How the Brain Learns Mathematics

To reach all your math students, use your brain—and theirs, too!



The bestselling and award-winning first edition of How the Brain Learns Mathematics quickly revolutionized math teaching and learning. The second edition takes readers to the next level with new brain-friendly strategies backed by the latest research from education and neuroscience and even more ways to seamlessly incorporate what you learn about your students’ developing minds into your math classroom.



In this essential resource, you’ll discover the cognitive mechanisms involved in processing mathematical operations, while exploring the environmental and developmental factors that create learning difficulties. How the Brain Learns Mathematics also presents a unique and simplified four-step teaching model that relates students’ classroom experience to concrete, real-world applications. Features of the new edition include





More strategies for motivating adolescentsIntegration of the arts into mathematics instructionNew information on how technology affects attention and memoryExpanded sections on number sense and ELL instructionMore than 160 new references and a greatly expanded index for readers’ convenience



No matter what grade you teach, your students are growing and changing. Understanding how their brains work is the key to reaching every one of them—and making math a positive part of their lives for years to come.

"David Sousa’s book is a wonderfully readable presentation of how neuroscience and cognitive psychology can inform the teaching of mathematics in elementary and secondary schools. Sousa engages his readers intellectually with recent research on the brain and mathematics learning, and avoids pat answers where the evidence is suggestive rather than conclusive. The book is a valuable text for teachers who want a deeper insight into thinking processes behind the learning and teaching of math."



—Robert E. Slavin, Director, Center for Research and Reform in Education

Johns Hopkins University





"Teaching mathematics without having read this book is like trying to master tennis without a coach. Sousa′s book is a tour de force: It builds a solid bridge from cognitive neuroscience to daily classroom practice. Every teacher of mathematics will benefit from this well-researched, well-organized, thoughtful, and practical approach to making math instruction align with how brains learn."



—Spencer Kagan, Publisher/Professional Developer

Kagan Publishing and Professional Development