Cuisenaire Rods

When I was little, my mom brought home a box full of curious little pieces of wood in bright colors. These would help me learn math, she said. I didn’t see how, but they were fun to build with. As skeptical as I was, I gave them a try, and you know what, I actually did learn math. You see, each piece of wood represents a different number. The number one block is white, and it is one centimeter square. The number two is represented by a piece that is 2 centimeters by 1 centimeter, and is red. When you … Continue reading →

Learning Wrap-Ups

I first discovered Wrap-Ups when I was about eight. My mother found them in a school supply store and brought them home. We were all thrilled to find a math tool that could help us master the horrible, terrible world of math, for that is how we viewed it at the time. My sisters and I were all homeschooled, and we took after my mom in that math did not come easily to us. But with the Wrap-Ups, we were able to overcome some of those mental blocks and learn the concepts that we needed to learn. Wrap-Ups are key-shaped … Continue reading →

Mental Math

This weekend I downloaded an incredible math book. If you’ve ever heard your teens say, “Why do I have to do math? I will never use this in the real world!” Then listen up. Have you ever heard of Mental Math? Mental Math is using a series of tips and tricks that will allow you to perform various calculations in your head. One of the best features about using Mental Math is the ability to truly understand what math is all about (including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and percentages) and discovering the ability to perform these tasks in your mind. … Continue reading →