In Math For All Seasons (Scholastic Bookshelf)
, Greg Tang presents mathematical visual puzzles. Items are presented on the page to be counted. However, the child is challenged to ascertain the number of items more efficiently than by counting each individual item. With each puzzle, a rhyme is given to go along with the vibrantly colored and enticing pictures. Within the last two lines of the rhyme, a clue is given. The puzzles usually involve grouping items, but often times grouping them in a way that is not the most immediately obvious. In this selection, he focuses the child on being able to find groups of 5 or 10 that can then be counted easily by 5s and 10s respectively. Also, he leads the child to visualize items that are missing to produce an easy grouping, and then subtract the missing items from this total. For example, in the rhyme entitled "Not-So-Dandy Lions," two groups of 5 dandelions include 7 in bloom and 3 gone to seed. Rather than count each blooming dandelion, the child counts all the dandelions by 5s, then subtracts the ones that have already gone to seed. This title is also available in Spanish entitled,
Un Dos Tres El Ano Se Fue/ One Two Three the Year Is Out (Coleccion Rascacielos) (Spanish Edition)
.Greg Tang's whole series of problem-solving books include multiple titles and is a very useful addition to any classroom or home library. Ages 6-9.
