How to Inspire a Love for Math in Your Kids

Hello from Kris, Matt’s wife. Although Matt is the one teaching our kids essential engineering skills, I’m the full-time teacher for everything else. Including math, which sets the foundation he’s building on.

Our kids use Singapore Math until 3rd grade, then we pick up with Saxon 5/4. I’m proud of the understanding and skills the kids have gained using these books. But they don’t exactly inspire a love for math.

So another book we’ve recently added to our school day (and loved) is Mathematicians Are People Too by Luetta Reimer. There are two volumes with this title, each with 15 short stories about famous mathematicians.

While each story does cover a mathematical concept, it is much more about building an excitement and interest in math and those who made major mathematical discoveries.

We’re using Volume 1 as a read-aloud during our morning time, but my oldest daughter (12) would much rather take the book upstairs and keep reading where we left off. This volume includes stories from the lives of Thales, Pythagoras, Galileo, Pascal, and others. And since March is Women’s History Month, we will be reading Hypatia’s story.