Review and Giveaway : Teach Your Child the Multiplication Tables, Fun, Fast and Easy with Dazzling Patterns, Grids and Tricks!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

Growing up, I was never really good at Maths. Until, I had the benefit of getting to know an excellent Maths teacher, who showed me the good side of Maths. It was astounding. I never thought Maths could be so interesting and from then on, each time I found a pattern or a sequence, Maths got easier and easier. I have to say, by the time I ended High School, the only thing I really excelled in, was Maths (and English ~ but that didn’t count somehow).

Now, as a parent, I have to admit, I really suck at teaching Maths. Perhaps I’m too impatient with my kids and think ahead of myself. The easy stuff like Addition and Subtraction was taught with much frustration, on my part, and much dismay, on my kids’ part. I dreaded the idea of teaching Multiplication and Division! When the book “Teach Your Child the Multiplication Tables, Fun, Fast and Easy with Dazzling Patterns, Grids and Tricks“, arrived, I looked at the front cover with much skepticism. How “fun” could it be?

I completely forgot how amazing it is, when the brain opens up, finds a pattern and starts working furiously at the numbers. Until this book arrived. My 7 year old saw this book and immediately wanted to work on it. I knew he learnt some multiplications at school, but I wasn’t sure how much.

He attacked the first grid….working all the multiplication numbers from 1 to 10. Just like that. I was amazed. He had read and glossed over the book, (I assumed he was just looking at the pictures) earlier…and when he started doing the numbers, he seemed to understand the underlying patterns under each multiplication.

And here I thought I would have a hard time teaching him the Multiplication!

About : The book starts with a story about a Circus in mayhem. The Ringmaster needs the child’s help in counting his animals, but it would take too long to count them, one by one. One needs the magic of multiplication to help him account for all his animals!

Eugenia Francis created this fun, colorful and imaginative way of working with numbers. She spent 15 years developing creative teaching materials. She taught both high school and university students (University of California at Irvine) and mentored other teachers. She received a B.A. and an M.A. in literature from Southern Methodist University and has done graduate work at UCI. Faced with the challenge of teaching her son the multiplication tables, she developed her own innovative method, discovering patterns and tricks to the multiplication tables.

This book also works very well for children diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. Patterns provide structure. Children with ADD/ADHD need structure. These children have a difficulty memorizing the times tables. The visual-spatial method of patterns and grids works better. Patterns also help dyslexic children as they strictly order number sequence. Special needs children can better visualize and recall where a number is placed if they see a pattern. Do check out her blog for any updates or tips!

Buy It : There are also other versions, the Teacher’s version and the Spanish version. Wipe-off Learning Aids are also available. The books are available on Amazon, while the books and the Learning Aids are available at Eugenia’s website.

Win It : Goody! Here’s the fun part : 7 very lucky readers will have a chance in winning this. All you have to do is :

One entry – Visit www.teachildmath.com and tell us, how old was the author’s son when she decided to create an innovative way of doing the multiplication tables.

Three entries - If you tweet this giveaway (please leave us your twitter id)

Three entries - If you subscribe to our feed via email (please leave your email add)

Entry is open to ALL shipping addresses.

Giveaway closes on 4th August 2009 and a winner will be picked using Random.org. We will not be emailing winners, so please make sure you subscribe to our feed or check back here for the winner announcement post.