Big Ideas Learning’s Math & YOU Curriculum Approved by California

As part of California’s thorough adoption review process of K-8 mathematics instructional materials, Big Ideas Learning's instructional program, California Math & YOU K-8, has successfully been approved by the State Board of Education. Courses approved include California Math & YOU Grades K-5, 6-8, Algebra 1, and Integrated Math 1. This key decision will carve a new path for students’ learning opportunities in the state of California.

California Math & YOU K-12 is a new curriculum published by Big Ideas Learning that uses the new California Mathematics Framework as its guidepost, focusing on cultivating students’ deeper understanding and application of core concepts of mathematics. Lead author, Dr. Ron Larson, reflects on his authoring journey, “From the beginning, my purpose for California Math & YOU K-12 was to bring the California Mathematics Framework to life and help students see how math connects to the world around them. I incorporated the Environmental Principles and Concepts and meaningful, real-world data throughout each grade level. To support teachers, we also included insights from California educators like Nick Lopez, who helped guide the development of the California Math & YOU teacher experience.”

California Math & YOU is a comprehensive and research-backed program with lessons that follow clear learning progressions and promote deep conceptual understanding. The Standards for Mathematical Practice are embedded throughout, encouraging students to explain their thinking, model with mathematics, and persevere through challenges. With a strong focus on problem solving, California Math & YOU helps students from kindergarten through high-school build confidence, think critically, and engage in purposeful learning. Big Ideas Learning’s California Math & YOU program includes rich features to help all learners achieve learning growth, while providing teachers with the instructional strategies, tools, and resources to guide student learning.

Students begin every chapter of California Math & YOU by exploring a Big Idea, an activity designed to help students connect key mathematical concepts to real-world applications and interdisciplinary topics. Connecting Big Ideas tasks enable students to apply the big ideas over multiple chapters to explore and solve engaging tasks in authentic contexts.

Each lesson of California Math & YOU starts with an Investigate activity that puts students at the center of a mathematical task that engages them in working collaboratively, asking questions, making conjectures, and discovering relationships, all while building their conceptual understanding. Authentic applications and real-life data are embedded in the Connect to Real Life and Connect to Data tasks in each lesson. Beyond this, Careers are featured in each chapter of California Math & YOU Grades K-8, enabling students to see the relevance of mathematics and apply their learning and higher-order thinking to a Performance Task connected to each Career.

Dr. Courtney Nagle, Vice President, Teaching and Research, at Big Ideas Learning describes unique features of the California Math & YOU teaching environment. “The California Math & YOU teaching experience provides support to empower California educators to facilitate meaningful, collaborative discourse to build a shared understanding of mathematics. Talk About It, Math Talk, and Data Talk notes found in the Teaching Edition provide prompts to encourage students to explain and justify their reasoning and share their thinking with their classmates.”

Additionally, Dr. Nagle points out that every lesson of California Math & YOU K-12 provides teachers with a Supporting the Mathematical Practices: Lesson Facilitation Guide which highlights opportunities to fully engage students in one or more SMPs with detailed prompts to help support students in their use of the mathematical practices.

Matthew Totzke, C.E.O. of Big Ideas Learning, remarks, “Together, the student and teaching experience offered in California Math & YOU K-12 provides a cohesive and high-quality learning environment that supports students’ deep and connected understanding of the big ideas of mathematics. We have taken further steps as an organization to develop instructional content that encourages conversations, collaboration, and meaningful dialog to promote student’s thinking and understanding of mathematics.” In doing so, Big Ideas Learning is carving a new path in bringing mathematics to life for students across the state of California.

Nick Lopez Biography:

Nick Lopez, M.A.Ed., is a K-8 Mathematics Specialist in Central California, with extensive classroom teaching and math coaching expertise. His inspiration stems from leadership efforts to improve the mathematical experience for all students so that greater opportunities for students' success in math abound. Nick has served in several leadership roles within the California Mathematics Council on the Section and State Boards, including the Central Section Vice President.

About Big Ideas Learning:

Big Ideas Learning: a Larson Texts Company, founded in 2008 by Dr. Ron Larson—an award-winning and influential math textbook author—has been at the forefront of educational publishing. With over 35 million copies of Larson’s titles sold in the U.S., his impact on math education is profound. Building on Dr. Larson’s legacy, which began with his first edition of Calculus in 1978, Big Ideas Learning publishes rigorous, relevant, and conceptually rich K-Higher Ed mathematics programs. Our vision is to shape a future where education transcends boundaries, curiosity is nurtured, and individuals are inspired to dig deeper.