My Philosophy on Teaching Mathematics:

In my opinion, children need to develop a strong basis in mathematics in order to achieve a greater understanding for the use and applications of numbers in everyday experiences.

When teaching a new topic in math (regardless of the topic) it is important to introduce it using a concrete model, which is usually in the form of a math manipulative.  After the students have become familiar with the topic using the concrete model, they should be ready to move on to a pictorial model, which usually involves an algorithm.  The final step when teaching a topic in math is to present the symbolic model, which uses the numerical symbols.

Children, as well as adults, learn difficult concepts more thoroughly when the ideas are presented many different times and in different ways. By having students proceed from a concrete model to a pictorial model and finally to a symbolic model, we help to ensure that students of all different types of learning styles and levels are given an opportunity to discover and learn the subject matter in a way that is comfortable and suitable for them.