Helen will talk about the importance of early numeracy and why assessing, teaching, and developing tools to foster and sustain numeracy development in the early years are necessary. Then Julie will talk about the development of the NyKK-5, including what inspired its development, the process of working with teachers to refine the kit, and the usefulness of the Concordia-Lester B. Pearson partnership in promoting it.

Bios:

Julie Houle is a pedagogical consultant in elementary mathematics for the Lester B. Pearson School Board in Montreal, Canada. She worked as a classroom teacher at the elementary level for 13 years and moved into her role as consultant in 2018. Following a workshop she attended on early numeracy in 2018 led by Helena Osana, Julie was inspired to create a toolkit based on the research in children’s numeracy to provide teachers with accessible and concrete activities to support their classroom teaching. Through a funded partnership with Concordia University in Montreal, Julie designed and constructed the Numeracy Kit for Kindergarten 5-year-olds (NyKK-5). Since the creation of the NyKK-5, Julie has been involved in research with colleagues across Canada to validate the kit and investigate its impact on teachers’ classroom practice.

Helena Osana is Professor of Education at Concordia University in Montreal. She received her PhD in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and has academic training in mathematics, mathematics education, and cognitive science applied to education. Supported by grants from external agencies, her research focuses on children’s numeracy and problem-solving strategies, as well as the pedagogical factors that support their mathematics learning.