Math Fun: The Doorbell Rang

And the doorbell rang...

I'm big into "living books" -- books that make subjects come alive through stories. We use them for history, science and general literature, but until now I've relied on dry old math workbooks for math (and really, aren't they all dry and boring?). Then I came across a series of very cool math reading books by Stuart Murphy called MathStart. They demonstrate mathematical concepts through stories -- odd and even are explained through missing mittens, subtraction is demonstrated through monsters playing musical chairs, 3D shapes are incorporated into a story about rocketships and intergalactic beasts. I love these books.

And so, it turns out, does my math-phobic daughter. She probably doesn't realize there's math involved. As for V-Man -- I can't tell you how many times I've read the one about the intergalactic beast.

What's even better is that these seem to have helped the kids pick up math concepts, so they're not just empty "you can feel good as a parent because you're reading about math" books. On the last page they have a whole bunch of suggested activities that are actually fun.

There are other similar books, too. One I found that the kids adore is called "The Doorbell Rang" by Pat Hutchins. In it, a mom has served her two kids twelve cookies... and then the doorbell rings. Two more kids come in, and they have to divide the cookies. Then the doorbell rings... you get the picture. So one afternoon at snacktime I set twelve candy peach slices on the table with two napkins for MM and V-Man... and then the doorbell rang (me going "ding-dong!"). You guessed it -- two more napkins needed "cookies," and then two more. They had a ball dividing the cookies up between their imaginary friends.

When the doorbell finally stopped ringing I told them they could eat the candy. And guess what?

They didn't want to eat. They wanted the doorbell to ring some more.