This year teachers are working with educational consultant, Nancy Norman, to improve mathematics instruction.
Much of the learning is being done around the math strand of ‘Number Sense and Operation Sense”  

What is Number Sense?
“Number Sense, like common sense, is difficult to define or express simply.  It refers to an intuitive feel for numbers and their various uses and interpretations.
Number sense also includes the ability to compute accurately, flexibly, and efficiently, to detect errors, and to recognize results as reasonable.

Good number sense is also recognizing the relative magnitudes of numbers and establishing referents, or benchmarks, for measures of common objects and situations in their environments. 

People with number sense are able to understand numbers and use them effectively in everyday living."

Helping Children Learn Mathematics (page 138)

• In Kindergarten, children should develop number sense about numbers to 12.
• In Grade 1, children should develop number sense about numbers to 20.
• In Grade 2, children should develop number sense about numbers to 100.
  
• In Grade 3, children should develop number sense about numbers to 1000.
• In Grades 4 & 5, number sense should continue to be developed with larger whole numbers as well as with new types of numbers - fractions, decimals, percents and integers.

What is Operation Sense?

Operation sense is a compete and flexible understanding of the operations that are used to combine and separate numbers.

• In grades K-2, children should develop their operation sense for addition and subtarction.
• In grades 3 - 5, children should develop their operation sense for multiplication and division, focusing on the meanings of and the relationship between multiplication and division as well as connections between these two operations and addition/subtraction.