For years, educators have believed that very young children were not capable of learning math. But a new book finds that children in public and private preschools, including Head Start and other programs aimed at low-income children, should be spending much more time receiving high quality math instruction. Reporters can request a copy at from the Office of News and Public Information.

The report is a terrific starting point for journalists who are interested in how math is taught for young children. It concludes that activities around math should include mathematical reasoning, measurement and spatial thinking, and suggests that teachers receive professional development to help implement a strong early childhood math curriculum. Teachers College experts Sharon Lynn Kagan and Herbert Ginsburg contributed to the report. Ginsburg developed an early math education program called "Big Math for Little Kids,'' that he is now evaluating, and has long pointed out that most preschools either don't teach math or instruct children in a narrow range of math content.

Journalists who visit early childhood programs should ask about math instruction and ask to see a curriculum or for an explanation of what concepts are being taught and why. According to Ginsburg, "...there is a growing consensus that early childhood math education is not only necessary....but should be comprehensive. It should include play with materials and objects that set the stage for math learning, teachable moments, in which teachers in which teachers observe kids in spontaneous situations that can be exploited to promote learning; teacher-guided projects of complex topics—like figuring out how to create a map of the classroom; and deliberate instruction using a planned curriculum to actively introduce math concepts, methods and language. This curriculum is not, of course, a textbook, but a carefully sequenced set of exciting activities. "