Years ago my math minded husband told me that math is a language. He suggested I teach it as I teach English and show the children that equations were simply math sentences which require proper form and grammar. Not being a math minded person, I nodded my head and smiled not really understanding what he was talking about. As I learned to become a better math teacher I soon learned what my husband was talking about. With my new understanding of how to teach and apply math in a real world sense and beyond the classroom, I started to look for math materials to support this method of teaching. One such resource I found is Arithmetic Village.
Arithmetic Village is a series of story books which creatively introduces a child to basic math concepts and promotes mastery understanding of such concepts. The concepts explored are number value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. A child is taken on a journey with adorable characters collecting jewels and learning all about math. The books included in the complete set are; Arithmetic Village, Polly Plus, Linus Minus, Tina Times, and King David Divide. The first book gives an over view of the characters and basic math concepts. The next four books focus on one concept in a creative and fun way which leads to mastery understanding.
The rhythm and rhyme of the books makes it delightful to read and easy to remember. The illustrations are lovely and quite appealing to children. The math concept is nicely explained through the use of a character collecting jewels. The jewels serve as your math manipulative as your child sees precisely how to add, subtract, multiply or divide through the character’s adventure in Arithmetic Village.
These books are a long lasting purchase. This is not a bedtime story that will get lost in between Cat in the Hat and The Giving Tree for weeks at a time. You will use this book as a story, to teach a concept and to spark the imagination of your child. There are so many great activities and games to enhance the books. There are suggestions on the site and so many more you can tailor make for your own children. Who doesn’t love a good treasure hunt? You can make a fun day exploring math while searching for jewels!
Being a Christian I picked up on an unintentional concept within the books. The jewels collected by the characters are given to the King. The King dispenses jewels kindly to his kingdom. The books teach a sense of giving and sharing. I loved being able to read the book and relate them to my faith.
From the author:
“Arithmetic Village is a simple math program created for all children of all religions and all cultural backgrounds so they may be gently introduced to math concepts. The characters represent their respective math functions. If you find similarities of characters and symbolism with your religion or philosophical viewpoints, that is pretty cool, but that’s not the author’s intention.”
-Kimberly Moore
These delightful books will make a wonderful addition to your bookshelf. However, I doubt they will stay on your bookshelf for very long. The books are so much fun to read and even more fun to use as a jumping off point for activities. My Kindergarten student was so thrilled with the books that we will be doing a week long study for each book during our book focus time on my personal blog.