Recommended Math and Economics Books & Resources

Math

Math at the supermarket is everywhere, since everything is numbered and priced. A child can make certain that the correct change is offered at the checkout counter. He or she can tally and estimate the contents of the shopping cart and help the family to stay within a budget. Offer your child his or her own shopping budget for their week’s snacks, and watch them price and compare and spend their money extra carefully. How to spend one’s own dollars is a more valued lesson than how to spend someone else’s.

As a child matures, math becomes about looking at the bigger picture. How many cans can fit on the shelf in this aisle? How would you figure that out? How would you estimate? How much would it cost to stock a supermarket with food? How much money does a supermarket take in every hour? How would you find out? How would you estimate? As you drive home you can ask how much gas is used, how much the toll bridge collects every day, etc.

– Laurie Block Spigel, from Education Uncensored

Math is a subject that seems to distance many children, even sometimes those who are mathematically talented. If all of math is kept to the pencil and the page, then your child will lose interest. Math is something that happens every day in countless ways (try and count them!), and if math is applied to a student’s daily life it will take a more rightful place in a child’s world.

First, count everything and then count it some more. Math is really just a series of glorified systems of advanced counting and measuring. Think in terms of units and always name the items you are counting: inches, centimeters, miles, lightyears, grams, kilos, degrees, pennies, pesos, euros, yen, buttons, bicycles, teeth, apples, rice -- the list is truly endless! When your kids are young, count with them. Count the plates when they set the table, count the forks when they unload the dishwasher, count the number of carrots they ate, the blocks to the library, the books they take home. Counting large numbers of small items, like pennies or pebbles or paperclips, will naturally result in grouping them by fives or tens, and early multiplication will begin.

Early elementary grades can play store and learn money math and help to count change as they shop. They can run a lemonade stand (make sure they reimburse mom for the initial outlay and figure out their profit), and use math in daily projects and tasks. Make math part of a living curriculum and your children will grow up math literate.

Read a math teacher's comment about how math is taught in schools today, and why it should be taught differently: Lockhart's Lament. At the end, there is a link to download the article in pdf format.

Economics

Economics studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, so it involves math, geography, history, and political science.

Page Index

Math Resources

Math Books
Computer games
Curriculum "candy"
Math-related games
Math "toys" and kits
Math Worksheets
Unit Converters
Videos
Websites
For adults and educators
Alternative Approaches to Math

Economics Resources Updated

Activities
Curricula and Games
Museums and Exhibits
Economics Websites
Books on Economics

Math Books

Math "toys" and kits:

GEMS (Great Explorations in Math and Science (800) 445-5985. Manipulatives, games, and math and science kits for K-12.
Geoboards
Pattern blocks
Play money and a cash register
A toy clock
Tangrams. Click here for a set of tangrams to print and cut out.
Zome tools -- a fun construction toy available from www.zometool.com

Math Worksheets

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Computer games:

BigBrainz offers a fun free download for learning multiplication tables. There are upgrades for a fee, but the free dungeon/troll set-up will take you from the 2s through the 12s.
Zoombinis Logical Journey
Revenge of the Math Spiders and Math Blockout, available from Critical Thinking Press.
Poly, by Pedagoguery, software which allows you to construct -- virtually and manually -- Platonic and other solid figures.

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Math-related games:

Dream Green has the award-winning 1-2-3 Oy!, with a free download
Battleship. Here's an online version.
Buzz is a game that helps you practice mental arithmetic skills. It's also fun when you're learning another language.
Chess. For chess-playing opportunities in NYC, see What's Free & Cheap in NYC: Chess
Clue, the classic whodunit board game.
Cribbage, a card game. Get the rules and much more from The American Cribbage Congress
Equate, a math board game based on Scrabble, and other math games from Conceptual Math Media
Geometry Dominoes, a domino-like game designed to aid in the recognition of two- and three-dimensional shapes, from Didax.
Math Playground. From word problems to printable math worksheets, challenging games that reinforce critical math skills.
MathPuzzle.com
Metric conversion charts to print out.
Math puzzles and games, including Quintilions, Quintapaths, The Game of Y, and many more, from Gamepuzzles
Mazes. Visit www.clickmazes.com for some online mazes and other puzzles.
Mille Bornes, a card game.
Set, a visual-perception card game, from www.setgame.com
'Smath, a Scrabble-like board game.
Uno , a card game
Yahtzee ,a great dice-and-counting game

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Curriculum "candy":

Family Math, by Jean Kerr Stanmark, Virginia Thompson, Ruth Cossey, Marilyn Hill (Illustrator), for games to play with your kids
Key To... series,especially for younger kids
The Hands-On Equations Learning System by Henry Borenson
Hands-On Algebra: Ready-To-Use Games & Activities for Grades 7-12 , by Frances McBroom Thompson
Calculus By and For Young People, (ages 7, yes 7 and up) Worksheets by Don Cohen (you don't need the text, just the workbook)
Challenge Math, Primary Challenge Math, and Real World Algebra, by Edward Zaccaro, from www.challengemath.com
10 Things All Future Mathematicians And Scientists Must Know: But Are Rarely taught, by Edward Zaccaro
Mathematics: A Human Endeavor, by Harold Jacobs

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Unit Converters

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Videos

Donald Duck in MathMagic Land . Donald discovers the everyday opportunities of math and why math is useful. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. (video) - Pre-K - 2)

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Websites:

A+ Math has a game room, flashcards, and math find puzzles.
ALEKS.com (connected to the U. of Cal.) has math courses for K-12 online for $18/mo. There is only one problem on the screen at a time, at the right level for that child. Kids enjoy the neat graphics that show progress. You can get a free trial for 2 or 4 hours over a 48 hour period.
AIMS Education Foundation (800) 445-5985. - Math & social studies books and science curricula for K-9. Favorite titles include: Mathematicians Are People Too and Historical Connections in Mathematics.
Algebra.help, a collection of lessons, calculators, and worksheets created to assist students and teachers of algebra.
AlleyOop – personalized math and science help for teens
Free Animated Multiplication Videos — A way for visual learners to learn their multiplication facts.
Open Learning Initiative, freely available online courses and course materials that enact instruction for an entire course in an online format from Carnegie Mellon University.
Brainpop – Science, math, social studies and health games and videos.
Bridge Builder, an interactive project from PBS.
Columbia University Science Honors Program offers free science courses for tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders, Saturday mornings throughout the school year, in this highly selective program taught by research scientists at Columbia University.
CoolMath.com. An amusement park of math and more... Lessons and games designed for fun!
edHelper.com has tons of worksheets even for non-subscribers, mostly K-8 but some high school.
EducationWorld.com includes lessons on time and money.
Stanford University has an Online High School, which offers scholarships for single classes, part-time, and full-time students. It also has a program of individual tutor-supported, self-paced online classes. Previously called EPGY, it's now called giftedandtalented.com. Here is their free webinar.
Hand2Mind (888) 733-2467, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. PST. - Manipulatives, games, and math and science kits for K-12.

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For the history of money and some fun facts, go to The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)
FigureThis.org has math challenges for families, good estimating, and real-life problems.
Check out Get the Math when you're asked, "What does algebra have to do with real life?"
Latest Lesson — educators hand-pick their favorite lessons, books, on-line lectures, courses and videos for teachers, parents and students. Lessons in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects, from preK to adult, are now available. Humanities subjects are forthcoming.
Mastering Fractions
FunBrain.com has K-8 lessons and math games.
The Geometry Junkyard has origami, mathematical paperfolding
The world of games seems to influence many of our kids. Gamestar Mechanic teaches the student the concept of game design while playing a game. Students can play, design and share their own games.
High School Courses Developed by MIT
Homeschool Math. Free worksheets, teaching tips, tutorials.
Hop's Escher Tesselation Tiles - math in art.
Illuminations, from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Marco Polo.
The Kahn Academy - free youtube videos on a wide variety of math topics. Watch a TED talk explaining the philosophy of Kahn Academy, "Salman Kahn, Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education".
Math Resources recommended by Kids.gov.
MasterMath – free video and on-line math lessons for middle school students.
MyKidsBank - start your own virtual bank online
Kidspace - math and science resources.
Kids' Zone, from the National Center for Education Statistics, provides information to help you learn about schools; decide on a college; find a public library; engage in several games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, graphing, and mathematicians; and to learn many interesting facts about education.
Let's Play Math is a "monthly blogging round-up shared at a different blog each month, featuring posts from parents, teachers, homeschoolers, and students — anyone who is interested in playing around with school-level (preschool to pre-college) or recreational math."
Life of Fred - math lessons K-12 with an amusing character and story lines, recommended by homeschooling families
Living Math. One parent's review: Outstanding math site from homeschool mom and former CPA Julie Brennan. Articles, resources, book lists, and a helpful mailing list. Says Julie: "I want to build a bridge. I'd like to close the gap between math and history, science, literature and humanity created by the isolated way we approach math education."

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Math and Science Core Curriculum from the NYS Education Department.
Math Cats - fun math for kids.
Math Confidence - the website of Robin, our favorite math tutor.
Math Counts – fun and challenging programs for middle-school students
Mathforum.org is mostly high school math but has lots of student submissions and the ability to send in questions, and a "Problem of the Week" every week.
Mathgoodies.com has homework help for middle schoolers and lots of great links.
Math-Kitecture, using Architecture to do Math (and vice versa).
Math-M-Addicts is a math enrichment program for middle and high School students in the NYC area, recommended by a NYC homeschooling parent, especially for kids interested in math and creative problem solving. Classes are held on Saturdays, from 10 AM-12 PM, at PS 6 (45 East 81 Street, NY, NY 10028, between Madison and Park Avenues). Contact: info@mathmaddicts.com.
Math Mama Writes... - interesting blog.
Math Playground. From word problems to printable math worksheets, challenging games that reinforce critical math skills.
Moebius Noodles: "Adventurous Math for the Playground Crowd." Maria Droujkova and Yelena McManaman give a Science Cafe talk at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
PBS.org has everything from Fermat to Fibonacci:
- The Pythagorean Puzzle
- A Fibonacci lesson plan
See also their Math Resources for teachers.

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Quiz Tree - free online math quizzes.
Regents Examination: Math (past examinations and the answers)
- Preparation for NYS Regents Examinations: Math A, Math B
Rick's Math Web. Free graph paper, worksheets and math links.
SingaporeMath.com - Math and science curricula for all grades. The math is considered advanced compared to American math curricula.
TenMarks is a free summer math program designed for students from grade 1 through Geometry and Algebra 2.
Thinkwell.com offers multimedia video lectures on a variety of math topics. One parent comments: "My non-mathy 14 year olds are finding Thinkwell is actually pretty fun. We all laugh at Professor Ed Burger's jokes. This has been the most painless form of math we have tried so far."
Times Tables video – multiply using your fingers and hands!
Kay Toliver, award-winning NYC math teacher - video lessons available.
XtraMath — free on-line math lessons.
Zona Land, education in math and physics.

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Resources for Adults and Educators

Teaching Resources: Math and Science
Mathematics Illuminated, a free, on-line, thirteen-part series for adult learners and high school teachers.

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Economics Resources

Activities * Curricula and Games * Museums and Exhibits * Economics Websites * Books on Economics

Economics is not just money. It's businesses and how they work. It's lemonade stands and how many dollars they take in. It's toy collecting and baseball card collections. It's taxes and allowances. It's stocks and bonds. Economics is part of almost everything you could ever think about.

Economics is a required half-year course for high school, but you can introduce this subject at any age. There are many ways to teach economics without having to use a standardized text or take an exam or an AP course.

Activities

Open a bank account, discuss stocks and options, notice and discuss fine print in advertisements.
Read the NY Times (business news and other articles) and discuss from an economic perspective.
Plan your own business, choosing focus and location (my son chose a gaming store near a high school) and make a budget, including turn-key costs to open and monthly operating expenses.

Curricula and Games

Learning Standards and Core Curriculum. See the Free online NY State economics curriculum (pdf format). They give you some main ideas and you can apply your own method and enrichment ideas. This is still a standardized NYS curriculum and probably is lacking.
List of economics games for K-12, organized by Univ.of Ohio Economics Dept.
on-line classroom games created by a professor of economics:
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston games on economics

Museums and Exhibits

The Federal Reserve Bank in lower Manhattan offers appointments to see the gold reserves
The Museum of American Finance
The Debt Clock on 44th St. near 6th Ave.
In Philadelphia, a self-guided tour of the mint

Websites

Classroom Economy: Understanding Credit and Debit. Techniques to create your own classroom economy, recommended by middle school students.
EconEdLink from the National Council on Economic Education.
EconEdLink – economics and personal finance resources for K–12
Economics
Money/Economics Resources
Economics for Kids
MoneyBunny is a fun, interactive way to learn about money management.
Open Learning Initiative, freely available online courses and course materials that enact instruction for an entire course in an online format from Carnegie Mellon University.
Quiz Tree - free online economics quizzes.
MyMoney.gov -lots of useful info
TreasuryDirect.gov for Kids
Welcome to Economics (undergrad level)

Books on Economics

For ages 9 and up:

How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes , by Peter D. Schiff.

For ages 5 and up:

Rock, Brock, And the Savings Shock , by Sheila Bair. Great explanation of the power of doubling, and the principle of saving vs. consumption.
Along the same lines: One Grain Of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale, by the remarkable author/illustrator Demi.
Beverly Cleary's down-to-earth books on Henry and Beezus (The Henry and Ribsy Box Set: Henry Huggins, Henry and Ribsy, Ribsy) include accounts of how Henry raises money to care for his dog, Ribsy.
Gino Badino, by Diana Engel: How an artistic mouse helps the family pasta business.
A Balloon for Blunderbuss, by Bob Gill & Alistair Reid. Whimsical story about trading.