Base Ten Blocks for 2017

SO much to do.

Got fractions videos to put up on the fractions page...it's been a couple YEARS that that page has needed work...passwords really are going to change shortly and many pages are going behind paywalls when in doubt use the sitewide password....and there's a slight chance that I have a live seminar/playshop here in Southern California...somewhere in "the valley"...in January meantime sometimes people figure rapidly that what's at the house of math currently is worth a whole lot more than $349.99. And I am quite serious when I say if you can find lessons that make math easy using base ten blocks post them here. 

This is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

Got in another conversation about Khan Academy. Which is great, free lessons BUT they are "traditional" symbol based lessons with no pictures. No compound lessons and lots of memorization...and I have heard more times than I can count that watching the videos over and over again does not lead to understanding although you can remember the steps long enough to take the test--sometimes. I have had high school students tell me over and over again teachers basically let Khan Academy teach their classes for them and homework can consist of watching vids there.

"if I didn't get it the firs time watching again and again isn' going to help although once in a great while watching it over and over again makes something click. I still have an "F" though." ~16 year old girl, with regard to Kahn. Same girl: "Holy crap! I watched your video one time and totally got it why didn't anybody tell me this before?"

I find the explanations clear and usually concise, but again the algorithms are symbol based and I have an ace up my sleeve because I know what the symbols mean and the pictures they represent due to my familiarity with base ten blocks. Again it's not me it's the tools and understanding of their best use.   Also you get compound lessons that teach more than one thing at a time.

High school kids who tell me they hate the site because they hate math have no pictures or blocks. You'd hate English too if all you learned was letters like c o w but never saw a cow; chair could be confusing because they both have four legs and start with "c" but you've never seen a chair either...and nobody ever explained to you that those letters mean the thing you sit in as opposed to an animal from which milk can be had assuming you get a female. I have talked to more than one teen that was confused by Khan Academy not because Sal is a bad teacher but because he lacks tools other than symbols. Many have benefited from the vids there and he has many, many more than I do.

Despite appearances I did not pay for this testimonial.

The idea is that free or not, a huge amount of videos that explain math or not--it's not fun, kids often don't "get it" and it helps but still falls short for too many students, particularly female kenesthetic learners but also males. If you go through my blog and website, Crewton Ramone's House of Math you will see why this is a problem. It's just more of the same. It will work for a certain percentage of students...but my method works for a much greater percentage. "Gifted and talented" as well as challenged or remedial. I guarantee you most autistic kids do not prosper there at Khan Academy although there are a few for whom the method is perfect.

The point is the base ten block method works for more students more often.

Healthy Sibling Rivalry is a good thing.

Problem: most people don't know how to use base ten blocks effectively and completely. They fall off right after basic operations and usually explain division incorrectly...and no one shows you how to subtract with addends. Nobody. Most base ten block use is limited to addition & subtraction (regrouping) and that's it.

Nobody is showing you how to teach trig to 8 year olds or calc and 3rd & 4th power algebra to ten year olds...

My website needs a lot of work and I basically lost a year trying to build the Kajabi site out...so many lessons never saw the light of day because the threads weren't finished...so the pages never got published...all you got was the teacher training but I had several other stands like trig and algebra partially built. Oh well. Pretty much all of it is at the house of math NOW, just not in such a snazzy format and some of the vids are low quality because they were uploaded when I was having net problems...well I wasn't: the cable company was, but now it's all high speed. have to replace the low quality ones but first I have to replace or re-cut the screencasts that don't work at all anymore.

CKC

Anyhow, I will work on the house of math this year and I think CrewtonRamone.com will come back online this year...also there are going to be some more Crewton Ramone in the kitchen vids...lots of stuff to do in the new year. Also many have asked for more "getting started guidance." More what to do first type stuff and then what to do after that...which is more concrete than "anything you want."

Also need to revamp and add to the parent/teacher training and add more elsewhere too. Even where it's at now, if you go through all the training I have up currently you will be head and shoulders above most elementary math teachers. That's not hyperbole. Experienced teachers have been amazed. I show you how to use the tools to get more done faster without pain and tears but with joy and laughter. As I have heard more than once, it's life changing.

DO not discount this blog and old blog posts, once you get some instruction or training you can see the method/theory in action here. There is information you won't/can't get anywhere else, like this.  Here is a collection of vids showing a little history.

Here is a new MATH PDFs page for people who don't want to buy a password but still want PDFs

Also working on my book,  "How to teach Math o Young Children" (trying to bang out chapter 4)...and tutoring an interesting set of students this year. Nice to get these from password purchasing people:

"Thanks so much! I love your videos and materials and look forward to using them with my kids!

Best regards,

Anne-Marie
...
Anne-Marie Tan, Ph.D.
Certified Reading Specialist, K-12"