Hi there. I am looking for some ideas really. My daughter is going through a mad about maths stage again. We do numbers in her 2nd language, we have done Fibonacci to death - and symmetry, we have read poems that are mathematicaly based. She knows her times tables. She wants to do somthing new - but I don't know how to help her!
Oh - she has done about measurement as she is a big cookery fan.
Anything new that you can think of that might tickle her fancy (!) Oh - she is 6 by the way. We've made graphs a lot - and she prefers practical maths.
Have you seen the book 'The Number Devil"? It may be beyond her in some ways yet, but its entertainingly written and readable, and lots of interesting maths. My kids have loved it and keep going back to it as they get older.
Again - thanks. She has been doing fractions for a while. They are so easy to fit into life! We did something about triangles - but it seemed a bit contrived.
She went crazy over Fibonacci when she was 5. She seems to 'get' negative numbers - as they have come up when looking at the latest overnight temperatures!
I will have to show her nets and how they might work for dice- other than a usual 6 sided die. That might appeal.
I have ordered a couple of books too - The adventures of Penrose the mathematical cat - has great reviews. And I have ordered a copy of the number devil - as it isn't available at the library.
I don't know if this would be too easy / too hard but how about harder algebra? I know of a little boy lapping up simultaneous equations.
Have you asked for worksheets from some of the seniors at your daughter's school? Things like the Otago Problem Solving challenges might be interesting for her.
You can buy books with back copies of the Otago Problem Solving competitions on-line - just google Otago problem Solving. My 9 year old loves these and they work the problems at the back of the book in case anyone gets stuck. These are good too because the problems on each sheet cover a range of difficulty and they suggest different approaches which encourages flexible thinking, looking for patterns and short cuts etc, rather than emphasis on straight arithmetic.
Have you tried the maths section of your local library? Our library has a series of books: Sideways arithmetic from Wayside School, by Louis Sachar, Dewey Number 793.74.
They are logic / algebra problems with a story written around them. They my be a little hard, but I really enjoyed doing them with my kids.
Great ideas. I have been to my local libraries - and have exhausted their selection. I have ordered some books from amazon - but it will be weeks before they turn up and she wants them NOW!
Many thanks Anon - but I have already ordered a copy. So she will have to wait - I'll certainly look at the Otago problem solving stuff in case she wants some. Mathletics has filled the maths gap this weekend.
I am always keeping an eye out for maths stuff (for my reluctant math doers) and one that I have come across occassionally on blogs is - the life of fred maths.
I heard about this great website on Radio NZ National: csunplugged.org/ (Computer Science Unplugged). It's computer science rather than maths, but really delves into the ideas and concepts behind computer science, and in my opinion, is quite 'mathsy'! Has cool exercises to do with binary numbers, algorithms, data compression, etc etc, all done without a computer. It's free and appealing to kids too. Might be fun to try with your daughter?
Hi
The Number devil also has a CD with a game. Don't know where to get in NZ, but you may try amazon.com
My kids have enjoyed the games on the computer. (as well as Mathletics)
I have a few maths topics, written for my Grandson, that may be suitable. At the moment I have 'Euclid and his Geometry', 'Pythagoras and Irrational Numbers', 'Mersenne and his Primes', 'Fibonacci and his Rabbits' and Napier and his Logarithms' They are written as a conversation between a grandfather/grandson and should be suitable for any bright child aged from about 8 upwards. The only problem is that, at this stage, I can send the main conversational text only. Illustrations have been done, but are not yet embedded in the text and and that rules 'Euclid' out altogether and degrades 'Fibonacci'. The others should still be useful though. Email me direct if you would like to try one. There is no charge.
hello,
they all sound wonderful - we would be very appreciative if you could send us your grandfatherly conversations - especially as our daughter doesn't have any of her own, it would be great conversation to add.
I saw your other posting about also having some science resources you could e-mail - they would also be great. Thank you !
kind regards
Cath
Wow - I am so glad I started this thread. The ideas are wonderful. It is hard catching my daughter when she is really switched on to something. Sometimes I have the resources she needs in a cupboard - but more often than not, I have to order something specific - and then by the time it arrives it then sits in a cupboard until she is back on that topic again!
Have you tried the Selwyn Libraries collection? There may be some different things on offer.
Also, the school may be able to get books, video, etc from the National Library. My son's school was doing that until another child lost one of the books and ruined the arrangement, Grrrr!
Teacher had explained situation re: HG reader exhausting local material and National Library was very helpful.
Update. Penrose is actually miss 6's favourite. So far she has been working out binary, more about 2D and 3D shapes - and angles contained within, symmetry and her latest thing - pi. *I* have learnt some really interesting stuff!
Well worth the money for anyone with interested children.
She plays violin and has been reading music for a while now - so she is adept at that sort of thing. It is handy as it brings in Italian of course and she loves dancing to music. Not sure about the carpentry idea- she can be clumsy!
I treated her to a new protractor, set square and pair of compasses recently which are a huge hit. I so pleased I started this thread- everyone has such great ideas.
I know of a little girl who was musical and when eager for more composed her own music, writing different parts for the different instruments in an orchestra. I know nothing about music and perhaps this has nothing to do with maths but often maths and music are linked, aren't they? It could certainly present a different challenge.
Failing that, maybe your daughter could do my data-analyses for me, LOL...
Seriously, get her to work on statistics. If she's anything like the gifted people I've known, she wont take things at face value and will need "evidence". It's difficult evaluating the evidence for yourself unless you have a solid understanding of data analysis.
There's a lot I'm not keen on with the education system but I am pleased that our kids are starting to learn about statistics; so important and so often overlooked.
