Description
Who can use these books? Most of the author’s teaching experience is within the Waldorf school system. Yet these books can be effectively used by any teacher or homeschooling parent who wishes to teach meaningful, age-appropriate math.
Our Making Math Meaningful™ workbooks are specifically designed to lead the students along a path of discovery. The teacher needs to carefully guide the students along this path. The problems contained in these workbooks are NOT randomly ordered or selected. They are chosen to promote the development of mathematical thinking in a very conscious way. As teachers of math, our most important task is to develop mathematical thinking in our students. This thinking needs to be flexible and creative.
About our Source Book for Teaching Middle School Math:
When I started teaching at a Waldorf school, I was surprised to find that there were no textbooks. I was expected to create my own materials. This newfound freedom was both exciting and daunting. I proceeded to research what was happening at other Waldorf schools regarding math curriculum, and have created and discovered much along the way.
This book is intended to share with others what I have discovered and developed during this journey.
While most of the material is not overly difficult, much of it is foreign, even for math majors. In writing this book, I have assumed that the reader may be weak in math. I hope that with some effort, even the most difficult topic is understandable.
This book is both a curriculum guide for middle school math and a source book for great ideas that enrich any teacher’s math lessons.
Here are the Units in our 7th grade workbook:
- Arithmetic. This brief unit mostly reviews sixth grade, and includes fractions, decimals, long division, divisibility, and powers and roots. This theme continues with the review section of the measurement unit.
- Measurement. This unit covers both the US system (hopefully, mostly a review) and the metric system.
- Ratios – Part I. This is one of the most difficult and important units in the workbook. It gets to the essence of what a ratio really is.
- Percents. This builds upon the percents that were introduced in sixth grade.
- Ratios – Part II. This unit builds upon the first unit on ratios. It introduces the idea of irrational numbers, including pi.
- Rates. This includes many rate word problems, such as rate of speed and rate of pay.
- Geometry. This unit builds upon topics introduced in the geometry main lesson, such as: angle theorems, the Pythagorean theorem, and area.
- The Square Root Algorithm (optional). This unit consists of one of the most difficult and most rewarding topics that I have ever taught at any grade level.
- Algebra. This unit appears as the last unit, but is intended to be done in the middle of the year as part of the algebra main lesson.
About our Puzzle & Game Book:
Are you looking for a new math challenge for your students? Do you need a resource of ideas that will give your students the opportunity to experience the thrill of mathematics? And, what about providing a good puzzle or game that will give everyone the understanding of true problem-solving? Randy Evans, Mick Follari and Jamie York have combined their knowledge and skills to create a puzzle and game book that is a perfect reference for the math classroom and for middle school and high school teachers everywhere.
You should also consider signing up for…
Our Grade-Specific Online Workshop: The Art of Teaching 7th Grade Math
