By: Virginia Stratford
Learning multiplication tables and the shapes of geometric figures can be a phobia of the past, now that a BYU professor has published a new math dictionary.
'Children are not getting enough exposure to the language of mathematics,' said Eula Monroe, professor of teacher education at BYU. 'Language is the means by which we understand mathematics by being embodied in word problems.'
Monroe hopes to help math students make stronger connections with a typically detested subject in her new book 'Math Dictionary: The Easy, Simple, Fun Guide to Help Math Phobics Become Math Lovers.'
'I've given a resource they can use with child-friendly definitions written in a way that approaches mathematic accuracies the best I can with the level of understand that a child would have of that concept,' she said. 'At the same time, it's something they can engage in, and when they're confused they have something to go to.'
Monroe wrote the dictionary as a reference for elementary children, parents and teachers. It contains over 500 entries of mathematical vocabulary and concepts with diagrams and pictures to bridge to ideas outside the classroom.
'The children need repetition and meaningful context,' she said. 'You're bound to understand it better when you can make those connections.'
Monroe uses day-to-day analogies to relay mathematical concepts, such as a pie to illustrate fractions, a quilt for geometric patterns and planet orbits as an ellipse.
'Many times classroom teachers have difficulty being able to guide students toward definitions that are meaningful and not technical,' she said. 'So many times a term is defined with other mathematical terms.'
Monroe says it's critical for schoolteachers to provide colorful, illustrated resources for children such as the ones that appear in her dictionary.
'Find good things for them to do and engage them in such ways that they can do it,' Monroe said. 'I will guarantee you that most children will enjoy mathematics.'