Volume: 5; 2015; 119 pp; Softcover
Print ISBN: 978-0-9776939-8-6
Product Code: NMATH/5
List Price: $24.00
AMS Member Price: $19.20
Bright, Brave, Open Minds: Engaging Young Children in Math Inquiry
Share this pageJulia Brodsky
A publication of Delta Stream Media
This book aims to introduce beginning problem solving skills to
both children and the adults who teach them. The solving of a challenging
problem takes time and creativity. The goal is to guide all math circle
participants, students, and teachers to welcome the time it takes to arrive
at a solution.
The purpose of this book is to invite parents and teachers to
experiment with their
own children or students, without any preconceived notions of how the
outcome will look. Instead, the book allows personal taste and the
children's feedback to guide them.
A publication of Delta Stream Media, an imprint of Natural Math. Distributed in North America by the American Mathematical Society.
Readership
Teachers, parents, and children interested in problem solving.
Reviews & Endorsements
It is a commonplace of teaching that you first try to teach the way you were taught. And so people pioneering math circles or informal learning situations often start out in the wrong direction, trying to apply to these situations the teaching methodologies that they experienced in formal classrooms.
Julia Brodsky does a wonderful job describing other ways to teach. And maybe “teach” is the wrong verb: other ways to guide students in learning from and enjoying mathematics. The mathematical examples are tailored to encourage children's exploration.
-- Mark Saul, Director, Center for Mathematical Talent, Courant Institute, NYU
… What I loved about this book is that it gave me a chance to impart so much more than information to my children—I soon understood that the underlying purpose was not necessarily mastery of facts, but an opportunity to teach them how to think, that it is acceptable to be wrong, and that sometimes there is more than one answer to a problem.
-- Angela Harris, owner of GatheringInk, co-founder of Mosaic Freeschool, journalist and a homeschooling mom
The book is a treasure trove for home-schoolers, math-club facilitators, and—wishful thinking!—mathematics teachers galore, at large, anywhere and everywhere. Studded with wisdom of the pedagogical ages, and framed by a coherent-cum-practical educational vision that could come only from a deeply reflective and exhaustively experienced practitioner in the studio and field—one who has fielded all the “what should we dos,” “what ifs,” and “buts”— Brodsky presents a compendium of charming, accessible, just-add-water activities, in which less is more, delight trumps drill, and engagement, empowerment, and exuberance prevail. As one who has hesitated and fumbled at hosting math clubs, I cannot wait to … as the proverbial edict goes … “try this at home.”
-- Dor Abrahamson, Associate Professor of Cognition and Development, University of California at Berkeley