Hilary Kreisberg - Adding Parents to the Equation: Understanding Your Childs Elementary School Math

Lets face it: the way math is taught today is not the way most of us learned as students. That makes all of us feel uncomfortable and question whether its a problem with us or a problem with how math is taught. If youre like me, though, you realize that while you might have been able to do math, you were more like a robot than someone who deeply understood what you were doing. That is why this book is so important for parents. Not only does it help you learn how to help your children, it tells you why this new approach is worthwhile and will help your children make sense of mathematics. Why do we carry the one or bring down the zero? Why do why we invert and multiply when dividing fractions? If you want to help your students deeply understand and appreciate mathematics, this is the book youve been looking for.

Robert Kaplinsky, math consultant, www.robertkaplinsky.com

At last! Hilary Kreisberg and Matthew Beyranevand provide an outstanding resource for parents, guardians, and all interested adults caring for elementary children. This resource enables adults to understand the whys and hows of learning and teaching mathematics today. Using a conversational tone, the authors offer clear explanations of how and when students acquire mathematical knowledge, explain and justify the approaches used in classrooms today, and present strategies and resources for parents to make mathematics a fundamental and foundational tool for all involved.

Kit Norris, math consultant

This is an essential book! Our culture promotes a paradoxical relationship with mathematics, to both revere and fear it, to be in awe of its power and to be intimidated by its strength. And for parents looking on, for whom the stakes seem high, this lycanthrope of a beast has just changed forms! What is this new math? What is my child doing in school? Why does everything look so unfamiliar? Surely math is math, so what has happened here? Should I help my child take command of what I am seeing or protect her from it? Kreisberg and Beyranevand address and answer these questions head on and do so with grace and the deepest respect. They eloquently bring sense to the how of mathematics as it is taught today as well as the why of it. Most importantly, they provide you full empowerment to understand and embrace the context and content of your childs mathematical journey. You are your childs most influential teacher, and this book is a gift to you. It will transform befuddlement and dismay into clarity and joy, and it will assist you in helping your child find confidence, facility, and delight throughout the curriculum. It is the gift that will open the door to one of mankinds most stunning of practical and intellectual achievements of all time: mathematics.

James Tanton, PhD, mathematician-at-large, Mathematical Association of America, and founder, Global Math Project (theglobalmathproject.org)

Adding Parents to the Equation: Understanding Your Childs Elementary School Math by Hilary Kreisberg and Matthew Beyranevand takes on the issue of helping parents and guardians understand the importance of teaching mathematics today so students have a deep understanding of the why, how, and when (conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application) of mathematics. This book will help parents gain a better understanding of the current math lingo, the why behind strategies used in the classroom today, and ways to support students learning at home.

John W. Staley, PhD, past president, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, and mathematics educator, Baltimore County public schools

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL

Copyright 2019 by Hilary Kreisberg and Matthew L. Beyranevand

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kreisberg, Hilary, 1988, author. | Beyranevand, Matthew L., 1977, author.

Title: Adding parents to the equation : understanding your childs elementary school math / Hilary Kreisberg, Matthew L. Beyranevand.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018040346 (print) | LCCN 2018055544 (ebook) | ISBN 9781475833591 (Electronic) | ISBN 9781475833577 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: MathematicsStudy and teaching (Elementary) | EducationParent participation.

Classification: LCC QA135.6 (ebook) | LCC QA135.6 .K74 2019 (print) | DDC 372.7dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018040346

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.481992.

Printed in the United States of America

This book would never have happened without Matthew. I am so thankful that Twitter connected us. I appreciate you trusting me throughout this process and am blessed that we have become closest friends.

To my amazing husband, Robert, thank you for understanding my need to work nightly and on weekends on this project for the past two years, undoubtedly losing out on important date nights and family time. To my mom, dad, and sister (Cindy, Jay, and Mandy), thank you for being my number one fans. To Ralph, my father-in-law, thank you for reading through the entire book and offering helpful feedback.

To James Tanton, one of my idols, mentors, and friends, thank you for your most thoughtful and detailed feedback on each and every chapter. You took on a great load of work in reviewing this book for us. And finally, thank you, Brittany Gonio, for your support, editing, and dedication to the Center for Mathematics Achievement at Lesley University.

Hilary

Thank you to my parents for building a love of mathematics in me from a very early age. I hope that this love is now translating to my three amazing children: Emily, Alexander, and Nicholas. I would not be able to accomplish anything without the love and support from my wife, Valerie. Thank you, baby.

Much appreciation to James Tanton for your guidance and friendship. I am in awe of you as a person and mathematician. Finally, Hilary, you are a rock! Thank you for pushing this project to the finish line and sharing many laughs in the process.

Matthew

I dont know that way. Why would they change math? Math is math. MATH IS MATH!

Incredibles 2

It doesnt matter where we arethe supermarket, on vacation with our families, or working out at the gymwe find ourselves constantly overhearing frustrated parents complaining about two things: their inability to help their children with their math homework and the way math is taught today in comparison to when they learned it. After engaging with hundreds of upset, worried, confused, and angry parents, we realized that our nation faced a critical issue: the home-to-school connection has broken.