Parenting Workshop on How to Make Math Make Sense, March 31 at The Children’s School

Greg Tang will be presenting a virtual parenting workshop, “Mathematics Everywhere, for Everyone” on Wednesday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at the The Children’s School in Stamford.

— an announcement from The Children’s School (with a note from Darienite.com in italics)

In his talk for The Children’s School, Greg will present an approach to math that makes working with numbers more intuitive and enjoyable, for children and parents alike.

Many of the traditional problem-solving algorithms taught in school, Greg argues, are cumbersome and tedious to apply, and as a consequence many children begin to dread math.

To get children off on the right foot with arithmetic, he teaches techniques — such as grouping numbers and using visualizations — that make problems easier and much more satisfying to solve.

Children become more confident about their skills when they realize they can use reasoning, rather than blindly applying an algorithm, to find solutions.

Greg Tang is the author of eight picture books about math, including the best-selling The Grapes of Math, and develops teaching guides and math games.

A funny and engaging speaker, he shows everyone at his talks — even the most math-phobic—how satisfying it can be to work on math problems.

You’ll leave his workshop feeling much more confident in your ability to help your children practice their skills. If you are interested in attending, please contact The Children’s School at (203) 329-8815.

Editor’s note: You can visit Tang’s website to find free features, including games, for kids; and you can follow him on Twitter here. These two videos give you a sense of how engagingly Tang speaks, especially the second one:

This TED talk by Tang has awful audio, but it’s worth a look for any parent worried about kids and math. Toward the end, he says:

“Something that you thought was hard actually begins to make sense. And so many kids are choosing careers to avoid math. Isn’t that tragic? And I’m not trying to make kids great at math so that they can go be mathematicians. I just want kids to be comfortable enough so that any subject that uses numbers, they’re going to be fine with.”

About The Children’s School

The Children’s School has focused on primary education for more than 55 years, with a clear mission: nurturing good habits of heart and mind through an individualized learning program and unsurpassed teaching talent.

Each student is known and supported, and immersed in a curriculum rich in music, art, science, movement, technology, books and a suite of learning materials that beckon children to explore and experiment, which is the basis of all learning in children.

Our welcoming environment instills students with the values of respect and care for oneself, for others and for the world beyond its campus.