I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School Kids will love the story and the illustrations by Valeria Petrone. Parents and educators will love how the story and pictures make understanding the math concepts a breeze—as well as the concrete examples of how math works. The book contains activities for adults to do with kids to extend math into their own lives.

Kids, young and old, fall in love with math when they see how real-life and effortless it becomes thanks to these books.” —Kimberly D. Mueller, Ed.D., First Grade Teacher, Ashbrook School, Lumberton NJ The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.

By Stuart J.Murphy

exhibit – n. an object or a collection of objects that have been put out in a public space for people to look at: something shown in an exhibition Tell the child or students that you have thought of a number and then doubled it. Then say what the doubled number is and ask if they can figure out what the original number was. For example, if the doubled number is 10, the correct answer is 5. If the child has difficulty, use a group of small objects—buttons, paper clips, or pennies—that total your doubled number. Then have the child separate them into two groups. censor – n. a person who examines media and removes things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, or harmful to society MathStart's unique combination of stories, illustrations, and visual models helps teachers and parents in the teaching of math and provides all children with the opportunity to succeed. I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!” If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!The math concepts taught in MathStart books conform to state and national standards. Level 1 is Pre-K–Kindergarten; Level 2 is Grades 1–3; Level 3 is Grades 2–4. The series follows math topics across grades so there is a foundational path to learning that runs through the levels.