Math facts for many students, including myself when I was in elementary school, is anxiety producing. A worksheet filled with 30+ problems is hardly engaging either. A focus on number sense and viewing math as patterns helps students to get into math rather than fear it.
“Sometimes we focus on memorizing math facts instead of understanding math facts” – Geoff Dean
“Math is about pattern finding” – @youcubed out of Stanford
Check out this research article from Stanford concerning math facts and alternative ways to have students be fluent without timed math tests:
“When we define mathematics as the study of patterns, it’s great to reinforce this in everything we do, and these puzzles are constant reminders of this definition.” – Fawn Nguyen
“All of these things are hidden from kids and they just think if I just memorize them I will be good to go” – Annie Fetter
