I’d like to take some time to discuss the science and art of teaching math. I call it a science because much research has been done into how children learn in general and especially math. I call it an art because each child is different, requiring ... Read More
Dr. Cotter on Addition and Subtraction Facts
Addition Addition can be thought of as finding the whole when the parts are known. Place value greatly simplifies finding the sum of two numbers. To be efficient in adding, we start with the sums of numbers 1 + 1 through 9 + 9. These are best ... Read More
Dr. Cotter on Place Value
Place value seems to be a difficult concept for many children and even adults. Western children traditionally are taught to add by counting. Counting ignores place value. For children, thinking in terms of tens and ones becomes an unnecessary burden ... Read More
Dr. Cotter on Counting
Most people think of counting as the foundation of math. So we teach kids to memorize the long string of 100 counting words. Next, to count objects, we teach them to touch each block in turn while saying the next word in the string. After completing ... Read More
RS1 Level G, Lesson 121
We've had a few calls about Lesson 121, Fibonacci Numbers and Phi, from Level G. This is a hard one, but, oh, what fun when you get it! So, rather than type a long winded explanation and have you read it, I decided to make a video for you. ... Read More
2017 Summer Games
It is almost summertime. And for many of you, it’s either the end of school or very close to the end. Whoo-hoo! Happy dance! After twenty-three years of homeschooling, I still get excited for summer. About seven years ago, we started schooling ... Read More