A Standards-based K-5 Curriculum
Math Out of the Box® is a K-5 mathematics curriculum and a companion professional development program for teachers under development in the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University and published by Carolina Biological Supply Company. The program’s overarching goal is to fulfill the mathematical promise that exists in every child by providing teachers with innovative materials, a mathematically challenging curriculum, and high quality professional development.
Math Out of the Box is considered to be standards-based, research-based, and inquiry-based. A standards-based curriculum can be recognized by the inclusion of mathematics for all students, the inter-connectedness of processes and concepts, the connection to big ideas of mathematics, the continuous building of foundational ideas vertically through the grades, and the thoughtful identification of representations that build intellectual engagement. Research-based curricula are those that are based on the body of knowledge that defines how students learn and how teachers teach. In addition, research-based curricula add to this body of knowledge in a continuous cycle of research and revision. Math Out of the Box is an inquiry-based curriculum in that it is designed so that students construct their own knowledge under the guided instruction of a teacher who has experienced similar knowledge construction.
