From the Preface for Parents and Teachers) Math can be a lot of fun. In fact, it can be downright exciting. Everyone knows something about math, and whatever you know is the best place to start. Little children know that if they are four on this birthday, they'll be more than four on their next birthday. They know that if they have three cookies and eat one, they'll have fewer than three cookies left. Studies show that from the time they are infants, humans have a basic understanding of quantity-of more and less-and that's what arithmetic is really all about.
Number Jugglers Math Games are designed to let players start where they feel comfortable. Because the games can adapt to all ages and all ability levels, the same game can be fun for a kindergartener, for a sixth-grader, and even for a college graduate. Siblings can enjoy playing them together at home. Parents can have fun playing them with their children. And at school, all the students in a class can be successful.
The level of skill needed for a particular game often depends simply on how many cards you use and how you set the rules.
For beginners who like to see the actual quantity of a number, the cards are marked with dots to count. The dots also show the difference between odd numbers and even numbers, one of the most basic math concepts your children can learn.
Number Jugglers Math Cards do not include operation signs-the plus, minus, multiplication, and division signs that tell us what to do. We omitted them for a reason. When students see an operation sign, their brains seize on it. They see a plus sign and think addition. They see a multiplication sign and think multiplication. That limits their freedom to invent. In these games, we don't want to restrict your child's math creativity in any way. Looking at the numbers, children make whatever connections and relationships they can from their own store of math knowledge. The games are not threatening, because players start from where they feel comfortable. The games are good learning tools because they encourage players to make more and more complicated computations as they go along. There's fun and challenge for math whizzes and beginners alike.
Excerpted from Number Jugglers. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing.
