Month: August 2013

Lobsters

Lobsters

Griffin turned 9 the other day. His birthday dinner request was lobster. We live in Minnesota, where lobsters are not native. They do not come cheap. Tabitha, who is 6, announced in advance that she would not be having any lobster. My mother joined us for dinner. A...

A circular conversation

A circular conversation

The following conversation took place about two years ago. It is probably the first one that made me realize how important it is to talk math with my kids. Near the beginning of the conversation I noticed myself making a choice between engaging her mind and moving...

A few words on apps

A few words on apps

The New York Times Bits Blog reports that the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission against Fisher-Price and Open Solutions for claims the latter organizations make on behalf of their mobile apps for...

Things that come in pairs

Things that come in pairs

Talking math with your kids takes two forms: (1) seizing opportunities the kids initiate, and (2) creating opportunities where there might previously have been none. This is story of creating an opportunity—first with my four-year old, then with my seven-year old....

Uncle Wiggily

Uncle Wiggily

Tabitha was $latex 3\frac{1}{2}$  years old when we were playing a game of Uncle Wiggily. In case you are not familiar with the game, I’ll briefly describe it. Uncle Wiggily is a board game with 100 spaces along a twisty path. Players draw cards; each card has...