Number Sense and Number Nonsense: Understanding the Challenges of Learning Math

How do children learn math—and why do some children struggle with it? The answers are in Number Sense and Number Nonsense, a straightforward, reader-friendly book for education professionals and an invaluable multidisciplinary resource for researchers. More than a first-ever research synthesis, this highly accessible book brings math difficulties into clear focus, helping educators and psychologists get inside students' heads so they can devise the best way to help children learn.

Clinical psychologist Nancy Krasa and middle-school teacher Sara Shunkwiler combine their expertise for an eye-opening exploration of how the brain works during the many complex facets of math learning. Readers will gain a complete, research-based understanding of what it means when students struggle with

• understanding relative values
• comprehending spatial configurations
• reading and writing numerals or other symbols
• mastering arithmetic facts or algorithms
• deciphering word problems or fractions
• paying attention, tracking information, planning ahead, or thinking flexibly and critically
• reasoning abstractly and arguing logically

Educators will improve their math instruction with the classroom examples and helpful samples of student work, and psychologists will effectively evaluate math learning problems with the assessment guidelines and clinical case illustrations.

With this in-depth guided tour of essential math skills and the difficulties students may encounter with each, education professionals will gain the insight they need to turn number nonsense into number sense for children who struggle with math.

Get an inside look at topics covered by the book with this free author webinar

Nancy Krasa, Ph.D., is a practicing clinical psychologist with more than 25 years’ experience in psychological, neuropsychological, and psychoeducational evaluation. She has served on the adjunct faculties of the colleges of medicine at Cornell University, New York University, and The Ohio State University. Dr. Krasa is a member of the International Dyslexia Association and has published articles in the fields of psychiatric and psychoeducational diagnosis. She received her bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Smith College and her doctorate in clinical psychology from New York University. She and her husband live in Columbus, Ohio, and have three grown children.

Sara Shunkwiler, M.Ed., taught middle school at Marburn Academy, a private school in Columbus, Ohio, for bright children who learn differently. She is currently teaching Pre- Algebra and Algebra in a public school setting and has worked with many students who have varying degrees of math difficulty. Prior to entering teaching, she was an engineer, a career she chose when she placed third in a schoolwide algebra contest and discovered she was “good at math.” Her team won the state competition, and the three women on that team went on to graduate at the top of their engineering classes at The Ohio State University. Ms. Shunkwiler also earned a master of science degree in ceramic engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For 12 years, she worked as a product development and test engineer with General Motors and received three United States patents during that time. She left engineering to share her love of mathematics and science with students in the pivotal middle school years, and she earned a master of education degree in middle childhood mathematics and science education from The Ohio State University. She and her husband, also a ceramic engineer, live in Frederick, Maryland, with their two teenage sons.