Schoolwide News

If you ask mathematicians what they do day-to-day, they'll tell you that they explore patterns, tackle previously unsolved problems, invent new worlds of mathematical ideas, and play around with puzzles. Today's mathematicians identify phenomena related to numbers, space, time, or other ideas, imagine how these ideas interconnect, and attempt to prove or disprove conjectures they formulated based on these phenomena.

This contrasts sharply with our perception of math in schools. Traditional school math has generally focused on arithmetics – the four operations and their broader applications. Math education historically emphasized teaching children formulas to perform these operations fluently and accurately. This approach was critical from the early 1900s until the 1980s, a time when proficiency in calculation was essential since humans were our only calculators.   

However, technological innovations have changed the math-related jobs of the present and future. Your children learn math differently than you did because of these technological and societal changes. The jobs of today and tomorrow demand critical and creative thinking skills, as well as flexible thinking and the innovation of new ideas and technologies. Contemporary math classrooms are, therefore, prioritizing the development of these essential skills.

To foster creative and critical thinking in math, we provide students with spaces to explore and manipulate numbers, shapes, and patterns. Take multiplication, for example. In my third and fourth-grade classes, I was taught to memorize the multiplication table and the standard algorithm and then to use this algorithm to solve increasingly complex multiplication problems. We continue to teach these skills today because they are fundamental for understanding multiplication and its applications, but we also go deeper. Beyond the standard algorithms, our methods also encourage students to grasp different perspectives on multiplication—such as grouping equal sizes, creating area models, and exploring patterns with prime numbers. By investigating and comparing these various patterns, students gain a deeper understanding of multiplication, knowing when to apply it, and acquire the mental tools necessary to make confident numerical decisions.

EAB has a strong vision for our students' future: "To positively impact the world through excellence in academics, activities, arts, leadership, and service."  Achieving this vision is only possible by helping students cultivate their critical thinking skills, which are crucial for making a positive difference in the world.