Make Math Fun with PyraMath Cards

PyraMath is one of the innovative products created by I See Cards Educational Games. PyraMath provides a fun way to practice math skills and helps promote a greater understanding and confidence using basic math operations. You can read an overview of the PyraMath card game here.

I was first introduced to PyraMath when the owners generously offered a free deck in return for sharing my experience with their product. The deck comes with 54 cards and I first played it with my 13 year old son. You lay down a row of cards midway between yourself and a partner. Players are dealt a hand and then try to lay down cards that will complete a math equation (can be arrived at through addition, subtraction, multiplication or division). The object is for each player to build a pyramid toward himself by completing math equations.

I then used the cards with my 6 year old. I had her draw three cards to represent ones, tens, and hundreds place and then she used her math manipulatives to show that number.  She loved playing this. As she gets more confident in math, we can start tackling the game using addition. I love that this game is adaptable and can grow with a child's skill level.

As you can see from the image of the cards, the numbers are written so that opposing players can both easily view the numerals. Plus having both Arabic and Roman numerals included is a nice way to sneak in some additional learning.

Here's a little background on how this game came about:

Visit the PyraMath Wiki page to get ideas from teachers about how they are using Pyramath in their classrooms. You can also download the article, "Dr. Ron's Succeeding in Mathematics with Games."

You can play a fun (and free) version of PyraMath online (or try your hand at FracTazmic online). If you are a high scorer, you just may snag a free deck!

And if you'd like to hear about new games as they come out, make sure to sign up for their newsletter.

Product Strengths

• Solitaire or multi-player versions
• Adaptable to various levels (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
• Economically priced
• Portable
• Fun way to practice math facts
• Numbers are written in multiple languages for some extra learning fun (English, Spanish, Chinese, French translations as well as Roman numerals)

Purchase Information
You can purchase the card decks individually or in selected bundles for some great savings:

• Single decks for $6.95
• Combo deck (PyraMath/I See Cards) for $10.95
• Math Bundle (PyraMath/Prime Bomb/FracTazmic) for $18.95
• Pack of 5 decks for $30.00
• Pack of 10 decks for $55.00

Great deals if you need multiple decks for a classroom, co-op or want to share an order with friends.  Any of the decks would make a marvelous stocking stuffer this Christmas!

Disclaimer: We received a free deck of Pyramath for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received. We ending up buying three additional decks we were so pleased with their products!

Stuck

Stuck. A jar lid that stubbornly refuses to turn. A highway of immobile traffic during rush hour. A zipper refusing to budge.  A car that won't start--again.  An impossible math problem eluding a solution.  A relationship on the same old rutted path.  All of us get stuck at some point in our life. 

We can get bogged down by habits, thinking patterns and pathways that keep us stuck. Stuck in despair, sin, suffering or depression. So stuck that we may feel like there is no hope for any other kind of life.

Jennie Allen knows what it is to be stuck and she wants to help other women get unstuck. Her new DVD Bible Study, aptly titled, "Stuck" is a comprehensive learning experience that draws women out of the stuck places in life to the freedom of God's grace and forgiveness.

Meet Jennie Allen and get a taste for what this study is all about:


The study kit comes with the following:

• See: DVD with Jennie Allen offering instruction
• Study: Participant's guide to the study
• Lead: Leader's guide
• Ask: set of conversation cards

My husband and I viewed the videos and while it is marketed to women, my husband found the study insightful and convicting.  So while the material may have been written with women and their struggles in mind, I think men will also be challenged and encouraged by the material.  The video lesson is very down-to-earth in which the author shares the struggles that she is all too familiar with. She serves as a guide on this journey toward becoming unstuck--a fellow pilgrim just a bit farther along the path.

The study materials are in a fresh full color style of glossy, magazine-like pages.  Each lesson provides an introduction to the lesson along with a study on a selected portion of Scripture. This is followed by a section entitled, "Who are you, Lord? & What do you want from me?" with space to journal thoughts and action points derived from the lesson. Each lesson then closes with a project that gently helps the participant probe into their "stuck" places. 

Following the introductory segment, the lessons cover the following topics:

1. Broken
2. Mad
3. Discontent
4. Scared
5. Overwhelmed
6. Sad
7. Unstuck

The author makes it clear in the leader's guide, that the leader's job is not to counsel and she encourages leaders to make referrals to qualified professionals when someone needs additional help. The teacher's guide was very user friendly with very good suggestions for making discussions flow smoothly.

One very unique aspect of this study is the deck of conversation cards. There is a set of open-ended questions for each lesson. The idea is that the questions are laid out among a small group (one kit is recommended for 8-12 people). Each person can select the question they would like to answer (more than one person can choose to answer the same question). I like the fact that people have some control over what they feel comfortable sharing. This also provides a fun way to guide discussion from the lesson.  I thought this aspect was a really clever and innovative part of the study.

The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time and often our stuck places become magnified. Why not do something for yourself and order this study to help you work through some of the stuck areas in your life?   Or if the holidays are too hectic, then plan ahead to begin this study as a part of turning over a new leaf in 2012.  Whether done alone, with a small group of friends, or as part of a small group church study, the time you invest will be well worth the effort.

Purchase Information
This study is published by Thomas Nelson and can be purchased directly through them for $39.99. This includes the complete curriculum: DVD, student and leader's guides as well as the conversation cards with all the contents packaged in a sturdy box.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Stuck from Thomas Nelson publishers as part of their Book Sneeze program for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma was one of the most delightful non-fiction books I've read in a long while. The book is really a celebration of a very special relationship forged between a dad and his daughter over the 3,218 days straight that he read at least ten minutes with his daughter. There is one very memorable chapter about a time when they came perilously close to breaking their streak as the clock approached midnight but Dad came through (not without a bit of daughterly embarrassment at the time).

The author's father was a popular school librarian passionate about reading books to children. This love naturally spilled over into his homelife. And at age 8, they decided they would first try to read 100 nights in a row. When that goal was reached, they just kept going all the way until the eve of the daughter's start to college.  This process was a constant, predictable, secure tradition that helped anchor a young lady whose parents split up. Sadly her mother moved out and the mystery of that is really only hinted at later in the book. What struck me was that while this would normally be an incredibly tragic event, the daughter came through childhood with quite a head on her shoulders. Largely due, I am sure, to the influence of the connection she had with her father through books.

Her father was not a demonstrative man and the author mentions that sitting next to her dad during reading time was about the only physical contact they had--he wasn't really a hugger or an affectionate dad but he could READ!  He would practice and rehearse before reading each evening so that voices and inflection were perfect.  He would sometimes do some selective "editing" as he read (a very great benefit of reading aloud!).  Through books they shared a very special bond. The author's olders sister wasn't interested in the reading promise so this was something unique to just Alice and her father.

Literature even had a hand in the origin of her name (Alice Ozma is actually only part of the author's name given at birth). She shares the background on her name and how she came to adopt part of it as her identity.

The Reading Promise served as a daily anchor that connected a young girl throughout adolescence to the heart of her father.  What an incredible legacy that anyone on the planet could replicate.  At the back of the book is a sample "Reading Promise" agreement that a parent and child can fill out.  The author also includes a list of the books she and her father read--there are a lot of great suggestions on that list.

I highly recommend this book to any teacher, parent or librarian. It will change the way you think about reading!  And your promise to read to a child just may change their life forever. Read the first chapter today. 

Go make your own Reading Promise,
Jill