Customer Reviews

MathArts: Exploring Math Through Art for 3 to 6 Year Olds

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3 star:		(1)
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While looking for a book to teach math concepts to my VERY kinesthetic 5 year old, I came across Matharts and it is a wonderful find. The concepts are solid, the activities are fun, the materials are easy to find and the mess factor is fairly low. I do think that the age range (3-6) may be a little low - the older childre I've worked with enjoy and learn from the activities as well. A terrific homeschool, preschool, or school resource.

Math is in art, and art in math. It doesn't have to be a mystery anymore!! :o) These math-art projects are unique and new, and also can be enjoyed as art ideas without relating them to math concepts. As a former teacher, I found math could be daunting for many adults. With this book, it doesn't have to be anything more than an exploration of wonderful art projects. The concepts are for young children, but the art is for anyone of any age. I especially love the projects in this book for truly imaginative creativity. Some great group projects too. These are some of my very favorite art ideas to do with kids because they are so unusual. The math concepts are just part of the recipe!

My kids were delighted to find out that math is beautiful! The projects in this book are all art ideas that incorporate a strong math concept. I especially like how innovative and new the ideas are...very open and free process projects. I can see that these projects could be used with all ages, but the math concepts are really for younger kids. Excellent book, and what a unique approach to art! You can count on art (get it, COUNT on art?).

What child does not enjoy art? Two educators share how children can learn math through art in their everyday world.

Features I Like:
First of all, the Table of Contents is different from most books. Why? It's very detailed and informative. Each section has over fifty art activities, and here's what teachers and parents will appreciate. At a glance, the Table of Contents indicates the skill learned, art medium, age, length of time to prepare, whether assistance is required, and whether caution is needed. No need to turn another page; I am sold. However, I did turn several more pages. I discovered a few more things I liked....

MathArts is divided into three parts:

I. I've Just Begun...Exploring Counting
II. I'm on My Way...Exploring Spatial Relationships
III. Look at Me...Exploring Number Value

**Each art activity is explained on one page.

**Easy to find materials

**Ideas given to modify the activity

**Each chapter discusses the concept being learned, and each activity has icons on the top of the page to represent the different teacher aides mentioned earlier.

** Art Medium Index - tells which project uses paint, collage, clay, crafts, etc.
** Math Skill Index - organized by math skills such as money, counting, patterns, etc.
** Materials Index - If you have an abundance of beads, refer to this index for project ideas.


To Be Desired:
I liked everything. It is obvious the authors have put a lot of thought and work into this book.

Comments:
A few activities are more suited for homeschool than a regular classroom. For example, the Patterned Clay Snakes activity requires the use of an oven. However, I think the use of the oven could be omitted. MathArts has over 200 pages. So, tutors, math teachers, art teachers, parents, and daycare providers will be able to find just the right projects to engage their students with fun explorations of math through art.

I've been searching and exploring many different ways to teach children mathematic thru art process, as well as sharing my ideas in my e-books ([...]), I thought I already knew all about teaching art. This book really fun and all the topics are covered with indicating the difficulty level suitable for which age groups, that help me to find the suitable topic easily to my children. Parents who is looking for how to teach your kids mathematic concept at the begining, this is a best book to have. Some ideas in side can be as reference, and you can modify different ways of doing it!

I was a little disappointed in this book. Family Math and Peggy Kaye's Games for Math cover similar territory in a much better way. The activities in those books are more fun and the authors do a better job of explaining what skills kids will learn from doing the activities. There are a half dozen or so projects I will try, but most of them don't seem worth the effort.