Customer Reviews

More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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We use this book as an adjunct to our grades4-5 math curriculum. Specifically, we use it as a challenge for our brighter students. The students love the puzzles in this book and it enhances their love for math.

Unlike the original <u>Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School</u>, which was an excellent set of logic problems, some difficult enough to challenge a math teacher - I wish I'd had it while I was preparing for my GREs - this book was a bit of a disappointment. The problems were, first of all, much easier than those in the first book, and they stayed at mainly the same level. So, once you'd learned the basics of a certain type of problem, the next few of that type remained just as easy, instead of challenging the reader. Stick to the fist one -- it's strong and a LOT more fun. Methinks Sachar slacked off a bit in writing the "sequel".

I love incorporating words with math! It makes it fun and interesting. I am not big on math (nor am I very good at it), but when you incorporate language, it makes it fun. I really found this enjoyable! You do neet time, paper, and a darn good eraser, but this was a blast! It has the same kind of stories as the other Wayside books, but it incorporates math problems to go with it. (BOYS + GIRLS = SILLY) And it's your job to figure out number substitutes for the letters. It's a lot of fun to do, and improves math skills and language skills. It's a blast!
It's harder than the first one, be warned! But it's also more fun and entertaining. I always used it as like a rainy day project, and I plan to do the same with my daughter.

Perhaps the finest piece of literature ever written, this book teaches you how to add words and that pop quizzes don't exist. I'll explain. If it's a pop quiz, it can't be on Friday because the kids will know it's coming. Then it can't be Thursday, because if they know it's not on Friday and they haven't had it yet, they'll know it's coming. Eventually, the kids eliminate the possibilities of a pop quiz altogther. Fab!

In my life as a mathematics educator at the college level, I have used alphametics to teach the fundamentals of arithmetic and have touted the value of doing that at professional conferences. Therefore, I was gratified to see alphametics used in this book to teach algebra to students in late elementary school.
An alphametic is an algebra problem where a few words make up a phrase and each letter represents a digit. When the letters are replaced by the digits, the result is a correct arithmetic problem. For example the first problem in this book is

boys
+ boys
------
silly

Where the solution is

6721
6721
------
13442

The first 39 problems are alphametics and the rest are word problems where the solution is derived via logic. There is a section of hints to the problems and complete solutions are included. This is an excellent supplemental math text for students in late elementary school.

This book is amazing. It entertains my kids with its funny and hard math questions. My son spent some time to solve them and we did some of them together. It is a nice book to read and it makes you think as well.

If you like "Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School," you'll probably like this book too because they're very similar, but it gives you more problems to work on. If you haven't read the other Wayside School books, then you'll probably only like this if you really like solving logic puzzles and like goofy things. :)

This was a favorite for me as a child. When I read it and did all of the math problems in it, it changed math from a dreaded school subject into something that was a lot of fun. This book made me love algebra and was filled with fun problem solving. It may not be for everyone, but it changed the way I thought as a child and was probably part of the reason I did so well in Algebra. Bottom line: your child may or may not love it, but if they do love it, it will make them smarter at math and instill a love of math in them.

I can garantee the you will have a hard time discovering the arithmetic problems in this book. Sachar surely showed the humor and his intelligent brain. The way he expressed the problems is very easy to be understood, but i think you may need a big pile of paper, and a big pile of TIME.
The accompanying book Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School is out before this book, and that one, ha, is very confusing. But not as much as this one.
Overall, Wayside School Series is just for fun.

We read the Wayside School books together and the kids and parents all laugh. These stories are funny, silly, goofy, and enjoyable. We love them all. We only wish there were more as we have read them all. Recommended for those reluctant readers (and listeners) as well.