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The mathematics program at the Arthur Morgan School is based upon the belief that students develop their own understanding from their experiences with mathematics. In order to give students this kind of experience, we employ curriculum that is organized so that students continually solve problems that contain important mathematical concepts and skills and that apply to situations relevant to their life here at AMS and in the greater world.This kind of organization is quite different from other philosophies, which require students to learn by first observing a teacher demonstrate how to solve a problem and then practicing that method on similar problems.
We believe that students' perceptions about a discipline come from the tasks or problems in which they are asked to engage. For example, if students in a geometry course are asked to memorize definitions, they think geometry is about memorizing definitions. If students spend a majority of their mathematics time practicing paper-and-pencil computations, they come to believe that mathematics is about calculating answers to arithmetic problems as quickly as possible. They may become adept at quickly performing specific types of computations, but they may not be able to apply these skills to other situations or to recognize problems that call for these skills.
On the other hand, if the purpose of studying mathematics is to understand concepts and procedures and be able to solve a variety of problems, then students should spend most of their mathematics time solving problems. If time is spent solving problems, reflecting on solution methods, examining why the methods work, comparing methods, and relating methods to those used in previous situations, then students are likely to build more robust understandings and strategies, and to view mathematics as a valuable tool for making sense of and solving interesting problems.
In addition, because we are fortunate to live in a spacious and diverse environment, math skills are exercised within our natural surrounding: inside and outside school buildings, in the kitchen, the garden, our workshop, and elsewhere.
Students work collaboratively to solve problems as well as individually to work on specific mathematic goals, related to their own level of understanding. The textbooks we currently use, Connected Mathematics for 7th and 8th grades, and Core-Plus Mathematics for 9th grades, emphasize the same philosophies that guide our overall curriculum and each program can be accessed online for specific information: www.connectedmath.msu.edu and www.wmich.edu/cpmp.
Students who are enrolled in the Arthur Morgan School for all three years most often graduate with a credit in Algebra 1, even though our curriculum is integrated to include both geometry and algebra standards. Some students have received honors-level credits for their work or have worked independently with a staff tutor to meet their individual needs.
