Let's Play Math (PAPERBACK)

When I ordered this book I hoped it would be organized in the form of game like activities each practicing and teaching particular math skill or concept ordered according to increasingly challenging math skills and concepts. This book is a narrative promoting learning through activities that help children either develop a general math or geometric sense. It is about promoting a deeper understanding of math rather than route operations and memorizing algorithms.

I am in total alignment with this method of approaching math but one has to read through a long narrative with activities embedded within it but not particularly organized. It is not easy to use this book as a source of simple, fun, meaningful, math activities. One has to search through the book to find a potentially useful activity. Most are discussed in very general terms rather than explicitly, leaving the parent to invent the activities.

For what it is this is a great book and I would rate it a 5 for what it really is and 1 for what I thought it was and needed. So I averaged the scores and gave it a three but for what I need it for it actually is a generous score. I think if you have the same goal I think you will need another book.

This book is helping me discover a love for math. I grew up hating math and being embarrassed by it. This book gives me the confidence to love it and teach it in a fun and engaging way

My 2nd grader struggles to enjoy math only because she has a mom who never enjoyed it. This book has given me the confidence to teach her in ways that are different and more exciting than doing work from a workbook. There are plenty of free resources noted and it will be useful for helping her all the way through high school.

I love Denise Gaskin's "Let's Play Math" and recommend it as often as I can. Her approach is both highly conceptual in that it explains the math concepts clearly and accurately without gimmicks and playful at the same time. She opens up showing why using FOIL (first, outside, inside, last) stunts conceptual learning and shows what the intent of FOIL actually does by breaking up a rectangle. Using the more conceptual approach, a student knows what is going on and won't burn out as they go on to more complex equations.I personally felt rejuvenated, committed, and inspired after reading her work.

She says plainly what I needed to hear: children learn best with one-on-one involvement from an adult. Knowing she has researched so many math programs, books, and websites, I feel extremely confident in the approach she puts forward. I don't feel like I need to try this or that approach. The high quality games she recommends are well worth my time--and my children love them.

My 6-year-old absolutely loves trying to trick me, his mom, one of Gaskin's recommendations--and he often both tricks me and beats me at math games. We love playing a game where we try to get to a number, such as the number 6, using a calculator. Try to get to 6 from 9, now 3, now -1, now -923,145. I was stunned my first grader could do this, and I was inspired by Gaskins to do challenges like this. I also found my son did not want to do worksheets or write anything down but when we did verbal challenges like this, his skills were very advanced.

I want to see her work spread far and wide and if this review can help, I am happy to write it. Please don't hesitate to buy this book!

Amber (author of "Misbehavior is Growth: An Observant Parent's Guide to the Toddler Years")

Wow, what an inspiring read for any parent! My favorite part is how she teaches you how to help when your kids are studying subjects you are unfamiliar to the parent. Easy to read and tons of useful information!