Thanksgiving contest winners 1

I have had a fantastic turnout to my Thanksgiving contest - nearly 110 entries! Thanks to all that participated!

I have spent a lot of time reading the responses, and there are some among them that are just jewels - people's testimonials of how Math Mammoth has helped the children or even saved the entire homeschool.

In fact, while reading through, I decided to cast aside my earlier rules about the number of winners, and so there will be MORE winners than what I announced originally.

This post is about the results for the category 2: Give your excuses for not using Math Mammoth yet -- because these were simply easier to judge. Category 1 winners will be published soon after this.

I hope you will enjoy reading through the entries.

TOOT TO DOO DOO!

1st Prize: $50 credit to get Math Mammoth books

There are two winners.

1. Robin G.

Excerpt from her entry:

... Finances have been very tight for us -- at times nonexistent! My husband suddenly became ill at the beginning of this year and has been unable to work since then. Thankfully, he had short and long-term disability insurance through his now former employer. We do have an income each month, but it is significantly less than when he worked (and even that was much lower than most people consider it possible to live on!). We sold our house in September and have been trying to build another one debt free with the help of friends and family. It is a very small one room cabin style house with no electricity, simply because we cannot afford it. Now we do not have a house payment (and are currently living with my parents until our cabin is ready), but my husband's health insurance and medical expenses total more than our house payment was. I do not want to seem to be complaining, because we know we are very blessed. Right now, we simply cannot afford to buy homeschool curriculum. ...

Read this entry in its entirety

2. Shawn Orton

This year my class is struggling kids,
Whose math has never been the best
Their current book is full of words,
That put comprehension to the test.

One glance at the book, they're overwhelmed!
They need to learn in smaller bites,
But to create the worksheets they would need
Would take many of my days and nights.

And there's the bane of teachers all,
The school does not provide the means
To purchase supplies we feel would help,
And are wallets already are sadly lean.

To my rescue, will you come?
With green or gold books for middle school,
I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best,
To win would definitely be really cool.

2nd Prize: $30 credit to get Math Mammoth books

Again, two winners.

1. Anna Odle was full of questions. Here's a sample of them:

1. I am happy with my 1st graders curriculum and his ability to do it. Is your curriculum a supplement? Or is it complete on it own, or perhaps both are true? I did not see if there was a teacher's book to go with a students work. If I download the book do I get the whole thing, or am I just downloading sections of the program?

2. My 3rd grader does not claim to enjoy math and struggles with the amount of work he is expected to do each day. He does not like to copy problems, which he does in his current book. I can see that your downloads would eliminate the need for him to copy his own work, he would just be filling in worksheets. But do I need a different book from the Blue Series for him or does it cover all 3rd grade material? It seemed like a couple of books overlapped the 3rd grade level. Where do I start with him?

3. ...
Read her entry in its entirety

2. Kalyani made a chart of opposing and promoting thoughts that I thought was very original.

The devil...	The angel...	The result? Me thinks...
Indian math is supposed to be good, right? What makes me think Math Mammoth will add more value?	I've grown up studying Indian math. It is good but I had a tough time coping. I don't want my daughter to go through any of the math-phobia I had (and still have). I want material that looks fun, that patiently builds concepts, and that is smart enough for her.	Let me think about it a little more and decide...
There are tons of free worksheets on the internet why am I thinking of spending money (paying in dollars!!) to get some?	Thats what I've been doing so far search and search download whatever I can manage to get and serve it up to my daughter. Is this random selection doing her any good? One day she has a problem set too tough for her level the next day it is a breeze not at all challenging.	May be I should spend just ten minutes more and search a little longer... maybe there is a good worksheet site I'm missing... ..maybe...
I've never bought anything from overseas on the Internet. Can I do it? Will it work? Will I mess it up horribly?	That's a real concern. But I have to do it some day!	Maybe when I feel a little more brave and adventurous. Let me first check with my Bank if my credit card will work for this.

Read her entry in its entirety

3rd Prize: $20 credit to get Math Mammoth books

Here we have several winners. Their entries are posted below.

I am NOT a formal math teacher; rather, I am a regional instructional technology facilitator so do not directly teach children. I do, however, often teach technology integration to math teachers who seem to me to be in a rut, constantly trying to perk their students who are not so interested.

I usually provide activities, links, and hot lists for these teachers via the eight school districts technology directors, my home district math coordinator, and my web site. I do have a budget, but it is generally taken by salaries for my assistant and myself, travel to the large ends of my coverage area, and supplies and logistical purchases. I never have the luxury of buying specific things for my region.

I think math is important enough to be a major concern to us all. Your products might be a tool I can use to reach teachers to acquire for their classrooms and schools if they are of that much interest to them. Since I do know good instruction and hope I am able to recognize good or great materials, I would like to receive copies of the title series for pre-algebra and first algebra so I can present them to math teachers in my region for their evaluation.

Sincerely,
David Cox

Ok,
I suppose I should enter the contest.
I contemplated it.

But, I decided I'd enter it as much as I promise myself to research which package I'm going to buy.

I am economical minded. I want the best and most for my money. Therefore, I want a package deal. I go to the page for package deals. I decide I want the one that comes with free bonus Soft-Pak.

Then, I wonder which package Light Blue? or the blue, golden, or green and then I see the the Blue series, the Golden series, and the Green series books for 100!

However, I don't see a side by side comparison chart. Just a list. I'm confused. I wish there was a chart to indicate what books are in each package for comparison. I also need to figure out what 5-A from the light blue series is.

That's it. My time is up and the kids need instruction. The math book like I used in school is working for them. I return to using it. I will come back later and chart what workbooks are in what package and what workbooks cover the same topics. I will take time to read more of the emails. Perhaps I should buy a workbook to see the quality of the book too. 100 bucks is a lot to spend. I need time to research it.
However, I never make it back to make a chart that compares the series.

I end up still using the same old school text books.

That is why I haven't bought. I'm still trying to comparison shop and understand each program. I think a online chart would help. Which series goes over addition, fraction, money, etc...
Is there any comparison between the series?

However, it is time that keeps me from buying or writing a real winning entry for Thanksgiving Contest. It might be a better program for my kids.

Fawn

Dear Maria,

I have never used a Math Mammoth book. I have used some of the free samples online, though! And, each time I go through the free samples, I vow to order the whole download of all the books! I love the visuals the worksheets include. I love the suggestions for teaching concepts. When I plan a lesson and use these worksheets, it is always successful. I really love everything about Math Mammoth yet; I still have not purchased the download.

I teach special education and my students are in 6th and 7th grade. Their math skills vary from adding single digits to beginning algebra. Math Mammoth could help me met each of their needs individually. Math Mammoth could make me a more successful teacher. Math mammoth could make math make more sense to my students. Yet, each time I decide to order Math Mammoth, my personal budget will not allow it. And, our school budget is frozen due to the state of California’s budget crisis.

Until the day I can actually order Math Mammoth, I am thankful that some free worksheets are available to me. Thank you Maria Miller, and one day, I will use all the Math Mammoth books.

Sincerely,
Janice Giglio, Special Day Class teacher

Dear Maria

I am very impressed by your work and inspire to do such a program in mathematics at my own end.

But unfortunately my family and professional commitments bar me to do so and I regret for doing nothing inpite of knowing the dire need in my country.

Maria, in Pakistan we have a very low literacy rate and public school conditions are far from pathetic, what about the students and their learning.

We are developing items for conceptual understanding of concepts in English, Mathematics and Science. Your website has been a great source in helping developing questions for facilitating difficult concepts and terminologies.

Maria I would like to extend my profound gratitude in creating such a website where free material is available that helps individuals to benefit in the most ethical and moral manner.

We have developed a booklet for prospect teachers (who are unaware of such items) so that they gear themselves and also acquaint to the creative ways of questions and answers.

Thank you a bundle and look forward to your comments/suggestions . This will be very beneficial in development of more material (support and self-explanatory).

Regards
Bina Nadeem

Dear Maria,

CONTEST or NO CONTEST I am delighted to share my views on your Math Mammoth workbooks & worksheets.

Let me be frank with you that so far I couldn't buy your books despite all my willingness. Reason being simple, I am in Yemen and I don't have a CREDIT CARD to buy your books on line.

As far as series are concerned, I would love to go for all the series: Blue, LB, Golden & Green. This I am saying based on the content displayed on your website and some free downloads that you offered in the past. They are really amazing.

Back home in India, I have recommended this site to many of our friends & teachers and they might have used your resources for teaching and learning maths for their kids.

In my case I happen to download your free workbooks for our kids and they were so excited to do the worksheets. My children are in class -1 & Class-3 and I really miss the complete sets for them.

I myself have been an outstanding student throughout my school & college years and math used to be my choicest subject.

Your course materials & the collections of sums are really interesting & exciting for the kids specially during their formative years. The prices of the books are also quite reasonable.

You're doing an outstanding work in this area of spreading learning through mathmammoth. I really appreciate and would recommend all your books & WSs for every parent & the children.

I am trying to get an INTERNATIONAL CREDIT card in Yemen through which I will be able to buy your books on-line and once I get it, I will buy all your sets on the very first opportunity for my kids.

They love your WSs.

Thanks & best regards,

Udal Ram
Republic of Yemen.

Dear Maria,

I would really like to enter the contest for one (or more) of your Mammoth Books. I like all of them, but especially the light blue books. I have been especially impressed by the variety of concepts and activities that I have seen in the samples, and your explanations of these concepts are excellent.

Why can't I buy your Mammoth Books? I am a Religious Sister. I belong to the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate. A Religious Sister takes vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. This means that we have no money at our disposal, nor do we use credit cards, which generally excludes me from ordering ANYTHING from the Internet. I would receive permission to purchase materials if I could use them in my assigned work and had gift certificates or vouchers. If I were to win this contest, I feel that this would greatly help my ability to teach various levels of mathematics, and have a source of supplemental materials to support the curriculum in place in the school I work in.

Thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity, even if I shouldn't win. I think it is very generous to give those of us who for some reason are unable to purchase your materials a possibility to acquire them.

May God reward you,
Sister Valentine Curry

Besides these, I decided to grant a bunch of $10 prizes (entries not published here).

Winners will receive an email about how to claim their prize.

Dividing decimals

I feel students need to get grounded conceptually in this topic. So many times, all they learn about decimal division are the rules of how to go about decimal division when using long division, and it becomes an "empty" skill - a skill that lacks the conceptual foundation.

So for starters, we can do two different kinds of mental math division problems.

1. Division by a whole number - using mental math
   
   Here it is easy to think, "So much is divided between so many persons".
   
   0.9 ÷ 3 is like "You have nine tenths and you divide it between three people. How much does each one get?" The answer is quite easy; each person "gets" 0.3 or three tenths.
   
   And... remember ALWAYS that you can check division problems by multiplication. Since 3 × 0.3 = 0.9, we know the answer was right.
   
   0.4 ÷ 100 turns out to be an easy problem if you write 0.4 as 0.400:
   0.400 ÷ 100 is like "You have 400 thousandths and you divide it between 100 people; how much does each one get?" The answer is of course 4 thousandths, or 0.004. Check: 100 × 0.004 which is 100 × 4/1000 = 400/1000 or 0.400 = 0.4.
   
   Here are some more similar ones:
   
   0.27 ÷ 9
   
   0.505 ÷ 5
   
   0.99 ÷ 11
   ...and you can make more, just think of the multiplication tables.
   



2. Division where the quotient (answer) is a whole number
   
   This time it helps to think, "How many times does the divisor go into the dividend?" In these types of mental math problems, the answer ends up being a whole number. (Of course the teacher has to plan these problems just right.)
   
   For example, 0.4 ÷ 0.2. Ask, "How many times does 0.2 fit into 0.4?" The answer is, 2 times. So 0.4 ÷ 0.2 = 2. Again, we can check it by multiplying: 2 × 0.2 = 0.4.
   
   Other similar division problems to solve mentally:
   
   1 ÷ 0.5
   
   3 ÷ 0.5
   
   0.09 ÷ 0.03
   
   0.9 ÷ 0.1
   
   2 ÷ 0.4
   
   1 ÷ 0.01
   
   ...and so on.
   

This decimal division lesson taken from my Decimals 2 book illustrates these two kinds of mental division problems.

Towards the general case

After the student is familiar with the two special cases above, we can go forward and study decimal division problems in general. Even here, we will divide the problems into two classes, depending on whether the divisor is a whole number or not.

1. The divisor is a whole number.
   
   For example, 3.589 ÷ 4 or 0.1938 ÷ 83. These can simply be solved by long division as they are. Just put the decimal point in the same place in the quotient as where it is in the dividend.
   
   The "stumbling block" may come when the division is not even (this also leads into the study of repeating decimals). Generally, you can continue the division indefinitely by tagging zeros to the dividend, such as making 3.589 to be 3.589000. Then when you've continued the division as long as you wish (or as long as the book tells you to do it), cut the decimal off at a desired accuracy and round it.
   
   Typical problem in a textbook would say, "Do 2.494 ÷ 3 and give your answer with 3 decimal digits." For this, you need to do the long division until the fourth decimal digit - so as to be able to round to 3 decimal digits. Since 2.494 does not have four decimal digits, you tag a zero to it to make it have so (2.4940).
   
   Fortunately, this process is not generally difficult. It's the second case that's more of a problem.
   
   



2. The divisor is not a whole number.
   
   Here, we do something quite special before dividing, and turn the problem into one where the divisor is a whole number. Then, the actual division is done like explained above.
   
   I say this is special, because this special thing that we do is based on a very important general principle of arithmetic:
   
   If you multiply both the dividend and the divisor by some same number, the quotient won't change.
   
   Let's see it in action with some easy numbers:
   
   1000 ÷ 200 = 5
   
   100 ÷ 20 = 5
   
   10 ÷ 2 = 5
   
   Each time both the dividend and the divisor change by a factor of ten, but the quotient does not change.
   
   We can also try it using a factor of 3 (or any other number):
   
   8 ÷ 2 = 4
   24 ÷ 6 = 4
   72 ÷ 18 = 4
   
   Let's try one more time, with a factor of 2:
   
   30 ÷ 6 = 5
   
   15 ÷ 3 = 5
   
   7.5 ÷ 1.5 = 5
   
   3.75 ÷ 0.75 = 5
   
   H hopefully by now you have convinced the student(s) of this principle. Now we can apply it to those pesky decimal division problems.
   
   
   
   
   This image shows how the decimal division problem 0.644 ÷ 0.023 can be changed into another problem, with a whole number divisor, and with the same answer.
   
   In each step, we multiply both the dividend and the divisor by 10. This, of course, is the same process as moving the decimal point.
   
   Many textbooks only show the student the "trick" of moving the decimal point... but don't show him what that idea is based on.
   
   An example
   
   To solve 13.29 ÷ 5.19, we need to first change the problem so that the divisor 5.19 is a whole number. We multiply both the dividend and the divisor by 10 as many times as needful to accomplish that:
   
   13.29 ÷ 5.19
   = 132.9 ÷ 51.9
   = 1329 ÷ 519, and now off you go to do long division... I'm not saying it's the easiest long division problem in the world, since the divisor is 519. Let's try an easier one.
   
   
   2,916 ÷ 0.02
   = 29,160 ÷ 0.2
   = 291,600 ÷ 2 and now you can do the long division.
   
   Of course, in reality you can also multiply by 100 instead of taking two steps of multiplying by 10. But students can start out by multiplying by 10 as many times as needed.
   

Please also see the lesson on dividing decimals by decimals, from my Math Mammoth Decimals 2 book.

Off-Road Algebra

Here's an algebra resource that should interest (at least some) boys: Off-Road Algebra is a unit-study that revolves around the world of off-road motorcycle racing. The lessons fit pre-algebra and algebra, or approximately 9th grade.

For each of the 30 lessons, you view a video, then solve a problem. You'll also get printable explanations and solutions to all problems.

Glancing over the problems, they seem to cover a wide array of topics, such as miles per gallon, velocity, slope of ramps, GPS coordinates, decibels, acceleration, turn angles, lap times, and so on.

Off-Road Algebra

And it's all free (sponsored by Learning.com and Aha!Math) - so thanks, HotChalk and Learning.com!

Decimal multiplication

This is a tough topic... in a sense. It is not difficult at all, if you just follow the rule given in your math textbook, because the rule is pretty straightforward:

• To multiply decimal numbers, multiply them as if there were no decimal points, and then put as many decimal digits in the answer as there are total in the factors.

The difficulty is only if you try to understand why we have such a rule - where does it come from?

Understanding the rule for decimal multiplication is actually fairly simple, because it comes from fraction multiplication. But, I will propose here a little different way of explaining all this.

First, look over this decimal multiplication lesson that is taken from Math Mammoth Decimals 2 book.

It talks about how 0.4 × 45 is like taking 4/10 part of 45. The same applies if you have 0.4 × 0.9 - you can think of it as taking 4/10 part of 0.9.

Can you see now why the answer to 0.4 × 0.9 has to be smaller than 0.9?

Or, turn it around: 0.9 × 0.4 is taking 9/10 of 0.4, and so the answer has to be smaller than 0.4 (slightly smaller).

Thinking this way, it shouldn't be a big surprise that 0.9 × 0.4 equals 0.36. (The student needs to have a solid grasp of decimal place value prior to this so he can immediately see that 0.36 is smaller than 0.4.)

Now, once your student is comfortable with this idea (as explained in the lesson), then you can proceed on with the explanation based on fraction multiplication. See, we're taking it one step at a time!


Comparing fraction multiplication and decimal multiplication
(I have not yet written a lesson about this for my books, but will do so for the Light Blue 5-B.)

Remember, decimals are fractions.

Let's take an easy example first.

0.5 × 0.7 is solved with fractions like this:

(5/10) × (7/10) = 35/100 = 0.35

Notice the denominators 10 and 10 got multiplied to produce the denominator 100 for the answer, and so the answer written as a decimal has two decimal digits.

Another example:

0.384 × 2.91

= (384/1000) × (291/100)

= (384 × 291) / (1000 × 100)

= 111744 / 100000

= 1.11744

The denominators 1000 and 100 have as many zeros as as you have decimal digits in the number. The denominator of the answer is 100,000 — with 5 zeros — so the answer as a decimal has five decimal digits.

One more time:

0.45 × 1.3

= (45/100) × (13/10)

= (45 × 13) / (100 × 10)

= 585 / 1000

= 0.585

So... when you write decimals as fractions, the denominators are powers of ten that have as many zeros as there are decimal digits in the decimal number. When you multiply, those denominators get multiplied, and you get another power of ten that has as many zeros as there were in the factors. That, in turn, translates being a decimal number with as many decimal digits as there were decimal digits in the factors.

(In case you don't know: powers of ten are the numbers 10¹, 10², 10³, 10⁴, 10⁵, and so on. Written without the exponential notation these are 10; 100; 1000; 10,000; 100,000; and so on.)

Thanksgiving contest

I feel very thankful for my book sales, for every one of them. So thank you, all my customers!

As a token of appreciation, I thought I'd host a little contest along these lines. I'll call it Math Mammoth Thanksgiving contest. Participate, and you may win some of my books!

Now, I will make you work a little for it, because this is a writing contest. You enter the contest by answering the question below.

There are two "categories": one for those folks who have already used Math Mammoth books, and another for those who haven't. Either way you can participate.

The writing prompts are as follows.

1. You have bought and used Math Mammoth books before:
   
   Tell me your experience with the books, good or bad. Mention which book or books this is about, explain how you used them, the kids/students age or grade, their past "math experience", and how did the teaching and learning go.



2. You have never used a Math Mammoth book:
   
   Explain WHICH book or product interests you most (see the website). Then explain in several sentences the reasons and factors that keep you from buying it at this time. In other words, give your "excuses" for not buying. You can explain how much you perhaps love your current math curriculum, cite economics, and so on. Just let your fingers fly on the keyboard!

I will choose the winners based on the BEST RESPONSES on the day after Thanksgiving, and then email the winners. Some of the winning entries will also be posted online on this blog.

Since these are downloadable products, I won't limit the winners to one. Instead, there will be TEN winners in each category. That'll give you a good chance to win, I hope!

Each winner will get to choose Math Mammoth books for free, worth the specified amount below.

• Two winners - choose books worth $50.


• Three winners - choose books worth $20.


• Five winners - choose books worth $10.

Please use my contact form to enter the contest. Remember, the deadline is the Thanksgiving day, or November 27.

Voting begins for Homeschool Blog Awards

The polls are up and ready for the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards. There are 24 categories. My blog has been nominated for the "Best Curriculum or Business Blog" category.

You can go vote following this link.

Honestly, for me the biggest value in this is not actually the idea of competing for the awards, but the fact that I can donate prizes. (That has marketing value... more people find out about my books.)

But anyhow, it's a fun contest and gives us all lots of good blogs to check out!

A story of a teacher and a boy

You may have read this story before, but I got it today in an email from a friend. It's a good one to pass along! (And sorry, it's not math related... just a real good story. It's fiction, but could be true - and is well worth reading.)

The 5th Grade Teacher

As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she Told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and Said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big 'F' at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... He is a joy to be around...'

His second grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.'

His third grade teacher wrote, 'His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken.'

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, 'Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class...'

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's' laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, 'Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.'

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded.

By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her 'teacher's pets.'

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer, the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, 'Thank you
Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.'

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, 'Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.'

(For those of you who don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

******
Warm someone's heart today. Pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it.

Just try to make a difference in someone's life today? Tomorrow? Just 'do it'.
Random acts of kindness, I think they call it!

Math Mammoth Grade 5-A Complete Worktext

Finally! Grade 5-A is available for the LightBlue Series (the complete curriculum series). The part A of 5th grade focuses on

• multi-digit multiplication and long division
• simple equations
• problem solving
• place value with large numbers and the judicious use of a calculator
• all operations with decimals
• statistics and graphing

Please see the table of contents and samples for a complete lesson list, and read more info here.

Another problem solving book

I know there already exist books that teach problem solving and contain lots of word problems. Well, there is a new one on the block, now: Solving Math Problems by John R. Dixon. It contains math problems with extremely detailed solutions for middle school, high school, and (some) for college level.

He's made available a superb collection of samples from his book. Each sample has three completely solved problems. There's a sample file for pattern recognition problems, counting problems, word problems, optimization problems, and fun or "recreation" problems.

Even if you're not planning to buy any math books, I encourage you to check his samples and read them through, just for your own learning (and of your students). It isn't often that one finds such detailed expositions on how to solve word problems.

I'm a firm believer in the "apprentice" principle, when it comes to learning problem solving. In other words, one of the best ways to learn to solve problems is to observe an "expert" doing so. (This is why I've often solved word problems here on my blog.) These example solutions can be very enlightening to parents and teachers who might not had much opportunity to witness the thinking that goes into solving even simple problems. For those who can solve word problems easily, such thinking seems to come easily and becomes automated. But for others, it doesn't, and so reading up well-written detailed solutions can help you.

In fact, it would be even more enlightening to witness and expert problem solver solve a problem from scratch and follow his thinking through the incorrect solution paths, as well. You know, all of us, when solving a problem, might (or will) start working on the problem and go down a path that will eventually be a dead end. Good problem solvers monitor their progress on a "meta" level, and "turn back" from those dead ends when they notice them to be so - and try to take a fresh approach.

All too often, youngsters simply give up when such happens! Wrong solution paths are valuable as well. They're just about inevitable when you tackle a non-routine problem!

The book is offered as a softcover for $19.95 and as a download (ebook) fo $9.95. The author claims it's written for middle and high school math teachers, but I feel he shouldn't market it that way — the book has a lot of value for us parent-teachers as well!

Multiplication family group

The information below is from another Maria, namely MariaD from NaturalMath.com. I'm posting it here with her permission, as it might interest some of my readers.

Hello!

My name is MariaD, and I love multiplication. Natural Math is starting a research and development family group about this topic. You are cordially invited! Please forward this invitation to other families who may want to join.

There are three main benefits. You receive individual family math coaching. You access a community of other parents sharing questions and ideas. And you contribute to a beautiful and much needed web resource for the future. There are two main responsibilities. At least weekly, you will run custom family math activities you select. As needed, you will talk with me or other group members about your activities. We can talk by email, chat, voice, or face-to-face in Cary, North Carolina, USA. At this early stage, we need active group members. If you plan to be a quiet fly on the wall, please wait until the next round of development. Time estimate is that the group will provide your family at least an hour a week of math and community activities.

Multiplicative reasoning is the capstone of arithmetic: it ties all the parts together. It is the cornerstone of algebra and the basis of pattern thinking. It is also one of the most badly taught areas of math. People spend a lot of effort and many years on times tables, division, fractions, and proportions. Still, many struggle with these multiplication topics for the rest of their lives. I am a strong believer in multiplication. A kid who "gets" multiplicative reasoning will probably be just fine with algebra and math in general. Based on this faith, I've spent more than twelve years collecting, researching and creating multiplication-related lore.

My collection includes psychology of multiplication. It explains why 7*8 and 6*7 are hard to memorize without gimmicks, or how doubles relate to our innate sense of health, beauty and order. There are tidbits about multiplication from histories of many cultures: Ancient Greek music of the spheres, and medieval Chinese secret finger codes for trades. The collection has a lot of modern children folklore. It includes rhymes, finger tricks for times nine and all times tables beyond five, silly pictures and jokes. There are all kinds of contraptions: abacuses, mirror books, bead strings, and Napier bones. There is software: powerful Excel, or small applets for a kaleidoscope, a snowflake creator, or a base two calculator. There is cutting-edge as well as classic research: hundreds of articles, conference presentations and books. Some of these are actually useful, but most are ever read by just a handful of academia people. Speaking of which, there are also people in my collection! Among our contemporaries, there are parents, researchers, designers, and writers who love multiplication, too. This collection of multiplication stuff, and people, can help us start.

I envision a "multiplication planet" map, connected by a web of many paths. Each family can start at a different entry point, depending on their goal. If you want to memorize times tables in three hours, your will probably trek through algebraic shortcuts, memory tools and work with patterns. If you want to have rich, deep experiences connecting many human endeavors, you will also visit algebraic shortcuts. But then you will travel to geometric explorations, history-centered projects, or psychological experiments. If you want arts and crafts, you'll head for drawing, cutting, or computer animation activities. This first stage of research has five main goals for the map.

1. Develop and find major multiplication activities to put on the map. As all Natural Math activities, they will be centered on creating something.
2. Develop paths between activities, following each family's travels.
3. Find out what kinds of families use each path, and for what. Use this knowledge to start a guide for new families joining us.
4. Find out what support people need in their journeys.
5. As we do all of the above, plan web tools that can help us do it better.

Please contact me if you are interested.

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Cheers,
Maria Droujkova, PhD