Primary Mathematics from Marshall Cavendish is Singapore's first math program published in 1982 which helped propel Singapore to #1 in the world in a short span of time. (You can find out more about this process in my post about Singapore Math here .) Primary Mathematics has had many looks as it made its way into the US. The US Edition was published in 2001 and mass distributed in the US quickly becoming a trusted program that challenged students in a variety of ways. Over

(This post does contain affiliate links.) It's time for another great picture book addressing math concepts. This week, I'm sharing Arithmechicks Add Up by Ann Marie Stephens. This delightful picture book helps students add within 10 by making different combinations on the playground. What makes this book especially awesome is the fact that it allows for extension within every page by creating different visuals and an additional question. As the chicks play on the playgr

Check out my list of children's picture books that dive into math topics.

Last weekend, I had the privilege of representing Marshall Cavendish at the South Carolina Great Homeschool Convention. It was an amazing 2.5 days of meeting homeschool families, small hybrid schools and people looking to find valuable curriculum for their students. As an educational consultant, I am often asked, "What is Singapore Math?" when I tell people that I am an author and trainer for the Singapore math approach. I end up telling them the history of Singapore and ho

You have probably noticed that I write a lot about word problems. There's a reason for that. Word problems are just plain challenging for many reasons. We know that they push students to apply the mathematics, but there's something else that holds back a lot of students- reading comprehension. As a classroom teacher and then an academic coach to several teachers, I was actually a math and reading specialist. During my reading specialist days, I would work with teachers to

You know how much I love celebrating holidays, especially during the months of January-April when it's cold and rainy outside! Let's...

I've been going through my library and coming across so many good favorites. (I have got to find a better way to keep them all organized!) While looking through my books, I came across another favorite of mine- Goodnight Numbers by Danica McKellar. (This post does contain affiliate links.) This bedtime story takes you through the bedtime routine of a toddler by introducing the numbers one through ten. It includes the word form and digit form. What makes it truly wonderfu

(This post does contain affiliate links.) You know I love writing about picture books that have math connections. I love it so much that I would encourage you to check out all the other blog posts that discuss math literature, because there are a ton of them! Today, I want to share this gem of a book with you: We have loved this series of books and have quite a few of them on our bookshelf. My students love the crazy animal characters that are on each page. In fact, we o

One year when I was teaching, I had a classroom with a lot of autistic students. These students taught me so much about how I communicate, because I had to be as literal as possible. It really made me think about how children's brains take in the information around them and how I expect them to interpret that information. I think sometimes I expect children to process emotions and tasks the way my brain does. I can recall talking to a colleague about how these students had

When students solve word problems, there can be a lot of challenges. Maybe students struggle with all the language there is to process in the actual reading of the word problem. Maybe students aren't sure what operation to use when solving the problem. Maybe students don't know where to start when solving a multi-step problem. Word problems are just plain challenging. They require students to combine several skills and apply their understanding. One way we can do that is