What is the Kids’ Quadrant?

The Kids’ Quadrant is a blog for parents who wish to cultivate their children’s mathematical literacy in ways that are natural and fun. Some parents love mathematics and are excited to introduce their children to the world of numbers, shapes, and patterns. Others want their children to have a better experience than they did, but don’t know where to begin. This blog is for both types of parents, and everything in between.

Who is the author of this blog?

My name is Amy, and I am a math education professor at a large university in the mountain west. I am also the mother of a young toddler who is at the cusp of his mathematical journey. I have much to share with him and with you – and much to learn!

I have a doctorate in mathematics education from the University of Michigan, and I work primarily with future elementary teachers. We spend our class time exploring the math we learned as children, and talking about how young children learn, view, and sometimes struggle with these ideas. I am familiar with research and have done research of my own, but my career is about putting research into practice.

What will you find on this blog?

The Kids’ Quadrant contains a variety of posts – please explore and find what is interesting to you! Content on this blog includes:

• Concrete mathematical activities you can do with your children, often with little advance planning.
• Big principles for interacting with your child around mathematics, in order to cultivate powerful mathematical reasoning and a positive attitude.
• Descriptions and explanations of the basic mathematics your child is learning, which is often more complex than we adults realize.
• Reviews of math-related children’s books and ideas for engaging your children in conversations about the math.
• Descriptions of research on how children think about mathematics – and suggestions about how to replicate the experiments with your own child!

This is not a site for flashcards and drills. There may be a place for that, but my goal is to help you to incorporate mathematical ways of thinking into everyday life; to help you help your child find genuine delight in numbers, shapes, and patterns; and to help you as a parent to feel confident learning right along with your child.

What ages are the blog posts geared toward?

Currently, this site is primarily geared toward young children (preschool and toddler). However, many of the big principles also apply to older children, and even teenagers. In the future, I hope to expand this blog to meet the needs of parents of older children as well.

Join the Conversation!

Feedback is welcome! If you have topics you would like to see me cover, resources or articles you’d like to share, or stories about doing math with your own children, please send them to kidsquadrant@gmail.com.