Base 10 Block Book for Preschoolers & Kindergarteners.

There aren't a whole lot of base ten block books like this out there. This one is designed for young kids. The idea is you read it to them at bedtime just like any other story book. If you have children that are a little older, 2nd or 3rd grade they could read it to themselves. If you have children older than that check out this blog and website for lots of instruction using base ten blocks to make math EZ! If little kids can do it your highschool kids can too.

Now you can get this content packed base ten block e-book: Crewton Ramones Completely Cool Curious Counters' Kindergarten Compendium for just $19.99. No need to buy a password (if you already have a password this book comes with, just go HERE and click on the picture or the big red "here.") If you don't, get this book and start learning math NOW.

No need to buy a password,  now you can get the book all by itself, I'll send you the file direct to your inbox. Until now this base ten book was only available if you bought a password. now you can get this book by itself.  Put it on your laptop, tablet, or reader or print it out.

As you can see it shows your younger children some crucial math concepts using base 10 blocks to make it easy. It helps you help them master their addition facts, introduces square roots, place value, multiplication and more. Give your child a head start in mathematics. This book makes understanding math concepts fast and easy. Mathematics is the gateway to scholarships, the sciences, and higher paying jobs. Get them started off right.

Read your children this book the way you would any other children's book except with this book they will learn math because base ten blocks make it visually obvious. For ages 9 and under but especially aimed at children ages 3 to 5. That's right PRESCHOOL, (even though it says kindergarten). They can see the math...take a look for yourself...and at this age you can read it to them over and over again. 

Just like any language they aren't going to learn it all the first time you read it to them. They aren't going understand it all the first time but after a very few short weeks the concepts in this book will be understood because it's simply written, it almost rhymes, and it's full of pictures of base ten blocks, the same way any picture book for toddlers is.

Plenty of brightly colored fun pictures explain basic math concepts, that will put your kid well ahead of their peers when they get to kindergarten or preschool. Kids that can do even just a little math at an early age are considered SMART or advanced or even geniuses whether they are or not...but one thing people have noticed over the years is that if you treat kids like they are smart they will act like they are smart. If you put kids in a class known to be advanced they will usually live up to the expectations...the opposite is also true. Put then a class in SPED or the "F Troop" they will often live up (or down) to the lowered expectations.

I have been in plenty of second grade classrooms where many of the students don't know their addends for ten without thinking about it or using their fingers. Some of these kids have to think about it when asked what does five need to be ten?! Base ten blocks help get them off their fingers and into math.

Or how many left if you take three out of nine...? This book will ensure your kid isn't one of them. Basics like this can handicap your children for life. That's no exaggeration. At the other end of the spectrum getting them off on the right foot can give them advantages for the rest of their lives...

So yeah, it's kind of important. And it has been my experience that even if they hit third grade and they don't know their addends teachers don't usually take these kids aside and give them the extra help and time they need to master them. A downward spiral often ensues as these children never learn to add single digit numbers easily, then adding them over and over again (multiplication) becomes difficult and then they try to circumvent this with memorization of multiplication tables via worksheet and flash cards. Then long division is HARD and hated, fractions are poorly understood and mathematics in general becomes PAIN. Sound familiar? Statistically more of you had a poor experience with math than a good one which is usually part of the reason you found your way here.

The homeschool market is growing by leaps and bounds and many of those parents HATE MATH, but are smart enough to understand they need break the cycle...but don't really know how. Plenty of homeschool moms know they suck at math and are concerned they won't be able to teach their children math because they can't do math...well I'm here to show how you can both learn math together. This book is a good start. Lots of teachers are also using this book to help them introduce math to their young students.

This book

Makes math fast, fun and EZ.

Concept based.
Builds a firm foundation in addition facts.
Shows them how to add numbers with ease.
Gives a leg up on Addition/Addends

Introduces Square Roots

Problem Solving

Place Value

Multiplication

Here are some responses from parents. If you already have your copy please put some comments in the comments box either for facebook or here on blogger below. 

“My kids love this book.”

“Added to our bedtime stories, now they ask for it!”
“I like it because it makes math easy for them to understand because they can see it.”
“We started out counting and before you know it he was doing some pretty impressive math for a 5 year old.”

More pics and stuff:

Crewton Ramone's Completely Cool Curious Counters' Kindergarten Compendium at the house of math. If you click this link you'll need a password to get it...remember the book is included with a password this page was built for those who just want the book. 

Crewton Ramone's Completely Cool Curious Counters' Kindergarten Compendium here on blogger. Again this page will direct you to a password protected page. If you just want the book order below. Please allow up to 12 hours for delivery...I will email you the actual pdf.  The email you use for paypal is the email I will use unless otherwise specified. No messing with pop ups or download buttons unless you want to. [Haven't built the pop up page yet so...] But you will have to check your email...if you want to me to send it to an email other than the one you used for paypal put in the box.

PDF Prices

CCCCC $19.99 USD SSS Prinable $9.99 USD DDnDD $19.99 USD PDF Page Only $39.99 USD

Here is a short explanation of the options. Remember if you have a Life Time Pass, the book is INCLUDED, this page was built by request for those that just want the book and only the book...but of course I added extra options to the button just in case you decided to do a little math and figure out getting the book by itself might not be the best option.  Also by now there are people who have gotten an annual password two or more times...and every time they get a new one there's even more stuff than the last time...and their kids are still little. Probably should have gotten a lifetime pass. This button will change soon because the $15.00 price for the PT training is limited to the first 50 paid.

...OF COURSE WITH THE LIFETIME PASS YOU GET BOTH PASSWORDS.


Learn to use your base ten blocks.

Algebra and Base Ten Blocks, What's under the cup?

Introduce Algebra right away.

 Just playing with blocks as I have said many times teaches a lot of math. This child likes playing with my boys much more than she likes playing with me alone. Wouldn't you rather play in your sandbox with friends, it's much more fun...

Here we introduce algebra concepts without even trying. We are just playing. The idea here is simple PLAY! You can play with anybody anywhere...all you need is a set of blocks for each participant, and away you go!


At this point with the student they rarely even need to see the symbols and we say 6 plus what is 14...or we can tell a story, we have 14 people but only six cookies how many more cookies do we need? When they do see the symbols the symbols make sense.

Basically it's controlled chaos...but playing math doesn't have to be orderly and silent. I'd argue more learning takes place at this age playing and being rambunctious than sitting with a worksheet in silence...MUCH MORE.



Then here is a quick video with a variation on the theme...which instead of teaching addends and algebra, will teach multiplication and division...



A very simple variation on the theme. Here we can learn addends, multiplication and some algebra too. And we learn how to ask and answer questions mathematically, soon we will relate them to the symbols.

3x = 15 for example, We could skip count the 3's. The sound effects just make it that much more FUN.

These kids are separated by half an ocean and half a continent...video tutoring can give you child an actual head start, or give you as a parent an idea of how easy it is to get started...get a few lessons and then do it on your own...so many parents tell me they don't know how to play math or make it fun because they have absolutely no experience with math being fun. I can show you how and give you a few tips and pointers. Or you could just get a password and you can watch the vids on Rayond's Page and others...there are tons of sample lessons (that page has over 10 hours of video on it) and that's just for starters. The idea is GET STARTED.  Don't be overwhelmed, just take a bite at a time. Here is another bite basically the same thing just a slight bit more emphasis on introducing a 4 year old to problem solving. Rarely too early to start, but often too late.

People are amusing because a few years ago before I got all this together the excuse was, "now that I have blocks there's nothing to show me what to do", or "not enough material to get going with" that excuse has been removed...parent/teacher training is also coming soon. there was a time when the sum total of training was 5 VHS tapes with about 10 hours total of instruction on 5 topics. Very rudimentary. Other than that you had to fly to a training in Idaho...people are actually asking for that kind of live training again. Eventually it could happen. Meantime...

Crewton Ramone Takes Two

My favorite part about this vid is the comments: people just don't know what to make of me or it. This is a proof of concept vid...needs more work but I want to make math music vids that are current. Like Weird Al Yankovic except for math...change the lyrics of popular songs to explain math concepts...and then have puppets and good looking kids and base ten blocks dancing around to the beat.

This is just a proto-type if you will. I need a small crew to do camera, song covers and puppets and most of all editing.

Anyhow this one was designed for little kids...three to five. And it was designed to be watched more than once...the concept is multiplication by twos...and getting to know the names of the base 10 blocks.



Unconventional. Odd. Different. People not sure what to think. No pocket protector. No nerd glasses. Multiplication by two's for the little kids.

No. This ain't your grandma's mathematics. It's Crewton Ramone for the wee ones. Just a few math concepts at a time. Math needs to be cool again...currently it is the domain of nerds who do not reproduce...

Find us on FaceBook

Go to Crewton Ramone's House Of Math for more.

Just Play Math!

Here is a video of a young student playing math. For us this is a pretty formal lesson. I need to get some video of the boys just playing because as I look over the vids I have, they are not exactly representative of play time. Problem is play is fun and spontaneous and getting the camera out changes that. Observing a thing effects a thing.



 I enjoy this vid because you can see him throwing me some attitude. He wanted to play Legos not make a math a vid. He was also sick... Note the ease with which we breeze through lessons from subtraction to negative numbers.

Listen for the word "no"; it is replaced by me with show me or what do you have etc. We always start in the concrete and we skipped from blocks to symbols without drawing pictures then we went onto multiplication with 7's...

And this inspired a story about the numbers being happy. 7's have to go all the way to 10 before they get happy, 5's get happy after just 2...most get happy after just 5...the "hard" ones don't get happy until 10...3's, 7's, and 9's...

Then when we count all the way to 105 with 7's we get momentarily confused...but we keep counting...the point is we are playing math and we go through the basic operations of subtraction, integers and multiplication in one "lesson."  This is the problem with traditional teaching of the mathematics to young children a lesson on math will be ONE lesson. No flow. Just a compartmentalized lesson on subtraction with borrowing and counting backwards, no movement to integers not shifting gears into multiplication...can you see the "subtraction" that goes on in multiplication when were counting 7's? Seven takes the three out of the next seven and and we get fourteen...etc.

Math. One language.

It has been noted that youtube constantly takes down the vids for multiplication rock. So go to youtube directly and search the vids...or better yet go buy the vids off my page.

Moving Toward Mastery

If this is you first exposure to Crewton Ramone's House Of Math, I highly recommend you go to the homepage and watch some introductory videos too, before you watch these because these are a little advanced. People think it's magic or the kids are geniuses (which they are going to be) and that they could never do this with their own kids or learn to teach math this way or whatever poppycock springs to mind when see 6 year olds doing algebra in their heads.

Note for some of the problems we only SPOKE the symbols we didn't even write them down and he still solved the problems! This should put to rest the silly objection that they will have to take the blocks with them to school in order to do math. My boys sit patiently through the simplistic kindergarten math lessons they get at school and then pretty much ace whatever they are given as work or home work...or tests. They have some basic concepts mastered...and are working on mastering more concepts each day, which makes their math at school SUPER EASY.

One of the concepts that was mastered early on is the concept of addends for ten. They both have instant recall for most of their addends but especially for 9 and 10. No pause, seven needs what to be ten? Three! INSTANTLY. This is extremely important and is a building block on the way to mastering addition, subtraction and multiplication and therefore division.

Here we see the older boy who has not yet mastered multiplication working out another set of factors for 24...he knew 6x4 but didn't immediately know 8x3...but he will and this helped him to add that fact to his storehouse of math facts.

They have yet to master their multiplication tables but we are getting there easily and gradually. They both see that knowing how to multiply makes math easy and when it's easy, it's fun. In the vids you see here we stay positive. If you want to see them start learning to do problems like this with their friend hero zero you need a password. I have also created a page just for certain lessons with Dboyz and other students (like Emma and Sarah) that will be instructional to all.

For those that have been following their progress this vid may be a little hard to follow due to the lack of symbols but you understand what's happening, for brand new people often times the take away is that's amazing but what are they doing? What they are doing is seeing pictures in their head.

Here is a short intro, (skip this one and watch the next one if you have a little time the next one IS this one plus six more minutes):



Here is the above vid plus a few more problems, listen to the 5 year old say, "we're so good at math it's easy!" Compare to some students I have that are sure math is HARD.

In which we answer the question do they have to carry their blocks with them to schoool.


Now don't get the idea that I'm some kind of Math Wizard. Naturally, I am better at it than a novice (most of the time) but I have trained teachers all over the country to use this method, and I have trained trainers and have trained trainers to train trainers to train teachers...all of whom are still amazed at the results they get sometimes even after years of doing this. I have had teachers call me excitedly saying "it works!" Or "it never ceases to amaze me." Me either.

Of course it works. You have the right tools for the right job.

Now if you want to see all 26 minutes which is the above plus about another short 15 minute lesson on negative expressions where we use lots of the symbols you are used to go to the Dboyz page or find it on the sample lessons page. Password is changing and prices are going up. Dboyz page has the NEW password...those who want to renew (can you believe it's been a year) at the annual rate will get the old rate if you already have a password. You use the old password to get to the page to renew. Clever, huh? New Password has gone out. Look for it. If you don't get it contact me at gmail.

Price is now $24.00. That's two bucks a month. One month which always works out to more than one month (ask anybody) is now $5.00...3 months for $10.00. Lifetime memberships are now available to those who already got a password.

It's hours and hours of vids and pages and pages of PDF's, and more are added monthly all for $24.00 It will take you months to get through it all or weeks if you are diligent and spend hours each day. But for those who spend a few minutes a day and maybe an hour or two on weekends there is more there than you can shake your finger at. Don't get overwhelmed, just get started...watch the intro and then go to whatever topic you like. You may never see it all because I am always adding and might stay ahead of you at this point. That's okay you are always learning. Even old pro's enjoy watching the vids because they get something out of it each time.

Another Fun First Grade Math Activity

There are plenty of games you can play that teach math.  At Crewton Ramone's House of Math there are pages of them. The page called "how to teach addition" has a bunch of games for addition but there are games for multiplication and algebra and more on my site and here on this blog. I put fun first grade math activity in the title but it could just as easily be a fun preschool math activity or a fun kindergarten math activity.

This is a story Jerry Mortensen came up with for teaching addends below ten...the numbers are having a party. Addends* are quite important and help students with many other aspects of mathematics (like subtraction). They are a basic building block that so many systems skip completely.



With little kids you want to play math...not drill math, and you need to play it enough so that they attain mastery and have instant recall. 2 + 2 = 4 is instant for most kids but 4 + 3 can take a a little longer and then 7 + 5 takes longer than that and they may resort to fingers. Get them off their fingers...but you start on their fingers.

There are only 45 addends in all. They should be mastered but don't spend all your time just doing addends, play other math games, do multiplication, sing songs, do algebra, fractions, problem solving etc. WHILE you are mastering addends...and all of these topics can be used TO master addends...and multiplication. Math is a language: it all goes together.

This idea of segmenting it down into individual parts that never become a cohesive whole ISN'T working.

*Addends: two numbers added together that make up another number. 7 + 3 are addends of 10 for example.

Fun Kindergarten Math Activities: Dboyz Play With Bigger Polynomials

Here are some fun problems:

We cover all of these in the longer 20 minute video. Here is the short version, but you can get to the longer vid from here if you like:



In order to get here we played with basic concepts for months. With a password you can have access to hours and hours of video, sample lessons, PDF's and more and you can see step by step how a 6 year old got here. People are quite amazed at just how much you can get for 3 bucks or 12 bucks for an annual pass. Those who buy annual passes before the end of the year are in for some pleasant surprises next year, along with those of you who have already bought a annual pass to show your support...prices will be going up and there are more products being worked on as we speak that will be available at good discounts for those who have already gotten an annual pass. Also there are going to be separate passwords for various topics but right now one password does it all. For those who just want to take a peak 3 bucks gets you a good 60 days worth...but don't expect any special treatment.

[Update: prices have indeed gone up. Look at the side bar for details.]

For a more complete blog post on with these very same videos go to Math Genius Making.

Of course be sure to find us on FaceBook, and go to the House Of Math for much more on the best use of base ten blocks and manipulatives for math enrichment so your child or students can be doing math like this with no problem.

Stay tuned like I say on my website, "I'm just getting started."

Some Math Lessons for the 5 and Under Crowd

A sample of a lesson with a 4 and 5 year old. You can see their progress with skip counting. Soon you will also be able to see their progress with Algebra...over all their understanding of math concepts increases weekly.

The point is not to just teach little kids little math with little numbers...play and have fun and all kinds of math concepts can be discovered.



Always tell them what they have and make them count it, if they give you a wrong answer. Remove the "no" from the lesson and remember they don't get it wrong they just get more information...

Find us on FaceBook

Go to the House of Math.

Learn more Algebra for a buck.

Playing With Addends

Playing with addends. A lesson on combining. If you listen carefully you will hear addition and subtraction together.

Here the younger boy is loading up the tray so we can play with it. He is building tens and seeing and touching the pairs, complements or in mathematical nomenclature: addends for TEN.

This is an "Addition Subtraction kit" from Mortensen Math. Very useful for putting a child in a situation where they cannot fail, they build ten and learn all 45 addends. They can't help but learn some subtraction too. Do you need this kit? It's nice but if you have a combo kit you don't really need it...some parents want to have everything and it is nice to have. Meantime you have everything you need in a combo kit.

Note they changed clothes for the video...

Here is a quick video showing two boys fooling around with addends. They have become camera aware and now ham it up a little for the camera by pretending they don't know the answers.

Years from now when shown these videos I'm going to be interested in their response. Anyhow, note there is no "no" in the lesson, they are simply told what they have and they are not wrong they just get more information...

Many people use these powerful tools to teach addition at this age and that's about it...and maybe some place value but they can learn so many more concepts.




Find us on FaceBook

Go to the House of Math.

Learn Algebra for a buck.

MAKE MATH FUN.

Making math fun is not as hard as it sounds. If you are working with little kids it had better be fun or they don't really want to do it.

And even then some of the more "challenging" students may not want to do math, no matter what you do. Might as well have a good time if you can though. Math Fun is a term many people have a hard time with. How do you make math fun?

Here is a 5 min screencast of what you see here with audio:
http://screencast.com/t/MGJiODI5O I skipped the squares because that should get it's own little audio clip. I just figured out how to embed the "video" into the blog but I've only had the software for about 15 min so I'm just fooling around now...might have to get the pro version for a whopping 15 a year... My first try at a screen cast: http://screencast.com/t/Y2VlMDkzODA Here is a board set up for learning addition and multiplication as well as some algebra. The towers or building need to be skip counted, tens need to be delivered to the tens depot...all manner of games can be played here. Math land or Math Town is a fun place to learn. Some people drawn in makes it fun. These are not towers but robots with green units for heads. Here a ten ton truck loaded with a nine and a unit makes it way to the ten depot. Math robot with lots of addends for 8, 9 and 10. They are just playing blocks learning about 400, 4x² and addends for 7. A city of multiplication facts. A pyramid of square numbers. A ton of math can be taught here. Geometric progression. Square roots, various values of x² etc. Another thing I didn't mention in the screencast is children can discover for them selves that 2² is 4 times bigger than 1² and that 4² is 4 times bigger than 2² even though 2 is only 1 x 2, and 4 is only 2 x 2. In other words the base is only twice as big but when you raise to a second power it's more than twice as big. Let them make up their own rules and discover if the pattern is consistent...is 8² four times bigger than 4²? What do the pictures have to do with math. Nothing. We were just having FUN with addends from 11 to 18. Note the child used one hand to write his name forwards and his other hand to write his name backwards, just for fun. There's a genius trapped inside every child. This was a "cake" we made with the nines are the cake the sevens are the frosting, 7 x 9 = 9 x 7. A concept many students have to see to believe when they are first starting out. Cakes need candles. We can skip count by three and the six is just two threes stuck together...we could only skip count to 24...and the kid was 7 years old...we also do algebra and division 63/x = 7 and 63/x = 9 in addition to x/9 = 7 and x/7 = 9...it's easy when you can see it...MAKE MATH FUN. Don't make it hard. "Do not…keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play." ~Plato Greek philosopher 427-347 BCE
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