The Stenhouse Blog

In Deanna Pecaski McLennan’s kindergarten classroom, math isn’t limited to a specific block of time. It’s built into the environment and inseparable from everything her young students do.

All of the math in author Deanna Pecaski McLennan's instruction is infused with a sense of exploration, wonder, and joy. And in her new book, Joyful Math,  she shows us how to do the same by creating invitations for young children to engage with math ideas through art, literacy, and outdoor play. She focuses on building spaces in early childhood classrooms where children see themselves as mathematical thinkers with valuable ideas from the very start. 

In this piece, teacher and parent, Grace Choi, gives us some creative ideas on how to help kids enjoy and succeed in reading at home. This is the first installment in the new blog series brought to you from the editors at Stenhouse Publishers, One Thing You Might Try . . .  

The banner across the top of the Stenhouse website reads “for teachers, by teachers.” This has always been Stenhouse’s tagline, but more than that, it is our core belief. We believe in creating a space for teachers’ voices. And while perhaps this doesn’t seem like a particularly radical idea—that teachers have ideas, practices, and expertise worthy of listening to, in our current environment it sometimes does.

In this episode of Teacher's Corner, we talk to the author of the new book, Joyful Math, Deanna McLennan, and the author of Early Childhood Math Routines, Antonia Cameron about how to nurture a curious and joyful early childhood math community. Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

It's the National Day on Writing® organized annually by the National Council of Teachers of English(NCTE)! And to help them celebrate we are aiming the spotlight on these wonderful titles that are packed with ideas on ways to enhance your writing instruction. Take a look.

October has become notorious among educators for being a particularly challenging month. If you tend to feel that way, you're not alone. So we wanted to give a list of titles that will keep you inspired and motivated, while engaging your young learners. And you can apply any of these ideas to in-person, remote, or hybrid instruction! Take a  look.

In this episode of Behind the Book, JoEllen McCarthy talks to author, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow about her children's book, Your Name is a Song. Watch to discover what inspired Jamilah to write this popular book and what she hopes students and teachers will learn from it. 

"Together let's connect our students to the stories, the people, and the possibilities for learning on and off the page of their books."

~JoEllen McCarthy

Deanna Pecaski McLennan, Ph.D., is a full-day kindergarten teacher based in Ontario, Canada and the author of the new book Joyful Math: Invitations to Play and Explore in the Early Childhood Classroom  and was recently awarded the 2020 Prime Minister Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM.

"What we can do with all of the worries and stress people are having is reframe it, and think about how this might be a chance to re-envision how we do a lot of things."

These are tough times. It's understandable that we would feel tested while we just try to make it through each day. Thankfully Lisa Lucas has some ideas and techniques we can use right away to help reframe our thinking and become more responsive than reactive.