I recently visited a toy store that had been a favorite when my children were preschoolers, filled with unique puzzle books and games that we couldn’t find elsewhere. Guess what? That great book collection was gone, replaced by workbooks. These may be convenient ways for parents to make sure their children move ahead on skills during the summer but be very, very careful:

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In my blogs this month, I’ve been trying to help parents see what matters most in math mastery: the big ideas of math. One of the biggest causes of math anxiety in this country is emphasis on memorization rather than understanding. After all, it’s easier to remember things if you understand them.

Read more on Real Math Mastery, Part 2…

Christine Carter, Ph.D., in her post “Raising Cheaters” , states that “we are raising a generation of cheaters.”  Children today are exposed to cheating on nearly a daily basis:  in sports, at school, and also in politics and business.  One study reported that more than 60% of students in 9^th and 11^th grades say that they cheat in school, and another stated 75-98% of today’s college students report that they cheat, up from 20% in the 1940s.  Why the increase in cheating, and why do children cheat in the first place?  For one thing, there are so many different ways to cheat than just the old standbys of copying somebody else’s work, obtaining test answers from a student who has already taken the test, or writing down information and peeking at it during a test.  In Christy Callahan’s article, “Is Your Child a Cheater?,”, she lists some of the newer technologically-driven ways to cheat, such as using hand-held devices such as cell phones, iPods, or calculators to store answers , and using the internet to find pre-written papers or to participate in chat rooms where answers are being shared.

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One of the best educators in the world of math, Marilyn Burns, has been working for years on quick ways to check whether children have grasped the big ideas of math. Her conclusion? Often, students with fantastic test scores still lack basic concepts! To see the difference between understanding and merely calculating!

Read more on Real Math Mastery, Part 1…

With a seemingly steady decline in sportsmanship and rise in outrageous behavior in professional sports, it’s not surprising that there has also been an increase in poor sportsmanship (such as trash-talking and violence) in youth sports.   In some cases, this lack of sportsmanship has carried over to other non-sporting activities as well.  In addition, children are bombarded by media messages using a “winning is everything” or “win at all costs” philosophy that can contribute to the lack of respect for others during friendly competition or even in everyday interactions.  But, like it or not, competition is a part of life, and teaching children to compete with grace and respect is an important lesson – for both children and parents.

Read more on Raising Children who are Good Sports…

My five-year-old grandniece is making great progress in math. How can I tell? As we played with our little toy town, I asked, “You said we have five cars waiting for gas? If these two others drive over, how many will there be?” “Six…seven…seven!” she replied. She has the major math concept of counting on! She didn’t go back to the start, touching each of them from one to seven. She knew that she could start at five and keep going.

Read more on Math Play for Preschoolers…

Here’s the biggest non-secret in helping your toddler become a mathematician:

PLAY

That’s right, just play with your child. The second big non-secret:

MODEL

That’s it. No expensive electronics, no workbooks. Just the kinds of things moms and dads have been doing for centuries. If there’s any secret, it’s being a little big conscious of the three big building blocks to math knowledge that toddlers can begin to absorb.

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