
- Statistics and Graphs
- Summary of a Waldorf Mathematics Curriculum
Author
Ron Jarman, MA (Cambridge), worked as an engineer for Rolls Royce. He taught mathematics in Waldorf and Rudolf Steiner Schools for over 50 years, also lecturing in math teacher education around the world.
‘Ron Jarmans jaunty style makes for easy reading. Indeed the book is rare among teachers’ books: it is compulsive reading and conveys the magic of good Maths teaching.’
– Chris Clarke, Foreword
‘The most comprehensive book on mathematics I’ve ever seen. It’s beautifully written with many illustrations and examples. In addition to general math information, Steiner philosophy and Waldorf education philosophy, the book includes chapters dedicated to each grade, 1st through 8th grade with detailed information on the methodology of teaching math, specific examples to complement the text as well suggestions on how and when to teach particular math concepts. This book is rich with insight and information. The author conveys a deep understanding of math in general and specifically for its application in Steiner schools. If you have no other book on math, this one would be adequate for writing your own math curriculum. It works perfectly to accompany a Waldorf curriculum and would be a wonderful addition to any home library for those who have a passion or interest in mathematics…. Though I use it as a reference book, I think it’s definitely worth reading cover to cover.’ – Pepper and Pine
Hawthorn Press has republished this book as a second edition. It was originally published in 1998 as Teaching Mathematics in Rudolf Steiner Schools for Classes 1-8.
