Mate & Rix Escape Boredom
A Match Caper – Regrouping
By Jolie Curran with Illustrations By Frans Vischer
Genre: Children’s Math Book
Kids will love the story and the funny illustrations. Parents and educators will appreciate how the story and pictures make understanding double-digit addition stress-free and easy. Turn a kid’s math anxiety into math confidence.
A boring night at the pet store turns into a night of fun when Mate and Rix build a fort using addition with regrouping.
Parents and educators can feel ‘stuck’ when teaching double-digit addition. Mate and Rix Escape Boredom is a fictional math-based picture book with lovable characters to engage a child’s imagination. Kids will gain math confidence and achieve more than studying the standard math curriculum alone.
- This fictional story teaches math through lovable characters and energetic illustrations. It will engage even the most reluctant learner.
- The illustrations and visual models are a non-threatening way to teach multi-digit addition with regrouping.
- Literature and mathematics can foster literacy and mathematical understanding – saving time and increasing comprehension.
Research has shown the use of story picture books in mathematics teaching and learning can help foster a positive attitude toward mathematics learning in children (Yang et al., 2013).
For decades, students have been taught one standard procedure for addition with regrouping – carry the one. But there is an easier, more efficient, and proven way to perform multi-digit addition – the partial-sums addition algorithm. This is the algorithm Mate and Rix demonstrate in the book.
Jolie and Frans bring humor and friendship to a math concept a child must master.
Great books like Mate and Rix Escape Boredom help a kid turn math anxiety into math confidence!
Get Mate and Rix Escape Boredom in Kindle and Paperback Formats.
Reviews of Mate and Rix Escape Boredom
“Barnaby (2015) found in a qualitative case study research project that the use of children’s literature in the teaching of mathematics was an effective means for teaching mathematics and helped in addressing math anxiety in students while teaching math” (Furner).
“Children’s literature may also be used as a form of therapy (bibliotherapy) to reach learners who may be frustrated with being teased for excelling in mathematics [or] for having math anxiety” (Furner).
Math teachers can address the NCTM’s “Communication Standard” by incorporating literature in the teaching of mathematics as well as by having students discuss math from stories and write about such concepts in mathematics to demonstrate their understanding of math concepts as well as their feelings toward math (NCTM, 1989) (Furner).
“When teachers use fairy tales and children’s literature in their classroom to teach math, they are allowing for creativity, imagination, and making connections for students better preparing them for a world that is ever advancing mathematically and technologically” (Furner).
Compared to the standard U.S. algorithm, partial-sums addition is more efficient and easier to learn (Everyday Mathematics – UChicago).
Ultimately a child’s life – all decisions they will make and career choices may be determined based on their disposition towards mathematics (Furner).
Research has shown “Mother’s behaviors that promote math such as purchasing math items, performing math activities and engaging in math activities with their children were a strong predictor of children’s later mathematics performance (Blevin-Knabe and Musun-Miller 1991).
For all students to attain higher achievement, parental involvement in mathematics is essential.
Storybooks with math concepts can effectively engage and teach even the most reluctant learners (Davis & Haynes)
Using literature to teach mathematics can support and cultivate students’ math confidence in the era of math and science (Furner, Using Children’s Literature to Teach Mathematics: An Effective Vehicle in a STEM World).
About The Author
Jolie Curran is a business leader and former mathematics teacher who has mastered storytelling. She started from a young age, racing home from school as a child to share the stories of the day with her dolls. Her story-telling skills are the building blocks that have led her to be a leader in Cybersecurity (Security+) and Project Manager (PMP). She currently lives by the sea in California, sharing her stories with her partner, Stuart, and two accomplished adult children.
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/mateandrix/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClfqmHRXt0VhiqNRuVi5gFA?app=desktop