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Use the search filters below to return results. Keep an eye out for some of my top favorites-- my "BookSmart Picks"-- that are sure to entertain and educate your kids! And, many activities use common materials you likely have at home already. Look for entries marked with the "Common Items" icon to find activities that shouldn't require any purchase.
Melia is a determined inventor, always trying to improve upon her inventions. Jo is her new neighbor who loves singing, dancing, painting, and designing. At first when Jo comes by she seems to only interfere with Melia’s work, frustrating Melia. But then Melia sees that Jo is also solving problems and improving her inventions, just in her own way…
Melia is a determined inventor, always trying to improve upon her inventions. Jo is her new neighbor who loves singing, dancing, painting, and designing. At first when Jo comes by she seems to only interfere with Melia’s work, frustrating Melia. But then Melia sees that Jo is also solving problems and improving her inventions, just in her own way. They both grow to see the value in approaching problems in different ways, and decide to work together on projects they both enjoy, creating a solid friendship along the way. In the back there are even instructions on creating one of Melia and Jo’s projects. This STEAM book is a great way not just to introduce STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math), but also to encourage perseverance, collaboration, and looking for solutions in different ways and from different angles.
Charlie and Lola are getting ready to head to the store with their mom, where they will get to pick out one thing for themselves. As the two of them are getting ready, walking to the store, picking out their special treats, and walking home they encounter math all along the way. Lola is nine minutes late getting ready, the two of them count objects like ladybugs and steps, and Lola gives away her stickers as she heads home…
Charlie and Lola are getting ready to head to the store with their mom, where they will get to pick out one thing for themselves. As the two of them are getting ready, walking to the store, picking out their special treats, and walking home they encounter math all along the way. Lola is nine minutes late getting ready, the two of them count objects like ladybugs and steps, and Lola gives away her stickers as she heads home. The two of them use addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, place value, and counting throughout the day. A bit of humor is injected as well, as Charlie often needs to correct Lola in all of this math, in a very big sister kind of way. The illustrations are fun and lively, with equations matching the math they are doing on the pages.
This Halloween-themed book helps to teach the concept of a missing mystery number, or variable, and how to solve these algebraic problems. The book starts out simple, giving a foundational understanding of equations and what the equals sign means, as well as defining variables, while supporting all of this through the pictures…
This Halloween-themed book helps to teach the concept of a missing mystery number, or variable, and how to solve these algebraic problems. The book starts out simple, giving a foundational understanding of equations and what the equals sign means, as well as defining variables, while supporting all of this through the pictures. But once the book reaches the point of using each operation to solve instead of a picture to solve, this can be confusing for anyone new to algebra concepts. This is because, at this point in the book, it becomes more rules-based rather than based on conceptual understanding. For example, the book states that what you do to one side of the equation, you must do to the other side, so if you divide by 4 on one side, you must divide by 4 on the other side. This all makes sense to someone who has spent some time with “balancing” equations in class or at home, but to a child that has not yet encountered this idea, this could be overwhelming. I highly recommend using some kind of manipulatives, like Hands-On Equations or something similar, to help your child visualize what is going on and why these algebra rules work.
Lady Di of Ameter, Sir Cumference, and Reginald Parton, the Earl of Fracton are all enjoying the Fracton Faire. Here at the faire, one can buy all of just part of a good being sold. In this way, the book explains numerators and denominators, equal parts, and equivalent fractions…
Lady Di of Ameter, Sir Cumference, and Reginald Parton, the Earl of Fracton are all enjoying the Fracton Faire. Here at the faire, one can buy all of just part of a good being sold. In this way, the book explains numerators and denominators, equal parts, and equivalent fractions. But then they find that a group of men are stealing from the faire (and in comes the concept of fractions of a set), so they hatch a plan to catch them through a fraction hunt resulting in a prize of a gold coin. While this book does a good job of hitting on many of the foundational fraction concepts that children learn in third grade, I would definitely not recommend this book until children have completed or nearly completed their first fractions unit in school. The book simply doesn’t spend long enough on any of the concepts to be a solid explanation, but would be a good way to reinforce these concepts once they have been learned.
This book filled with polar bears, alligators, lemurs, and other animals introduces the concept of relative size, and can also introduce an understanding of equations. The book begins with its largest animal, the elephant, and explains how many polar bears would be needed to equate to one elephant, then how many lions to make one polar bear, and so on until you reach how many fleas to make one lemur…
This book filled with polar bears, alligators, lemurs, and other animals introduces the concept of relative size, and can also introduce an understanding of equations. The book begins with its largest animal, the elephant, and explains how many polar bears would be needed to equate to one elephant, then how many lions to make one polar bear, and so on until you reach how many fleas to make one lemur. Each number used is highlighted on the page so that it stands out for your child, and since each picture shows the actual number of animals needed, this can also reinforce some basic counting. I especially enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book; on one side the illustration is quite simple, showing the one animal to which it is comparing, while on the opposite side there is a much more involved and humorous illustration with animals dressing up as the animal they are being compared to (a polar bear wears elephant ears and a trunk, lions try to paint themselves white like a polar bear, etc.). At the end of the book, you see that all of the animals together equate to a whale. This is a great book for comparing and relative size, but it can also be used for creating equations with your child, like 7 polar bears = 1 elephant or 4 lions = 1 polar bear. By creating these equations, you can give your child a solid understanding of the equals sign meaning “same as”, which is an important foundation, since so often kids come to understand the equals sign as “and now give the answer”.
Milo is bored with his life until a tollbooth appears in his bedroom from out of nowhere. When he goes through it, he enters another world in which many of his adventures relate to math…
Milo is bored with his life until a tollbooth appears in his bedroom from out of nowhere. When he goes through it, he enters another world in which many of his adventures relate to math. On pages 110-114, the concept of comparable size is addressed, with thinking about size from different perspectives. On page 171, there is a road sign listing distances; ask your child where is there faulty reasoning between Milo and Humbug? Discuss with your child different measurements and when they might be used (ex: When would you use millimeters? What about kilometers?). In chapter 15, the concept of infinity is explained and discussed, and on page 186 negative numbers are addressed. On page 188, the order of operations is explained; ask your child what other things they can think of that have to be done in a certain order. Averages are described on page 195; ask your child whether they think the partial boy’s explanation on page 196 is reasonable. Then on pages 226-227, collecting data is discussed. Which questions are reasonable and which are not? Why? Take a look together at the U.S. Census data—what questions do they ask? Which answers would it make sense to calculate averages?
In 1860, at 15 years old, Simon decides to walk 1,000 turkeys from Missouri all the way to Denver, Colorado. He hears that turkeys sell for $5 a piece in Colorado, and so he buys all 1,000 turkeys from Mr. Buffey in Missouri for just $.25 a piece, hoping to make his fortune once he reaches Denver…
In 1860, at 15 years old, Simon decides to walk 1,000 turkeys from Missouri all the way to Denver, Colorado. He hears that turkeys sell for $5 a piece in Colorado, and so he buys all 1,000 turkeys from Mr. Buffey in Missouri for just $.25 a piece, hoping to make his fortune once he reaches Denver. Simon gets help from his teacher who acts as investor, as well as two adults to help in the 900-mile trek. They encounter several obstacles along the way, including Simon’s father who is following them so that he can get in on the deal. Children can calculate Simon’s purchase price and the expected selling price, subtracting his initial investment and the amount he offers his assistants to get the profit. They can also continue to revisit these amounts, as turkeys are lost along the way. Children can also use a United States map to show the travel route of the turkeys and to calculate the speed at which they traveled based on the length of time it took them to reach Denver. Additionally, they could compare this to an estimate of how long it would take to drive the distance today.
In Robert’s dreams he visits a strange land full of number tricks and hosted by the Number Devil. A multitude of number concepts are explored with the devil as guide, including matrices, number sequences, and exponents. The book incorporates a good bit of humor (i.e. the devil calls irrational numbers “unreasonable”), and the illustrations add to the clarity of concepts…
In Robert’s dreams he visits a strange land full of number tricks and hosted by the Number Devil. A multitude of number concepts are explored with the devil as guide, including matrices, number sequences, and exponents. The book incorporates a good bit of humor (i.e. the devil calls irrational numbers “unreasonable”), and the illustrations add to the clarity of concepts. While the math concepts involved are varied and do not directly support a specific grade level’s standards for mathematics, this would be an interesting book simply to spark interest and engage kids in the world of mathematics.
The Tuck family all have eternal life after drinking magic water from a spring, and they roam about trying to go unnoticed. But ten-year-old Winnie finds out their secret and must decide between living as a mortal or an immortal. Things are further complicated when a stranger also finds out about the Tucks’ secret…
The Tuck family all have eternal life after drinking magic water from a spring, and they roam about trying to go unnoticed. But ten-year-old Winnie finds out their secret and must decide between living as a mortal or an immortal. Things are further complicated when a stranger also finds out about the Tucks’ secret and wants to sell the magic spring water. This classic book actually has a surprising amount of mathematics within it. There is quite a bit of geometry vocabulary—fixed point, curves, angles, tangent, arc, square, solid, narrowing dimension, axis, acres, edges, and center. Have your child take notice of other places that math is found or referenced, related to geometry or otherwise. Also, keep track of references to wheels, cycles, etc.; how does the wheel allusion tie in with the story line?
This is one of my favorite children’s books of all time. A group of sixteen people must solve a puzzle that Samuel W. Westing has left in his will in order to get the inheritance. Clever and funny, it is a great mystery book filled with lots of characters, as well as twists and turns…
This is one of my favorite children’s books of all time. A group of sixteen people must solve a puzzle that Samuel W. Westing has left in his will in order to get the inheritance. Clever and funny, it is a great mystery book filled with lots of characters, as well as twists and turns. Most meals are eaten at Shin Hoo’s restaurant in the apartment building, so you can have your child calculate food bills, tax, and tip using restaurant menus. There is also quite a bit on the stock market in this book. Turtle Wexler, the main character, thinks the clues she’s been given indicate that she should use the winnings to play the stock market. Learn more about the stock market with your child—how is stock information listed, calculate broker percentage fees. Turtle buys stock in SEA, buying 200 shares at $15.25 per share, so how much does she spend in total? On page 81, SEA is at $8.50 per share, so how much money would Turtle get if she sold her shares then? On page 145, Turtle reports how much money she has now after investing, so how much money did she make? While The Westing Game is my favorite of Raskin’s novels, if your child likes this one, it is definitely worth checking out some of her other smart and quirky children’s books.
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