9 Great Picture Books That Help Your Kid Learn Math

When asked, many kids will say that math is their least favorite subject.  Traditional methods involve formulas, drills, and no explaining why we are learning something.  But math doesn’t have to be this way.  Here are some great illustrated picture books for kids that explain math concepts – how they work in pictures, and most importantly, WHY these ideas are important and useful.

A Very Improbable Story

by Edward Einhorn

A boy wakes up with a cat on his head that won’t get off until the boy wins a game of probability using objects around his house

One Grain of Rice

by Demi

The power of compounding interest is said to be the Eighth Wonder of the World and is illustrated for kids by the story of a young girl who feeds her village by doubling a grain of rice every day for 30 days

Anno’s Mysterious Multpilying Jar

by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno

Factorials, or multiplying 1 x 2 x 3 x 4….etc is demonstrated in a way kids can visualize

You Can Count on Monsters

by Richard Even Schwartz

The numbers 1 to 100 are illustrated as monsters in order to demonstrate what the difference is between prime and composite numbers

G is for Googol:  A Math Alphabet Book

by David M. Schwartz

Each page illustrates a concept in math such as binary code, exponents, and probability, along with where we see it in the world

Sir Cumference series

by Cindy Neuschwander

Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter, and their son Radius are characters that simplify math concepts while telling entertaining stories set in medieval times.  Each book takes one topic such as the base 10 number system or measuring the area of a circle. 

How Much is a Million?

by David M. Schwartz

A wizard shows a group of kids what the number one million means in whimsical illustration

What's Your Angle Pythagoras 

by Julie Ellis

Pythagoras helps his father by discovering the secret of the right triangle and a practical use for it

Pythagorus and the Ratios

by Julie Ellis

Pythagoras and his cousins want to win a music contest, but can’t understand why their instruments sound so bad and so different from one another.  Comparing their instruments to his, Pythagoras discovers that notes that sound melodious together have certain mathematical ratios.

Why Developing Your Child’s Spatial Skills Could Help Your Child Learn Math

American universities report that a startling 60 % of incoming students need remedial math help.  It is a shocking fact that American students are paying additional college tuition to learn high school level math, in order to continue with their education.  After 12 years in school, why are so many not fully prepared for college?

Studies find that kids who are behind in math in the early grades tend to stay behind.  Math classes build on prior learning, so if a student doesn’t have a strong foundation in numeracy, they will continue to struggle in math.  And, many American children cite math class as their most hated.  So, can parents keep kids from falling behind and inspire an interest in exploring math?

Does your child like to play with blocks, puzzles, and board games?  If so, they are developing their spatial ability – and at the same time, improving their math skills.

Spatial ability is the comprehension and recall of the spatial relations between objects.  This ability is seen as a specific type of intelligence along with logical reasoning, verbal aptitude, and memory skills.  This type of intelligence itself is broken down into subtypes, such as the ability to rotate objects in one’s mind.

We use spatial skills in our everyday life, for example, when we parallel park, navigate with a map, catch a ball, or rearrange furniture.  Spatial ability is also used in math class, for example, understanding a number line, finding geometric patterns, or determining whether an object is vertically or horizontally symmetrical.

Spatial reasoning strongly correlates with math skills.  For example, children’s quality of block play at age four has been found to predict their math achievement in high school.  Also, when researchers directed fourth graders’ attention to the symmetry between positive and negative numbers (that -3  is the same distance from zero on a number line as + 3, for example), the students got better at solving problems in that area – and in higher level math they hadn’t seen before.

Spatial skills have been found to explain at least part of the difference in math grades between girls and boys.   Traditionally, boys have played more with toys like blocks and construction sets than girls.

Both math and spatial skills are not inborn abilities – they are learned through practice.  Math knowledge in the early grades lays the foundation and builds confidence for kids in the upper grades and beyond.  Parents who play math games with their kids help them improve their math performance.

Math board games often have a spatial element – for example, Chutes & Ladders arranges the number line into groups of ten, helping kids understand our base 10 number system, along with aiding them with addition and subtraction skills.   Playing games and doing puzzles are great ways to stimulate a child’s spatial and math skills while having fun. 

There is no such thing as a “math person”

The best way to learn is to play.

Pay Gap Between High School & College Educated Americans is at Widest Ever

College graduates earned 56% more on average than high school grads in 2015, according to recent reports by the Economic Policy Institute. This is an increase of 51% in 1999 and is the largest increase since the EPI began tracking this data in 1973.  College graduates were also employed at a higher rate to begin with (83%) than high school grads (66%). 

It used to be that a person could drop out of high school and get honest work that paid enough to start a family with.   Things changed slowly, and businesses operated using landline telephones and the mail.  People expected to be in their line of work for a lifetime.  Society had a need for people to do work that doesn’t exist as an occupation in today’s high tech, self-serve environment. 

For example, there was a time when even an elevator required a trained professional operator (see Why Elevator Operators Went Extinct) But improved technology eliminated that job, and the elevator operators had to look for other work.  Most parents today know what steno was – but our kids don’t because dictation is dead thanks to word processing.  Kids also don’t plan to be travel agents anymore – there are still a few, but they mostly operate at the luxury end of the market.  Will cab drivers be next thanks to driverless cars?  Or is Uber already making full time driving as a profession obsolete?

But the wage disparity didn’t start with the iphone or the internet.  According to the EPI, a large gap in wages goes back to 1979.  The average of the bottom 90% of American workers by income was $28,559.  By 2015, it only averaged $34,481 (about 22% higher, 36 years later).  The top 5% of wage earners averaged $142,817 in 1979 and by 2015 were earning, on average, $287,983 – more than doubling during the same time period.  As more of the simplest jobs become automated and technology changes, there will be more need for educated workers such as computer programmers and healthcare specialists.

All signs point to the importance ofa college education in the 21st century.  To be sure, there will always be some jobs that don’t require one.   But as the simplest jobs become automated, there will be fewer to be had.  The only thing that seems certain is that today’s kids will need a solid foundation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) along with a college education, to achieve the American Dream. 

Amazing Wiz Kids