Dreams Part I

I have been remembering some of my childhood dreams. I just need to reminisce. When I was younger, Chinese and Korean children would go to Saturday school. Why can't African Americans have Saturday school too? What do you think?

Families are the First Teachers

I just finished reading the chapter Families, the First Teachers of Claudia Zaslavsky's book "Fear of Math." The main point that I agree with very much is, do not let your children know you have any apprehension of math! Now maybe if you have a story about overcoming math fears that is great. Or you admit there is a lot you don't know but you want to learn it along with the child, okay too. But please, please, please don't say things like 'I never did well in math kid you're on your own.' If you can calculate fractions and percentages when you are at the store this is great. If you are good at art and drawing geometrical figures, great! How about doing simple math in your head, even better! Zaslavsky attributes her math know-how to working in her parents' clothing store. She loved to manage the store by herself. These types of things give children the confidence they need to succeed.

Side note: We went to see the movie, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" this past weekend. It is very different from the book and I have a spoiler here. So if you have not seen the movie you may not want to read this part. A young scientist whose town and father do not understand him tries to create inventions. One invention turns water into food, hence the movie title. The machine, that is placed in the sky, goes haywire. The scientist saves the 'killcode' to a flashdrive and flies up to save the world. But he loses the flashdrive. He calls his father and asks his dad to go to his lab that his dad has never entered, get on his computer, and email the code to his cell phone. Of course his dad is dumbfounded. How many of us would be dumbfounded or know someone who would be? Of course the world would not be about to end if we didn't do anything.

Magic Squares for Kids

I'm in love with magic squares. I wish I had done more of these as a child. I worked with my 6 year old daughter on an example problem from Claudia Zaslavsky's book 'Math Games & Activities from Around the World.' This problem involves two imaginary young boys in West Africa. One boy, Ahmed, is challenged by another boy to play. His game board is a square divided up into nine boxes. He has 45 pieces to play. He can place 1-9 pieces in each box but can not play a number more than once. Each row and column must add up to 15.

Have your child finish it.