Math

Math-U-See is a fairly new Math program, designed especially for homeschoolers, which runs from Kindergarten all the way through high school. The author is a former high school Math teacher who has attempted to balance a solid conceptual understanding of math with enough practice to let it "sink in." The program consists of a student text (workbook format), a teacher's manual, and optional practice sheets, special Math-U-See blocks and a teacher training DVD. I am very impressed with this program.

These beautiful wooden blocks are about 1/8th of an inch thick and come in six different shapes (each shape is a different color).They can be fitted together to make beautiful patterns and designs. We've been using them for many years and they've been a hit with every one of my children. They're fun and beautiful and promote fine-motor skills, eye-hand coordination (intricate patterns can be too frustrating to really young children) and visualization and thinking skills.

"A Pre-K to Kindergarten Math Readiness Workbook for Catholic Children."

This is a charming Counting Book with a colorful two page spread for each number from zero through twelve. The pictures show the beginnings of a town. For zero, you see a snowy field with a river running through it. The next page has one house built, one snowman, one person skiing, one pine tree, one crow, one dog, etc. Each month another building is added as more people come to the town. Young children, who often enjoy small details in pictures, can find how many things on each page can be counted up to the same number.

I've really enjoyed using Ruth Beechick's suggestions in this little booklet for introducing Mathematics to my young children. I think she does an excellent job of explaining how children learn and understand Math. She also lays out a very natural way of encouraging an interest in Math. This little booklet, which can be read rather quickly, also includes activities for learning Math from Pre-K through 3rd grade! In Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, Laura Berquist recommends using this book for Kindergarten.

Audio tape designed to help children with some addition "math facts" and with skip counting as a preparation for multiplication further down the road. Simple songs are sung without accompaniment to familiar tunes. The tunes are rather catchy and we find ourselves regularly singing them around the house. (Such as the "9s" - 9, 18 and 27, 36 and 45, 54 and 63, 72 and 81, nine of them, round the sun, make their orbit one by one, nine of them, round the sun and counting them is fun). One side of the tape includes all of the songs sung by a simple tenor voice.

I have long been a fan of the poems for two voices books by Paul Fleischman. This book puts a twist on the idea by covering math topics in poems. It's a really unique and engaging way to memorize a math concept, reciting it as a poem. A poem for two voices is a poem recited by two people where sometimes the same words are said in tandem, sometimes alternately, and sometimes, the speakers speak at the same time saying different things.

This book is very good at what it does. However, you have to read the introduction to find out what it does. It is NOT a math textbook. And it is NOT a math program. You'd have to be a real geek to read it cover to cover. This is full of 1 (sometimes 2) page math things of all sorts. Little vignettes into the world of math. As such it introduces the reader to a number of things that he might not otherwise encounter. In fact, I am an engineer (lots'o'math) and I saw new and interesting things in here! Some of these are little games (answers in the back).

What fun! Doing Simple Math in Your Head compiles all sorts of amazing mathematical tricks into one diaper-bag-sized book, ready for those odd moments spent in waiting rooms and restaurants. Have you ever needed to figure a tip quickly, without resorting to writing on the napkin? Have you ever wondered how others can convert fractions to decimals so quickly? Have you ever worried that your receipt was not computed correctly but didn't have a calculator available to check it quickly?

If you're looking for a way to liven up your math program or to bring in some painless math review you have to pick up this book. Catholic Math Activities provides dozens of math games that children actually enjoy playing and almost all of them only require dice and simple home-made material. The author makes use of children's interests by revolving the games around things such as baseball cards and animals. What really pleased me about this program is the clever way our Catholic faith was brought into these games.