Just Enough Carrots
Level 1, Ages 3+
Comparing Amounts:
To formulate addition and subtraction equations involves being able to identify "more," "fewer" and "the same."




Same Old Horse
Level 2, Ages 6+
Pattern Recogntion
Making predictions based on the observation of patterns is an important part of logical thinking.





Lemonade for Sale
Level 3, Ages 7+
Bar Graphs
Gathering, charting and comparing data is an important skill for assessing progress and making predictions.
                  

On my travels through India last year, I had the privilege of meeting Raju Shahani, who told me about the Christel House school in Bangalore, one of six schools for underprivileged kids started by a remarkable woman from Indianapolis named Christel DeHaan.

Thirteen years ago, when Christel sold her company, time-share vacation pioneer Resort Condominiums International, she resolved to devote the next part of her life to philanthropy. Christel House International (CTI) was founded to help children around the world break the cycle of poverty by providing food, shelter, medical care, and a first-rate education. Along with reading and math, "children are taught the importance of caring, sharing and making a difference" at Christel House schools. As Christel's own story illustrates, success in life means finding ways to help others.

There are now Christel House schools in Bangalore, India;  Mexico City, Mexico; Cape Town, South Africa; Caracas, Venezuela; and Indianapolis in the U.S. In addition, CTI sponsors a Scholars Program for children from displaced families in Serbia.
 
Many thanks to Diana Lam, CTI's vice-president for Global Education and Community Outreach (and former deputy chancellor for Teaching and Learning at New York City's Department of Education) for sending these photos of students in India reading my books. Wow! Math really is a universal language!
 

 

Thanks to a "Google Alert" for an article that ran in the Daily Southtown newspaper, last May, we learned about Jan Toepke's enterprising second graders at Haines Elementary School in New Lenox, Illinois.

Each Spring, Mrs. Toepke's students set up in-school lemonade stands, just like the kids in the Elm Street Kids Club from Lemonade for Sale. They make signs, measure and mix up lots of lemonade, and count money (with a little help from an intrepid team of mom-volunteers). They also sell cookies. M'mmmm!

Last year, they raised over $250 for the school playground. Now plans are in the works to make 2008 another great lemony success. 

Good going, Haines Second Graders!

 

Artwork for signs for stores, libraries and Family Math Nights, and forms for
special orders

 

Making a MathStart book is a collaborative  process that takes nearly two years to get the balance of pictures, words and math just right. Nearly three dozen illustrators have worked with me on Mathstart, to combine gorgeous illustrations with visual learning strategies.

Work by the following illustrators is featured in this newsletter:

JoAnn Adinolfi
from Leaping Lizards

Edward Miller
from A House for Birdie

Tricia Tusa
from Lemonade for Sale

Holly Keller
from The Best Bug Parade