Reasoning and Proof Process Standard

The process standard Reasoning and Proof is a standard that starts very young and continues to grow throughout the school years. A students reasoning expands and they grow and learn more. Reasoning is basically a way that can help students make sense of math. Most people remember proofs as in geometry. However, proofs should be involved in a student’s curriculum besides just geometry alone. Reasoning can become a habit and it must be used consistently in order to be developed and used.

Students need to see by an early age that everything in math happens for a reason. It is very beneficial when students ask questions like "why?" or "How does that happen?". By answering these questions for your students you can let them see why they are doing math and how it actually works.

It is important for students to make mathematical conjectures. This allows students to ask questions and figure out reasoning. Younger children often work best by exploring their conjectures through more concrete materials. However this works well for all students as well. It also works well when students can work together with one another and talk about their different conjectures and explanations. This helps students understand things that they may not have before. When students are younger their explanations for their conjectures will be very simple. However as a student gets older their reasoning should become more complex. By high school students should be able to explain their reasoning in written form. When students get older their reasoning's involve more mathematical terms and concepts.