Ulteriori informazioni
Informationen zum Autor Peggy Kaye Klappentext At a time when the poor math performance of American school children has labeled us a "nation of underachievers!" what can parents--often themselves daunted by the mysteries of mathematics--do to help their children? In "Games for Math! Peggy Kaye--teacher extraordinaire and author of the highly praised "Games for Reading--gives parents more than fifty marvelous and effective ways to help their children learn math by doing just what kids love best: playing games. I N T R O D U C T I O N How to Use This Book Games for Math has three parts. Parents of kindergarten children should pick from games in Part One, which are geared to a young child’s brand of logic. For first-graders, you can pick any of the games in Part One and most of the games in Part Two. With second-graders you can play any game in the book without exception. Each game is, in any case, labeled with suggested grade levels, so you needn’t worry about remembering which part is for which grade. Of course, you shouldn’t regard grade levels as a rigid rule. You have to observe how your particular child fares with a given game. Sometimes that you’ll notice a game seems too easy. No problem. Playing a certain number of easy games is a good idea. Games that are too easy give children a chance to review. Children can make big educational gains by going over work they already know. Obviously, though, if you play too many easy games your child will lose interest. Pick a harder game, then, and see how the child reacts. If your child makes a lot of errors, you’ll know the game is too hard, which is no good. Children learn more math and enjoy math more if they play games that are a little too easy rather than a little too hard. So if you end up with a game that’s too hard, gently switch to something easier. You don’t have to play the games in any particular order. With grade levels in mind you can skim through the book and start where you want. You might play multiplication games before adding games, or geometry games before counting games—it makes no difference. One point does make a difference, however. You must pick games that seem like fun for you and your child. Refrain from games that don’t entertain. I’ve tried to include activities for all tastes—board games, card games, puzzles, even collages and cooking instructions—so it should be easy to find something that appeals. The games are suited for every time schedule. There are talking games that take no preparation and can be played in a minute or two while you set the table or ride in a car. Other games take as long as fifteen minutes to get ready and half an hour to play. The game preparations are do-it-yourself, but the doing isn’t hard. The equipment you’ll need for most of these games is paper, pencil, index cards, paper clips, pennies, playing cards, dice, and an occasional bean or noodle. Games for Math has some limitations. The book doesn’t pretend to offer a complete math curriculum. Important topics like fractions aren’t broached. Numerical estimation and certain other topics are addressed only in passing. Which is to say, the book is designed to help you back up a school math curriculum, but it can’t replace that curriculum. Nor can the book tell you how to do your own private tutoring of a child who is floundering (though if your child does receive private instruction, at school or at home, you might want to discuss math games with the tutor and pick activities to reinforce what the tutor is doing). Should you play games with your child every day or once a month? Should you play during the school vacations and not during the school year? Should you play a favorite game over and over or try new games each time you play? Should you read all the games in the book or skim around until one of the games catches your fancy? Should you avoid a...
