Homeschool Math Newsletter, Vol. 2
September 21, 2006

Hello again, and happy fall time! School is probably well into gear and students are learning.

In this month's newsletter:

1. Four habits of highly effective math teaching
2. Singapore math on videos?
3. Help for understanding percent
4. Cool Math Sites: ThinkingBlocks and Gapminder.org

1.Four habits of highly effective math teaching

If you were asked what were the most important principles in mathematics teaching, what would you say?

I wasn't really asked, but I started thinking, and came up with these basic habits or principles that can keep your math teaching on the right track.

Habit 1: Let It Make Sense
Habit 2: Remember the Goals
Habit 3: Know Your Tools
Habit 4: Living and Loving Math

You can read the whole article here.

2. Singapore math on videos?

Yes, it appears to be true. The website www.myhometutor.org is selling CDs with Singapore math video lessons. Some of you might be interested. Price seems to be higher than the book version.

3. Help for understanding percent

Would you say that students' understanding of percent is sometimes - or often - hazy?

Here are some problem ideas that help students' understanding of percent.

Start by using MENTAL math, and simple numbers. Avoid the calculators until later.

1) Find 10% of these numbers.
(such as 30, 170, 48, 128, 4.5 etc.)

2) Find 1% of these numbers.
(such as 400, 6,700, 230, 86, etc.)

3) Find 20%, 30%, 40% etc. of these numbers. FIRST find 10% of the number, then multiply by 2, 3, 4, etc.
For example, find 20% of 18. Find 40% of $44. Find 80% of 120.

Continue reading the article: Help for calculating percent.

4. Cool Math Sites

Thinking Blocks is an interactive and engaging learning tool based on the effective problem solving methods in the Singapore math curriculum.

Using brightly colored blocks, students model the relationships within math word problems while a virtual tutor leads students through the specific problem solving steps. Seems to be a great tool!

Gap Minder is sure to be an inspiring and interesting site to explore! It presents statistical info in visually stunning, dynamic graphs.

The focus is on complex global trends such as the distribution of poverty, human development trends, World Income Distribution, World Health Chart, in different regions of the world, over time. "The raw statistics would bore you to tears; the web graphs - dynamic, colorful and clear - are utterly compelling."

An interesting news article: Putting His Money Where His Math Is - A billionaire ex-mathematician believes he has a simple formula for improving math education and making America more competitive.