Children have studied mathematics since the beginning of time, because without it, they couldn't grow crops or build houses capable of keeping out the elements. People need math like they need the air they breathe.
In the past, math was the best, MOST IMPORTANT type of knowledge, and was respected and even idolized by everyone.
Nowadays mathematics includes a great deal of general knowledge which cannot always be applied to the practical work of a 3-7 year old child. But children today, just like children from a long time ago, need to understand the role of math in everyday life, and need to include creative assimilation of the subject in their daily routine.
Click below to read fragments from the book Magic Mathematics:
Fragments from the math story:
Math Game ‘Five sensory organs'
Start by asking the children to name their five senses : hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch.
The leader is blindfolded , and picks something edible out of a bag : a sweet, a biscuit, a chocolate egg . Everyone says at once:
Let's count up our senses,
One, two, three, four, five.
Hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch,
They make us feel alive!
By using all five senses, the leader must guess what they've picked out of the bag . If he or she gets it right, they'll get the object as a prize .
Fragment from the book Magic Mathematics, book 1:
How Number Ten appeared
Number One brought Zero to his house, sat him down at the table and said:
‘Sorry, Zero, but I can't give you much to eat. I only have one of everything in my house: one biscuit, one fish finger.'
‘And I didn't even bring you a present,' Zero said, looking upset.
Number One put a plate with a fish finger on it in front of Zero, and sat down beside him. Suddenly, ten plates with ten fish fingers appeared on the table!
‘Oh Zero, it's a miracle! When you're sitting beside me, I turn into Number Ten!' Number One exclaimed in delight.
He ran to see the other numbers and invited them to his house for a cup of tea.
‘Thanks for the invitation, but you only have one biscuit and one teacup in your house, and there are lots of us,' the numbers replied.
‘It used to be like that, when I lived alone, without Zero. But now everything's changed in a miraculous way. Come in and see for yourselves,' Number One said.
The numbers shook their heads in disbelief, but they went into Number One's house anyway.
When they arrived, Number One quickly sat down at the table beside Zero. In a moment, one teacup had become ten and Zero sang loudly... >>> read story about Number Ten
Nursery rhyme 'Elephant in the Circus':
fragments from the book Magic Mathematics, volume II
An elephant in the circus
Performed tricks and stunts and dares.
In return he received a banana
And four ripe, juicy pears.
