Reasoning and Proof - The Process Standard

The reasoning and proof standard asks students to be able to do simple things we all really do every day. Asking children questions throughout their mathematical learning is important step in helping them fully understand the problem that is set in front of them. They have to explore deeper and analyze all the evidence. Systematic reasoning is a building block of mathematics and is used at every age. Students learn a lot about mathematics through discovery. Everyone uses informed guessing without even thinking about it and students put it to good use when they apply it to examples and previous knowledge. Teachers can also feed of this guessing by asking students to recall back to their earlier math learning and expand their knowledge to a whole new level.

Once students have figured out the answer to a problem they need to be taught to look even deeper into that problem. Instead of asking for the answer ask how the problem works the way it does and if it always works that way. Given students a reason for math will make it easier on them to understand instead of knowing something happens "just because." As children get older, their arguments and ideas should get stronger. Students should work cooperatively as a class to develop strong mathematical reasoning and a good classroom environment. Lastly, as students get older, they need to be introduced to many types of mathematical forms and situations. With all kinds of different ideas they will become more fluent in learning math and why specific things happen the way they do.