A Literary Math Resource List
New Year's 2003 -- Due to some 'off the cuff' remark I made about
math, someone asked me off-list to 'recommend a math curriculum' for their
math-challenged child and below is my response. I used to write frequently about my 'literary approach to math' because Emp is
very gifted in science but really pathetic at math. I had to invent my own approach. I generally called it a 'literary approach' to math.
A number of people with kids with similar issues asked my advice a
lot, some years back, and I developed a reputation for being the 'answer
person' for kids with this same "Science Genius/ Math Idiot" profile.
The woman wrote me and asked because I had made some comment about being in
my 30's and taking college statistics before I discovered that all those
formulas they teach you in Algebra, Algebra 2, and Adv. Alg/Trig actually
have a use in life -- other than torturing dutiful high school students
(like ME) with 2 hours of homework every night. I memorized my way through
4 years of math in junior high and high school (the above list plus
Geometry) and I knew Tigger would never make it that way. I figured he had
to see The Big Picture FIRST and then learn where the details fit into it.
I bought A Tour of the Calculus
specifically because he hated math but loves
physics, and calculus is the math you use with physics. So I bought this
conceptual calculus book to get him interested in math. He loathed math
after all of his frustrations and confusion trying to learn math in school
and just not 'getting it', the way it is approached in public school. So
one of my top priorities was to undo his hatred and fear of math. This book
did the trick for him and made him more open to learning math. He will
NEVER be some kind of math genius. But he no longer just cries about it
either. He deals pretty well with the high level conceptual stuff, not so
well with having to put in numbers and actually work formulas. However, I
consider the whole experiment an overwhelming and resounding Success. I am
very pleased with how well my 'homemade math curriculum' overcame a very
serious handicap for my gifted/LD child.
I hope this does not intimidate you: I did not use a curriculum. I
invented a whole new approach, that I call 'a literary approach to math' or
'conceptual math'. I began collecting 'literary' books on math: books full
of words that explain, rather than formulas and problems that only seemed to
mystify Tigger. I concluded that my son needed to understand the big
picture first, then worry about details like how to work the silly formulas.
We tried algebra before and it always failed and left him in tears because
he was too 'lost' in math in generally. This time around is sinking in
better, but going slow.
We took the entire fall off from 'working problems' and simply assigned him
'literary math books' to read and that was IT. No working problems. No
quizzes. No 'proving' he knew anything about math. A few weeks (now
'months') ago, Tigger began bouncing around me announcing things like "I
finally understand why zero times anything is still zero. I knew it was a
rule but I never knew why. And that made me feel stupid." and then he
regales me with his new-found understanding of the concept. It is
thrilling, after the many fights and tears.
Some of the books we have used (or, at least, have bought):
The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure
Start with THIS -- it is FUN and had concepts in it I
had never heard of. We did it as a read aloud like 3 years ago. Proviso: A
friend of mine, whose son needs very concrete stuff, did not like this at
all. But many gifted kids just love it.
The Great Mathematicians probably not yet read
Math Magic Excellent -- put this on your 'must have' list. This book strikes me as someone else's made up rules for math, rules that seem to help some people better than the rules we traditionally learn in school.
The Mathematical Tourist Another I highly recommend, but I think Tigger
has not read it, his V-S brother has and was pretty enthusiastic -- but I
cannot really tell you what it is about, since I did not read it with him.
Math on Call Appeals to the visual-spatial type and was bought for
Tigger's V-S brother.
A History of Pi Can't say if this is good or not.
Everyday Math for the Numerically Challenged Again, I haven't read it and
can't tell you about it.
How to Lie with Statistics 'MUST HAVE'--we all read it together and they
have each reread it alone and we talk about it a LOT.
Five Equations that Changed the World 'Must Have' for my physics geeks,
who really got into this.
Algebra Unplugged Tigger got a lot out of this one -- it is a 'literary'
explanation of algebra, rather than formulaic or 'math'-type approach
Painless Fractions Excellent book. My boys got a lot out of it.
Painless Algebra Can't say how successful this was.
Cliff's Quick Review Algebra 1 Mine, a reference for looking up
definitions and stuff.
Algebra the Easy Way Highly recommended on Tagmax, bombed when we tried
it 2 years ago. A friend of mine says that her son, who needs really
concrete examples did great with this book. My kids are doing better the
second time around -- when Mom can find the time to sit and READ it to them.
They are NOT doing it independently, in spite of being teenagers. Sigh
A Tour of the Calculus Bought specifically because Tigger is a big fan
of Physics and calculus is the math for Physics. This was The Key to
convincing him that math might be interesting and useful and began turning
around his attitude. It had the enormous bonus of making my head hurt -- I
dropped out of calculus at age 18 and Never Wanted To See It Again, So Long
As I Lived! Tigger would do a whole hour with me -- which might be only 4
pages of reading and lots of discussing the concepts together -- just
because this was the only math that hurt me more than it did him! LOL. It
is pretty high level. I only recommend it if your kid is into physics and
you need a 'hook' to get him interested.
The Cartoon Guide to Statistics The first few chapters of this covers
what I learned in my required college class 'intro to statistics'. The rest
is way over my head! We also have 'The cartoon guide to physics' and
both editions of 'the cartoon guide to history'. I still would like to pick
up 'the cartoon guide to genetics'. If you are homeschooling a gifted kid,
you MUST get hold of a few of the cartoon guides. The cartoons make them
kid-friendly but they are not in the least bit 'watered down'. One proviso:
there is a smidgeon of off-color humor. If you are sensitive about such
things, preview it. If you think he is too young, wait a while. But make
sure this is on 'the menu' before he 'graduates'!
Mathsphere This is the website where I
printed off our 'math dictionary' -- the site has lots of other good stuff
and my kids enjoyed exploring tangrams and stuff. See also Mathsphere Homepage
Software:
Operation Neptune Out of print, but can still be gotten second
hand and you MUST get this, if you can, IMO. This is one of the few things that appealed to both of my kids, one of whom is kind of good at math and one of whom sucks at math and used to be math-phobic. They have different learning styles -- one of them is V-S, the other is kinesthetic and auditory -- so, frequently, what works for on doesn't appeal at all to the other. So, it seems to have broad appeal and covers pre-algebra stuff.
Pit Droids Set theory -- it teaches by example but has no instruction, mom will have to supply explanations of set theory and sit with the kid a few times and relate set theory to what they are doing in solving the puzzles. But another 'must have', in my opinion.
Also, we have some McGraw Hill math workbooks. I used these sparingly. For
math practice, I mostly used 'grade level' software, like Sixth Grade Adventures. My little one would sit and play 'ping pong' on some software of his for an hour. I would walk past and say "I will not give you credit for ping pong if it is just addition. Do multiplication ping pong if you want me to count this as 'schoolwork." They will never be math geniuses, but they got the basics down.
We also used k'nex for math manipulatives. You can order educational lessons to go with the k'nex. They are really good. I always intended to order more and never got around to it. www.knex.com and click on 'k'nex education'. Or you can use other math manipulatives. There is lots of good stuff out there that I never got around to trying. This just happens to be what we used.
Studyworks is another good software program. And it covers up to TRIG, if
I recall right (maybe higher)
For Logic: I have used Zoombinis, Lemmings, Lemmings: The Tribes, and Myst. Lemmings is similar in some ways to Pit Droids and the type of thing they teach sort of overlaps. But Pit Droids is specifically intended to teach 'set theory' (again: with the proviso that Mom or Dad actually has to EXPLAIN set theory because there is no formal instruction, just lots of repetition of increasingly complex 'sorting' of sets and subsets to solve the puzzles.)
I got a lot of stuff from cruising the bargain tables. Most people don't seem to read math books for fun and I picked up a number of math books for very little, like Five equations that Changed the World and History of Pi.
There is plenty of good stuff out there, including websites, books, manipulatives, etc. Just skip the 'text books' for now. We do have a college algebra textbook somewhere from when my husband too algebra and we have used that and will again. I also explain stuff off the cuff at great length.
Well, this has been fun. Three years or so ago, I used to get asked 'when I was going to write a math book'. Somewhere, I have a paper file with old math e-mails. I kept them so I can someday write that Math Book everyone kept begging me to write, way back when. Thanks for the nostalgic trip back in time!
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Free Curriculum on the Web
The Math Files
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