The Grapes of Math

This book is apart of our new math curriculum. We love to break apart the patterns and problems! They really helped my students understand. I definitely recommend! Just do a few pages at a time!

This simple book of rhymes and pictures encourages kids to count without counting, which in my school days, was frowned upon. Whereas we were taught to simply memorize our facts and simple algorithms (joyless math), current practice holds with children actually becoming numerate. Problem solving skills and subitizing are emphasized, and kids learn that there may be any number of ways to solve a simple arithmetic puzzle. This book offers just the right number and simplicity of hints so that kids can figure out the puzzles on their own without counting. A typical puzzle presents an array or grid of items (bugs, fruit, eggs, etc) and a catchy little rhyme that asks for the answer to a "how many" question but specifically notes that the point is not COUNTING the seeds on the strawberries, but using other methods (grouping, adding to subtract, repetitive adding or "counting by x 's", etc) to solve. My homeschooled seven-year-old pronounced it "FUN!", although we did the book together on the first go, and she admittedly needed help with interpreting the clues and performing some operations (ex: 12+12+12=?). This is a great book for anyone 3+ who enjoys numbers but obviously at lower levels the kids will just be using it to learn to count. The main audience would be your advanced first grader or your second grader, possibly even a third grader who is starting to move into multiplication but has not necessarily memorized time tables yet. I LOVED the book...it's not all that often that books like this are actually BOTH educational AND entertaining, but this worked for us. As a homeschooler, I can see myself doing lots of activities based on this book, and I would buy others by this author. Highly recommended.

Nice fun way to learn math. Helped the kids remember because they remembered the story.

The Grapes Of Math by Greg Tang is a book that encourages groupings of numbers in order to assist in quick addition. It shows a different way of looking at a group of objects - snails, grapes, fish etc. and looking for ways to group them into smaller numbers that are quicker to add together instead of just counting them by ones. A great sequel to Tang's book Math Fables, and perfect for when your child is progressing to more advanced work with numbers such as counting by 2, 5, etc. as a precurser to multiplying numbers. It will become easier for a child to grasp that 5 each in 4 rows becomes 5, 4 times becomes 5 x 4. This is the place in math that this book fills.

The book is fun and my grandson enjoyed it but it was not hard enough for him . Need a book to challenge him . This book is good for kids struggling with math.

My second graders loved this book!!

My 7 year old granddaughter is enjoying the book. Practical suggestions for using math using tips for quick calculations. Well illustrated and easy to read. Very useful.

Can be used for centers, individual, or small group activities!