I am constantly on the search for ways to make math fun and meaningful in my homeschool. Math really is cool when you’re playing with it, and I like to show my kids that there can be a reward for all of the hard work they do in their daily math books. One way I inspire love for math is by making sure my morning basket always contains a living math book.
Currently our morning basket math book is G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book. It’s by David M. Schwartz, the same guy who wrote How Much is a Million?
I seriously love this book.
We read one page every morning. Sometimes it just takes a few minutes as when we read “H is for Hundred.” We learned that cent means 100 and then examined some of the words with cent in them – centipede, centenarian, centennial. Five minutes and we’re done.
Other days, this gem of a book prompts further exploration of an interesting math concept. “R is for Rhombicosidodecahedron” prompted us to test Euler’s formula (vertices + sides = edges – 2) on the polyhedrons in block box. Come on. You know you want kids who say rhombicosidodecahedron and actually know what Euler’s formula is. It makes you feel like one of those super awesome homeschooling moms with super smart homeschooled kids. This is reason enough to pick up this book.
Most often, this book leads to an amazing sense of awe and wonder. “M is for Mobius Strip” prompted cries of alarm. “How can it only have one side????” We also learned how many miles are in a light year (5,878,512,843,200), and that the closest star to our solar system, Proxima Centauri, is about 4 light years away. That’s four times that huge number there. Whoa.
David M. Schwartz clearly loves math. And reading his books can go a long way toward inspiring a love of math in your children. Morning Basket has been the perfect time to share this book because it’s a low key time where all I ask of my kids is that they wonder along with me.
