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The Math Learning Center Blog

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Last year we added Math and the Mind’s Eye to our collection of free resources. Math and the Mind’s Eye is a supplemental program based on visual models that can be taught in sequence or used as individual lessons. The 14 units that make up this program cover math concepts typically taught in middle school but extend into upper and lower grade levels as well. To round out our secondary offerings...
Collin Nelson
We’ve all had those conversations in which someone laments that math isn’t taught the same way it was “in the good ole days.” Our understanding of best practices in mathematics has changed, and change can be difficult for everyone. And it can be especially difficult to a parent who just worked a long day and is now trying to help their student with homework, using strategies they never learned in...
Looking for resources to educate parents? Bridges leaders Barb Blanke, Kimberly Kelly, and Jessica Djuric have compiled a wealth of slides, articles, books, and handouts that could be used for family gatherings, student-led conferences, back-to-school sessions and more. Visit their site, Effective Parent Education. For additional ideas, see Lori Bluemel and Pia Hansen’s posts about Family Math...
Cynthia Hockman-Chupp
Ah summer! It’s time for tank tops and flip-flops, watermelon and popsicles, and staying cool by any means necessary. If you have children in your household, it may also be time for some educational summertime activities. Summer break is an excellent opportunity to reinforce what your student has learned over the school year or to introduce new skills to prepare them for the year ahead. We’ve...
Jami Smith
Children need lots of practice, with various activities in different settings, to develop a strong sense of number. My kindergartners love an activity I call Estimation Bag. I place a small plastic container inside a canvas bag, and a student adds a single type of object: paperclips, pennies, barrettes, etc. We start with 10 or fewer and increase the quantity to between 10 and 20 after a month or...
Marion Leonard
Andrew Bishop, a fourth grade teacher in Mount Vernon, Washington, educates families about Bridges through video presentations. We think you’ll agree that they are very educational…and entertaining! What Is Bridges? Bridges Math Lesson! How to Help Your Children with Math (Bridges) Teaching Math Vocabulary to Our Students Understanding the Ratio Table Model To view Andrew's latest videos, see his...
Cynthia Hockman-Chupp
Bridges students learn more than one way to solve multi-digit multiplication expressions. This enables them to select the strategy that is most efficient for any given problem. In addition to the standard algorithm that many of us were taught, fifth graders also investigate: Area model & four partial products Doubling & halving Ratio table Using quarters Over strategy While my students use the new...
Dr. Raj Shah explains why math is now taught differently than it was in the past and helps address misconceptions about "new math". Dr. Shah is the owner and founder of Math Plus Academy an academic enrichment program with two locations in Columbus, Ohio. Math Plus Academy offers class in math, robotics, programming and chess for kids from KG to 9th grade. Math Plus Academy is on a mission to show...
Jami Smith
The array model, used throughout Bridges, is the subject of “Arrays, Multiplication and Division” by Jennie Pennant from nrich.maths.org. The piece outlines how the array model supports development of a sense of multiplicative relationships and describes how to move students from building multiplication facts and tables to exploring division as the inverse operation of multiplication. The author...
Jami Smith
Art is an essential element of our human experience, offering aesthetic pleasure as well as a method for expressing and contemplating meaning. But what if art could also be used as a vehicle for building critical thinking and communications skills? That is the premise and promise behind Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), an educational program developed more than 20 years ago by Philip Yenawine and...
Rick Ludeman, Chief Executive Officer