This was a great, albeit quick, read. I really enjoy books with suggestions for math games and integrating them into real life. Although none of my kids hate math, I like to find ways to make it a part of their day, and I appreciated the various suggestions this book made. I also thought that the author's idea of breaking the book into various sections, including one actually explaining to defunct parents how to handle things like word problems, algebra, geometry, etc would be very helpful. (It certainly made me feel better to retain most of the information, LOL!)
I finished the book last night, and this morning put one of the suggestions to use on our upcoming vacation. Although I had already been planning to have the kids help me map out our destination, I took it a step further and had my seven year old "measure" (using both string and a ruler) the distance from Pennsylvania to Disneyworld, and then try to determine whether it was shorter to bypass Atlanta and the trip to Grandmommy's house. (Luckily, the two came out about the same! Of course, we would have stopped anyway...maybe...) Tomorrow, we'll take it a step further and determine that if we travel 50 or 75 mph, how long will each leg of the trip take us? I am hoping that this will help remedy part of the problems with traveling, as well. Of course, the best part was that my 7 year old had been struggling a little with adding three and four digit numbers - or several three and four digit numbers - and carrying, but she performed brilliantly when math was in action!
We also found a fun card game, "My Ship is Sailing," that I have never heard of before but that my 3, 5, and 7 year old all enjoyed playing.
Anyway, this short brag on my (brilliant!) children was primarily to show how well math can be integrated into our daily lives. This book is sure to spark off various creative ideas in your minds, as well, especially since it take the time to give various age-appropriate suggestions throughout the text.
The book was simply and clearly written, and things such as communitive and associative properties are spelled out. The point was made that, while a child's geometric proof may take longer than the "fastest" response the teacher determines, we should remember that finding the solution is the goal most of the time, not being the fastest or shortest (although there are times for both). In short, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to parents whose children are struggling in math - and those whose children are not!
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