How To Be Good At Math – DK – Review
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Back in the 80’s we were taught things quite differently from how the children are being taught today. Some ideas and concepts are the same, but the method taken to get to the final answers has changed. Instead of simply memorizing facts, figures and rules – children today are taught things visually using diagrams, drawings, charts and graphs. I have to admit, even if they were being taught exactly the same way I was taught, I don’t remember how the information was first presented to me. I only remember the end result and what I learned to memorize (like my multiplication tables). It has been more than 30 years since I sat in a grade school classroom learning how to add and subtract.
Title: How to Be Good at Math
Published By: Dorling Kindersley, 2014
ISBN: 9781465435750
Pages: 320
How To Be Good at Math
How To Be Good at Math is a simple visual guide developed to explain the math concepts currently being taught to our children (aged 7-11) at school. Each page of the book is filled with bright and colorful images and diagrams. You can turn to any page and the book will remain open and flat. Little robots hold up small cards with important information throughout the book.
The inside front cover pages include the multiplication tables from 1x to 12x; the fraction wall; fractions, decimals, and percentages, metric units of length, metric units of capacity, metric units of mass, the multiplication grid, prime numbers up to 100, formulas for perimeter and formulas for area. The back inside cover pages include two-dimensional shapes; parts of a circle; three-dimensional shapes and angles.
A full range of visual math topics are covered, including:
- Numbers
- number symbols, place value, sequences and patterns, sequences and shapes, positive and negative numbers, comparing numbers, ordering numbers, estimating, rounding, factors, multiples, prime numbers, prime factors, square numbers, square roots, cube numbers, fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, simplifying fractions, finding a fraction of an amount, comparing fractions with the same denominators, comparing unit fractions, comparing non-unit fractions, using the lowest common denominator, adding fractions, subtracting fractions, multiplying fractions, decimal numbers, comparing and ordering decimals, rounding decimals, adding decimals, subtracting decimals, percentages, calculating percentages, ratio, proportion, scaling and different ways to describe fractions
- Calculating
- addition, adding with a number line, adding with a number grid, addition facts, partitioning for addition, expanded column addition, column addition, subtraction, subtraction facts, partitioning for subtraction, subtracting with a number line, shopkeeper’s addition, expanded column subtraction, column subtraction, multiplication, multiplication as scaling, factor pairs, counting in multiples, multiplication tables, the multiplication grid, multiplication patterns and strategies, multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000, multiplying by multiples of 10, partitioning for multiplication, the grid method, expanded short multiplication, short multiplication, expanded long multiplication, long multiplication, more long multiplication, multiplying decimals, the lattice method, division, dividing with multiples, the division grid, division tables, dividing with factor pairs, checking for divisibility, dividing by 10, 100, and 1000, dividing by multiples of 10, partitioning for division, expanded short division, short division, expanded long division, long division, converting remainders, dividing with decimals, the order of operations, arithmetic laws and using a calculator
- Measurement
- length, calculating with length, perimeter, using formulas to find perimeter, area, estimating area, working out area with a formula, areas of triangles, areas of parallelograms, areas of complex shapes, comparing area and perimeter, capacity, volume, the volumes of solids, working out volume with a formula, mass, mass and weight, calculating with mass, temperature, calculating with temperature, imperial units, imperial units of length, volume and mass, telling time, dates, calculating with time, money, using money, calculating with money
- Geometry
- What is a line?; Horizontal and vertical lines, diagonal lines, parallel lines, perpendicular lines, 2-D shapes, regular and irregular polygons, triangles, quadrilaterals, naming polygons, circles, 3-D shapes, types of 3-D shapes, prisms, nets, angles, degrees, right angles, types of angles, angles on a straight line, angles at a point, opposite angles, using a protractor, angles in side triangles, calculating angles inside triangles, angles inside quadrilaterals, calculating angles inside quadrilaterals, angles inside polygons, calculating the angles in a polygon, coordinates, plotting points using coordinates, positive and negative coordinates, using coordinates to draw a polygon, position and direction, compass directions, reflective symmetry, rotational symmetry, reflection, rotation and translation
- Statistics
- Data handling, tally marks, frequency tables, Carroll diagrams, Venn diagrams, averages, the mean, the median, the mode, the range, using averages, pictograms, block graphs, bar charts, drawing bar charts, line graphs, drawing line graphs, pie charts, making pie charts, probability and calculating probability
- Algebra
- Equations, solving equations, formulas and sequences and formulas
I’m already recognizing visual math concepts my daughter has drawn on paper at school in How to Be Good at Math. With the instructions provided in the book, now I even understand what she was trying to do with these diagrams – like number lines and frequency tables. There are a lot of foreign math concepts and terms included too, things which I don’t remember ever learning about before; so now when she asks me what something means, I have a reference I can check to to be able to help her understand what she needs to do.
The Glossary included is also extremely helpful as a quick reference tool, as is the index. Just check the term quickly and then find the related sections in the book to help you understand what concept they are currently learning about.
This is a substantial book, with 320-pages packed full of math guidance for children in grades 2 to 6. With easy-to-follow written explanations and colorful visual diagrams on every page this is a great reference tool for you and your child. How to Be Good at Math will help you understand math concepts together and give you the tools you need to conquer math problems.
You can purchase your own copy of How To Be Good at Math directly from Amazon.
All images are used with permission from DK Canada Books.
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