"Once in a while, a very long while, there emerges a book about the  

education of young children which has the power to transform how teachers  teach. Children’s Mathematics: Making Marks, Making Meaning is such a book

and it comes not a moment too soon.

      For far too long educators have seriously under-estimated the challenge posed to young children by symbol systems. The authors highlight the parallels between the development of literacy and numeracy through children’s graphicacy noting that the latter is more difficult to chart. The development of children’s early literacy has become increasingly well documented over the past thirty years [written in 2008] yet the symbol system of mathematics has been far less well explored. The authors’ journey of discovery begins exactly where it should, at the very beginning, with an exploration of graphicacy, the primary symbol system which is all too often underdeveloped in practice yet from which the other two must grow. At long last this void in research has been addressed and this book provides practitioners with the wherewithal to nurture young children’s introduction to mathematics and ease the transition from informal to formal mathematics in a way that is consistent with how they learn... " Branwen Llewelyn Jones.  

For the full review, please click on the first link below: