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Math Journals for Kids and Adults

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Journaling is a fantastic way to learn and remember any topic — including math. That’s why I created my dot grid journals for kids and adults.

But I just discovered that my printer hates journals and blank books. They refuse to publish them any more.

How frustrating!

So from now on, you can only get my math journals from Amazon. The largest-river-in-the-world store doesn’t mind dot grid pages (so far).

Silver Lining: Because the books aren’t available to regular bookstores, I don’t have to allow for the traditional bookstore discount. Which means I can cut the prices. By a LOT — the new prices are 30% off the original cost of the books!

Continue reading Math Journals for Kids and Adults

Parallel and Perpendicular Art

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

I love this easy-but-beautiful math art project!

1. Print a page of dotty or lined graph paper for each student. You’ll also need a ruler and a large assortment of markers or colored pencils.

2. Students draw a line across the page, lining up their ruler with the grid points. The first line can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal.

3. Keep drawing lines, but NEVER cross a line you’ve already drawn. Following the grid will create many lines parallel or perpendicular to each other. What angles can you identify?

4. Color as desired. For a stained-glass effect, outline the colored areas with a black Sharpie marker.

Look for more math art ideas in my new book Geometric Coloring Designs 2: Create Your Own Art.

CREDITS: I saw this project at Cindy’s Love2Learn2Day blog. She got the idea from Zachary‘s MathActivities site.

I Love Fall! Here’s a Special Offer to Celebrate

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Summer’s gone, and the beautiful, brisk days of harvest season have arrived in all their glory.

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year.

This fall, my publishing company opened a store where you can buy direct from us. When you choose to cut out the middleman, we authors get paid 50% more royalties. Thank you for your support!

You get a bonus, too: When you buy direct from our online store, you get DRM-free ebook files in your choice of format — including printable pdf files not available in bookstores. And if you need help, our friends at BookFunnel will be more than happy to walk you through the steps of transferring ebook files to your phone or device.

Best of all, you can pick up the exclusive publisher’s-edition ebook of my long-awaited Prealgebra & Geometry: Math Games for Middle School (scheduled for publication to regular bookstores in February 2021).

So even if you missed the Kickstarter, you won’t miss out on playing math with your middle-school kids this fall.

Special Offer: Use the coupon code TBLTOP10 at checkout to save 10% off your purchase. (Expires 15 October 2020.)

Click Here to Shop Our Online Store

Playful Math Carnival 141 via Nebusresearch

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Check out the latest carnival of playful math:

Joseph put together this huge collection of mathematical inspiration, activities, teaching tips, puzzles, and more.

He writes:

    “I am an amusement park enthusiast: I’ve ridden at least 250 different roller coasters at least once each. This includes all the wooden Möbius-strip roller coasters out there. Also all three racing merry-go-rounds. The oldest roller coaster still standing. And I had hoped, this year, to get to the centennial years for the Jackrabbit roller coaster at Kennywood Amusement Park (Pittsburgh) and Jack Rabbit roller coaster at Seabreeze Park (Rochester, New York). Jackrabbit (with spelling variants) used to be a quite popular roller coaster name.
    “So plans went awry and it seems unlikely we’ll get to any amusement parks this year. No county fairs or carnivals. We can still go to virtual ones, though. Amusement parks and midway games inspire many mathematical questions.
    “So let’s take some in…”

Click Here to Read the Carnival Blog

Continue reading Playful Math Carnival 141 via Nebusresearch

Proofreading 2

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

To keep the books in a series looking like they go together, I use each finished book as the starting template for the next one. That way, all my paragraphs use the same fonts, all headings are the same size, and the titles line up on the cover.

It’s a handy publishing trick that saves time and keeps everything looking right.

Until it doesn’t.

Continue reading Proofreading 2

FAQ: I’ve Ruined My Daughter

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

My daughter is only eleven, but I’m afraid I’ve ruined her chance of getting into college because she is so far behind in math. We’ve tried tutors, but she still has trouble, and standardized testing puts her three years below grade level. She was a late reader, too, so maybe school just isn’t her thing. What else can I do?

Standardized tests are not placement tests. They cannot tell you at what level your daughter should be studying. They aren’t designed that way. The “placement” they give is vague and general, not indicative of her grade level but rather a way of comparing her performance on that particular test with the performance of other students.

There can be many different reasons for a low score. I’ve listed a few of them in my post In Honor of the Standardized Testing Season.

Continue reading FAQ: I’ve Ruined My Daughter

Proofreading

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Still working on the Prealgebra & Geometry Games book. I got a paperback proof from Amazon, which is not my primary printer but could print it faster.

The graphics look better than the first time around. Success there.

So now I’m reading through and trying to catch any of the little errors (or sometimes not so little!) that managed to sneak past all the rounds of editing.

There are always errors. It’s like trying to get all the burrs out of the dog’s coat this time of year. No matter how hard you work at it, you’ll always miss a few…

To Badger a Child

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Here’s the full quote:

Audrey seemed, for once, at a loss for words. She was thinking about the question.

I try to stay focused on being silent after I ask young children questions, even semi-serious accidental ones. Unlike most adults, they actually take time to think about their answers and that often means waiting for a response, at least if you want an honest answer.

If you’re only looking for the “right” answer, it’s fairly easy to gently badger a child into it, but I’m not interested in doing that.

—Thomas Hobson
Thank You For Teaching Me

CREDITS: “Pismo Beach, United States” photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.