Math You Can Play Combo: Number Games for Young Learners

I was already a fan of Denise Gaskins' book Let's Play Math, and Math You Can Play Combo certainly did not disappoint, either. In fact, both books are at the top of my math list, along with Family Math and The I Hate Mathematics Book. Although the cover says games for young learners, the beauty of this book is that most of the games can easily be scaled up for older kids, teens, and even adults. My youngest is four and my oldest is 14, and I will be pulling games for all of them out of this book! I appreciate that most of the games are low floor, high ceiling - easy for a child to access, but can be played at a higher level through strategy or slight alterations to the rules. It is jam packed with content. I am teaching a math co-op for homeschoolers this year, and there are enough games and variations in here to last not only this school year, but more to come. These are not drills disguised as games, but activities that require problem solving and strategy as well as calculation. If you are a homeschooler, you need this book. If you are a parent of a reluctant math learner, you need this book. If your family enjoys games played with easy materials such as playing cards, you need this book. Yes, you need this book!

Great resource for homeschool. Nice alternative to textbooks.

I was looking for games to develop math skills and number sense at a school in Laos. This book perfect. And the games are fun, they'd be a good activity for families at home, as well.

This book is filled with loads of great games! We've already played at lease 20 and can't wait to continue. This is a treasure!

love it. I would love a dvd version of this

This book is full of great ideas to make math fun and interesting. The games have really helped my sons memorize their basic math facts effortlessly. They look forward to playing these games. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

I read this book as both a homeschooling parent and a math teacher/tutor and homeschool consultant. I would definitely recommend it to homeschoolers and other parents looking to engage their child with math through games. As a math educator, I'd seen some of these games before in other books but was happy to find many more that I'd never played and which use simple materials. I've tried a couple of them with my own kid and we enjoyed them and will try more, but she is at the upper end of the age/skill range for these games and I think we will get more out of the upcoming books in the series with multiplication and fraction games.I think my favorite thing about this book is the perspective on teaching math that is communicated. I appreciate the focus on problem solving and logical reasoning, on playfulness, and on communicating and enjoying math together. The games are intended to be fun and to get kids (and adults) thinking and building their number sense, not just to practice a skill. I also enjoyed that the history of the games is given and that there are variations to try for many of them.I did find the format of this book rather text-dense for a book of math games. This made it harder to look at a game quickly to remind myself of how it is played before/while trying it out with my child. I'm not sure what the solution is...Maybe numbered steps? I did find the illustrations helpful.I certainly encourage giving this book a try if you are looking for math games for younger children.

This book is amazing. Denise Gaskins explains that math is more than memorizing facts but learning how to see patterns, make connections, and mentally solve problems. Her games provide the experiences necessary to thoroughly explore math in this way.I love that Gaskins includes activities for a wide range of ages. Even though my kids are twins, they are each at their own level of mathematical understanding. It helps that I can use one book and still be able to meet the needs of both my children. This is a huge plus for homeschooling where so often new text books are required each semester in order to teach new concepts.