Juanita Copley, Ph.D.

General Session Presentation

Beyond Cute:  Making Conceptual Connections between Mathematics and the Young Child

Young children are amazing thinkers and they love to investigate, explore and learn mathematics.  As early childhood teachers, we need to be intentional about the materials we use, the connections we make between concepts and skills, and the activities we facilitate.  In this session, participants will be introduced to appropriate activities in number and geometry, literature connections for the “fourth read,” and classroom examples through video-clips and children’s work.

About Juanita Copley

Juanita Copley, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston and recently served as a Consultant for National Head Start Bureau in Washington DC, working with their mathematics initiative for young children.  She was the Co-Principal Investigator for a 2.6 million dollar DOE grant for the professional development of more than 800 Early Childhood Educators.  Dr. Copley has written and edited five books about early childhood mathematics, four that were co-published by the National Association for the Education of the Young Child (NAEYC) and the National Council Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).  She received the E.Glenadine Gibb Award from the Texas Council Teachers of Mathematics as the “Outstanding Mathematics Educator” in 2008 and the “Teacher Educator of the Year” in 2001 from the Texas Association for the Education of the Young Child.  She has also served as a mathematics consultant for a PBS series involving Curious George and His Adventures in Mathematics as well as Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.