Customer Reviews

Two Plus Two is Not Five (Easy Methods to Learn Addition & Subtraction)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was so helpful to me at at time when my child was failing timed math tests at age 7- big F's on his papers- he started calling himself stupid and saying he was "bad in math." I was told to do more games and flash cards- but the systematic program and tricks in this book were really helpful. I thought this author amazing- she personally corresponded to me during a difficult time. I really recommend this book for any family struggling with what comes easy to some children- there is more than one way to learn math facts- and this was very helpful. I highly recommend.

As an 17+ year teacher of students with learning disabilities and a college instructor to pre-service and in-service teachers, I recommend Two Plus Two is Not Five as the resource for teaching addition and subtraction facts to students with and without disabilities. This isn't a book of drill sheets - this is a workbook with a purpose! Two Plus Two is Not Five presents an instructionally sound and effective "twist" on the mundane task of rote learning math facts that will keep students engaged while becoming proficient and confident. If I could only have one math resource in my elementary classroom - this would be it.

"Two Plus Two Is Not Five, by Susan Greenwald, has been instrumental in helping my children visualize math concepts. It turns a bunch of numbers on paper into something real and tangible for my children to work with. As I was teaching them some of the math tricks in this book, I realized Susan (the author) had found a simple way to explain exactly how I actually see math problems in my mind. I never could have explained it this well. This curriculum is easy enough for my 5-year-old - he loves it and asks for more - and yet is still interesting enough to help my 9-year-old fill in some gaps in her math knowledge without being bored. I highly recommend this curriculum. (Reviewed by Kimberly Duell for OklahomaHomeschool.com)

My son has dyslexia and has always had a "block" for memorizing his addition and subtraction facts. We are about half-way through the book and my son is remembering all the "tricks!" It is a very helpful book and even had my son saying, "I love math!" Wow!

I have struggled for months with my homeschooled daughter to learn her math facts. I never could find the trick to getting her to learn them. A friend suggested this book to me and ordered it right away. Within 2 weeks of ordering it, my daughter just about has her fact down. She only has 5 left to memorize. My only beef with this book is that it mixes up addition and subtraction. I understand why they do it..but it messed my daughter up some. I ended up looking at the 'tricks' in the book and taught them to her separately. We will start subtraction once we speed up addition facts a bit and I definitely think this will help with that too.

My eight year old has learning disabilities struggled and struggled with addition and subtraction. As soon as she learned a fact it was forgotten. We tried software, flashcards, manipulatives, workbooks, tutoring and summer school. I decided to try Two Plus Two is Not Five.

Finally, my daughter is successful. She doesn't have to memorize math facts, but learns the facts by looking for numerical relationships (i.e. next to each other). After practice tools that build these skills she quickly sees the patterns presented and no longer has to depend on rote memorization and recall.

I've worked with my 6 yr old using flash cards. Hey, it's the way I learned as a kid. But still, I found that instead of memorizing them, she would continue to use her fingers. For her, they were just a bunch of numbers, but without any meaning. With the tricks in this book, she isn't memorizing math facts but developing an understanding how the math fact works in order to get the correct result. With every cumulative practice worksheet, she names the trick and then tells me how the trick is done to arrive at the answer. For the first time, there is meaning to what she is learning instead of simply counting on her fingers. We are still in the beginning part of the book, however, I do believe that when we get to the big subtraction/addition numbers in the book that her face will not glaze over with that "I can't do that" look. She'll be equipped to handle and will continue to be excited to see her own progress. Thank you so very much for this book. It's been just what we need!

This is a good supplement to add to a teaching arsensal for students that are cognitively delayed but due to NCLB are forced to receive the same instruction at the same pace as the other students without any benefit of remediation. Unfortunately that is about 10% if you believe in the statistical relevance of the bell curve rather than dimwitted politicians.

GREAT book for my struggling 2nd grader! At long last, after weeks of class-test failures, this is the one that brought the light to her sweet face. The tricks are pretty cool and mostly very helpful. For us, a few tricks were a little cumbersome to use. Nevertheless the arrangement of the lessons and the repetitions and refreshers together made it all WORK!

For those who want to hear the tricks that were hard for my child: Number In The Middle such as 8+6 is the same as Doubles 7+7. While this is useful and needed information, I think conceptually, this was a lot for my 7-yr old to switcheroo. Also a bit hard, Magic Nine, BUT she already had a handle that if she subtracts 10, then adds one back, she'll have it. So here, my girl had her own trick, and one shouldn't mess with what works. Nevertheless, DON'T let these minor criticisms deter you from buying--your child may love these tricks too OR you'll work through them like I did. The point is that IF you run into a difficulty like mine, you can manage it. A great, very well put-together book! I thank you wholeheartedly Susan R. Greenwald! (And shortly, on to the Multiplication book!)

This book is wonderful. The order that the math facts are taught in the book follow school textbook curriculum. I teach 1 -2 math fact tricks a week, depending on what concept is being taught in my classroom that week. My students remember which math fact to use when doing math calculations. This is so much better than counting on fingers!! Kids feel so much more confident when doing math when the answer comes automatically for them.
This is must have for parents and teachers!