Excerpts from Scientific American, December, 1989.
FAMILY MATH is what it claims, a guide for parents and children to work together not on passive tasks of rote learning but in active game play, solving problems, experimenting and even discovering. The tools are many but familiar: cups and playing cards and beans, paper and pencil and scissors, for some a watch with a second hand, and a $5 calculator. What to do is neatly shown in the 100 or more math activities that are laid out in this cheerfully illustrated, informal book. High aims include the growth of confidence no less than skill and a glimpse at how careers open in this world with math. This is a curriculum for informal math education, so badly needed.

Book Description
How can parents help their children with math at home? With over 300 pages of lively activities, the classic FAMILY MATH book represents one of the greatest strides taken to involve parents in the mathematics education of their children. Using easy instructions and simple objects such as beans, blocks, pennies, buttons, and string, parents and kids solve problems together. FAMILY MATH is a rich resource of math curriculum including number and estimation, logical thinking, probability and statistics, geometry, measurement, and calculators. The stimulating games, puzzles, and projects entice kids in playful ways to master math concepts. Because this book reinforces the basic school curriculum, it is also a must for teachers. The book has a step-by-step description of how to organize a FAMILY MATH class in your community. For families with children five to twelve years old. Grades K-8. 318 pp

About the Author
Jean Kerr Stenmark and Virginia Thompson are innovative educators and curriculum developers. Virginia Thompson founded the FAMILY MATH program at The Lawrence Hall of Science.