Month: December 2014

Girls Math Book (at Menlo Park bookstores!)

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The Math Book for Girls and Other Beings Who Count is a fantastic and incredibly fun way for your daughter to practice hands-on math! Despite my initial opposition to the title of the book, I was pleasantly surprised by both the quality and creativity of the book’s content. The Math Book for Girls and Other Beings Who Count provides incredibly fun math activities that any child will be eager to do. Not only will this book teach your daughter mathematics, but also it will keep her busy, entertained, and learning math at home in Menlo Park. Through performing the activities in the book, your daughter will discover some of the practical applications for math. The activities will have your daughter measuring herself and common household items. She is sure to like the hands-on approach that this book takes! Who knows, after learning about math in a way that appeals to her she may feel inspired to pursue a career in math?! Math is quite a popular interest of those who reside in the Menlo Park and Silicon Valley area. The glossary, answers, and help in the back of the book will allow your daughter to look up any questions she may have about the book. I recommend this book to all girls in Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

Image from amazon.com

Celebrating Christmas in Palo Alto

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Christmas in Palo Alto is great.  Many people decorate their home with pretty lights. What makes Christmas in Palo Alto so special is the annual Christmas Tree Lane. Every year, a street in Palo Alto (formerly called Fulton avenue) renames itself to Christmas Tree Lane. This street has put up lights since 1940! Every house on this street puts up amazing Christmas decorations. People love taking their family to see this wonderful sight of all the houses and the lights. As you and your child stroll down Christmas Tree Lane, you can quiz your child on their math. Here are some practice problems:

  1. If Christmas Tree Lane is 2.4 miles long, and you stroll down the street at 3 miles per hour, how long will it take you to walk down the whole street?
  2. If each house uses 400 lights, and there are 56 houses on the street, how many lights are there in total?
  3. Christmas Tree Lane is open 5 pm to 11 pm December 14 to December 31. How many hours is it open in total each year?
  4. Christmas Tree Lane started in 1940. How many years has it been running?

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As you can see, there are so many math problems you can ask your child if you take them to Christmas Tree Lane in Palo Alto. Not only will your child have a blast seeing all of the cool decorations and the pretty lights, but they will also have fun brushing up on their math skills.

For more math problems and information about Palo Alto – Menlo Park Mathnasium check out the website.

Even and Odd Numbers in Atherton

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In addition to Even Steven and Odd Todd, Missing Mittens by Stuart J. Murphy will assist your child in learning to distinguish between even and odd numbers. On a chilly winter day in Atherton, Farmer Billy needs his gloves but he realizes that one of the gloves is missing! When he goes to put gloves on all of his animals, he notices the same thing- one of the gloves is missing, leaving an odd number of gloves. He finally finds the culprit who stole the mittens and an even number of mittens is restored. Throughout the story, your child will learn to identify which numbers are odd and which are even and they can guess whether the numbers are odd or even . There are questions at the back of the book which I advise you answer with your child. For best retention of the knowledge learnt in the story, follow the review instructions provided at the end of the book and practice quizzing your child on even and odd numbers on a regular basis. I recommend this book to all children in the Atherton and Menlo Park who are learning even and odd numbers. Atherton schools really emphasize even and odd numbers so this book is a good review to get your child ahead of the game.

Image from harpercollinschildrens.com

Hanukkah Math in Menlo Park

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Hanukkah History for Menlo Park and other Bay Area Kids!

Today is the second day of Hanukkah. For those who do not know what Hanukkah is, it is an eight day holiday celebrated by the Jewish people. Thousands of years ago, the Greeks ruled the holy land and declared the Torah illegal. The Maccabees fought against the Greeks and won. The Maccabees were able to let a candle stay lit for eight days, which is why Hanukkah is celebrated with a menorah that lights eight candles. Now, the Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah by lighting a candle every day for 8 days.

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Traditions

Other than lighting a candle each night, other traditions include:

  • eating jam filled donuts
  • eating fried potato pancakes
  • playing the dreidel game
  • betting with gelt (chocolate money)
  • singing songs

Although Hanukkah is a celebration for Jewish people, anyone can celebrate, including you and your Menlo Park child! Hanukkah is also a great way for your child to practice his or her math skills. Here are some example problems you can ask your child:

  1. Each night, you light the center candle and a few more candles depending on the day it is. For example, on the first day, you light he center candle, and another candle. On the second day, you light the center candle and two other candles. If you change the candles each day, how many candles have you used up after the last night of Hanukkah?
  2. 4 potatoes make 8 potato pancakes. If you and your family make up 4 people and each family member wants to eat 4 pancakes, how many potatoes do you need?
  3. You play the dreidel game with your dad. Both of you have 30 gelt to start. If you bet 16 gelt and lose, how many do you have left?

As you can see, Hanukkah is a great holiday. Your Menlo Park child can learn some Jewish history as well as have fun and do fun math problems.

For more information and math problems, check out Palo Alto – Menlo Park Mathnasium’s website.

 

Probability Math Problems in San Carlos

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Practicing Probability in Palo Alto

Probably Pistachio by Stuart J. Murphy is a humorous story of Jack’s rather unlucky day. As Jack takes you through his series of unfortunate occurrences on an atypical  Monday in a city like San Carlos, you will begin to wonder what are the chances of that occurring? This is where probability will come in to play and answer that question. What is even better than the laughs this story will give you is the fact that the story will teach your child probability right here in San Carlos!

While the primary focus of Probably Pistachio is probability, it also incorporates other mathematical concepts that will be useful to children in San Carlos schools. At the end of the story, there are follow up questions related to probability based on the reading. There are several tips and activities in the back of the book on ways in which parents can incorporate concepts of probability into a child’s daily life in San Carlos. Additionally, there are suggestions for other books that review some of the same concepts as Probably Pistachio. If your child is ready to learn probability, head over to Books Inc. in Palo Alto or Barnes and Noble in Redwood City and purchase a copy of Probably Pistachio. For more math help near San Carlos, visit Mathnasium of Palo Alto-Menlo Park.

Image from harpercollinschildrens.com

Painting Math in Palo Alto

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What child in Palo Alto doesn’t love painting ceramics? It is a fun activity that will keep them busy for a few hours and leave them with a masterpiece they can save! Lucky for us, there are plenty of places to paint pottery in the Palo Alto and Menlo Park area. Color Me Mine and Create it Ceramics are great to name a few locations!

Image from partywirks.com

Here are some pottery painting themed math problems to do with your child before heading to Create it Ceramics in Palo Alto!

1. You choose to paint a baseball and your brother chooses to paint a seahorse. For yours, you want to use white, black, and red paint. Your brother wants to use green, purple, blue, and yellow paint.

a) If your paint bottles and your brother’s paint bottles are out on the table and you choose one bottle of paint, what is the probability that the paint is one of your colors?

b) If the paint bottles are on the table, what is the probability that you will choose the yellow paint?

For more math problems and fun, check out Mathnasium of Palo Alto-Menlo Park: http://www.mathnasium.com/paloalto-menlopark

 

Learning to Count in Menlo Park

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Counting in Menlo Park with the Help of Books

Leaping Lizards by Stuart Murphy is an excellent way to teach your child how to count by fives and tens without even leaving Menlo Park. With a cute rhyming pattern that will keep your child interested and ready to learn, this quick read will have your child counting in no time. The visuals and images in the story are extremely useful and will help your child visualize the numbers they are counting. Counting by fives and tens is a necessary skill for counting money, telling time, succeeding in school, and solving math problems in a timely fashion in Menlo Park schools. At the end of the story, there are three activities that you can do with your child that will build upon the concepts introduced in Leaping Lizards. Practicing these concepts will help your child solidify their newly acquire counting knowledge and store it in their memory. Repeated practice using Leaping Lizards is bound to help your child succeed in school. Plus, who doesn’t love lizards?! I recommend this book to all children learning to count in the Palo Alto and Menlo Park area. For more counting help, check out Mathnasium of Palo Alto- Menlo Park.

Image from harpercollinschildrens.com

 

For more information and problems about math and book recommendations, check out Palo Alto – Menlo Park Mathnasium’s website.