• Nov. 7, 2005 - Murderous Maths

Ok, well, so much for being more consistent with my blog.  It's been incredibly busy here.  In my last blog I included the quote about my days "ganging up on me", well, I think now they've formed a whole organized syndicate!  Oh well, now I've only got my birthday, Thanksgiving, my husband's birthday, Christmas, my daughter's birthday and a trip to Thailand to worry about.  So things are slowing down, lol. Anyway, I wanted to write about a book we just got.  Some friends from the US came through and brought some things I had requested including two books "Murderous Maths" and "More Murderous Maths".  I had heard of them and thought S, my 11yo might enjoy them.  Now, in case you haven't noticed, I'm an UNschooler.  I do love books but our approach is very unconventional and I tend to be wary of doing any of our learning in a way that smacks of that old schoolish system.  So when I get books like this I wonder if this is  just because I'm having a PPA (parental panic attack)  and I'm trying to force something.  But I got it and showed it to my son determined to let him take the interest up or not as he chose and to resist any urge on my part to push him. No pushing needed.  He LOVES these books.  Well, the first one so far anyway.  Daily he would either ask me to read it with him and we would work out the games and puzzles included in the book or he would be reading it on his own.  That in itself was an indication of his interest.  He likes reading and reads well, but we've read together so long (me reading to him,  him reading to me) that he prefers that over just reading silently alone.  But not in this case.  The books were originally published in the UK, but I believe there are US editions of them available as well.  As it turned out we wound up with UK versions but that has worked fine.  The money problems are in pounds and pence and there are some approaches to solving math problems that they do a bit differently. But even that has proven interesting and sometimes more clear than the way we had learned it before. So if, unlike me, you have an English library nearby check these out or go to the Murderous Maths' website.  www.murderousmaths.co.uk/books/reslab.htm Enjoy. doulos

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Comments

• Nov. 8, 2005 - Looks great

Posted by MiraclesHappen

These look really great! I will have to do a search for them in the US. I would like to buy some for school. Thanks for the great post! I am always looking for ancillary.

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• Nov. 9, 2005 - Fun!

Posted by Manicmondaymomma

I've heard those books are good- I'll have to remember them for when my kids are a little older.

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• Nov. 29, 2005 - Maths

Posted by Kepark

My 10 yo daughter has taken to Murderous Maths as well. I think they are great! She loves reading and stories but didn't like calculating. Math without so much calculating is just perfect for her. (I am pretty sure she'll get the calculating when it becomes necessary and meaningful to her). BTW, you can find them in the US at Fun Books. http://www.fun-books.com/books/murderous_maths.htm Kathy http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kepark - who can' t figure out how to send a comment as a registered user! :)

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