Laying the Foundations of Numeracy.

The article discusses a comparative study on the mathematics textbooks used in primary schools in Great Britain and continental countries like Switzerland, and Germany. It shows that mental arithmetic was given priority than pencil-and-paper methods in the Continent, while vertical layout is more common in English textbooks. The teaching of two-digit number puts emphasis on complete numbers as a whole in the Continent, while English teaching focuses on dissecting numbers based on place value.