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Bringing out the algebraic character of arithmetic

by Analúcia Dias Schliemann, Analucia D. Schliemann, David W. Carraher

"Bringing Out the Algebraic Character of Arithmetic contributes to a growing body of research relevant to efforts to make algebra an integral part of early mathematics instruction, an area of studies that has come to be known as Early Algebra. It provides both a rationale for promoting algebraic reasoning in the elementary school curriculum and empirical data to support it. The authors regard Early Algebra not as accelerated instruction but as an approach to existing topics in the early mathematics curriculum that highlights their algebraic character. Each chapter shows young learners engaged in mathematics tasks where there has been a shift away from computations on specific amounts toward thinking about relations and functional dependencies. The authors show how young learners attempt to work with mathematical generalizations before they have learned formal algebraic notation"--Jacket.