Math Thinker

I first heard about Danica McKellar’s book in an NPR Podcast interview with her. I was very impressed and moved by Ms. McKellar’s dedication to promoting math education for young women. Too bad I didn’t have such a role model when I was a child.

I like this book.

There are a few flowery and girly things in the book that I have a little difficulty with, but I believe that it really does capture the main math concepts needed by students before they dive into Algebra: factors, primes, rational numbers/fractions, decimal representation of fractions, word problems, and solving for variables. More, importantly she tackles problems and examples of these concepts from subjects that girls can relate to. Some how, she successfully ties in beading, pizza, shoe shopping, espresso, the schoolgirl’s crush, etc. into the examples and problem sets in the book. More importantly, the book doesn’t talk down to girls.

Also, throughout the book Danica features the stories of several successful women who used math in their careers. I think these sections of the book are key for young women. This may date me, but I was told by a teacher that I didn’t need to know math because “I was a girl.” Infuriating as this was, I had to realize that this woman was still stuck in the Dark Ages. Ms. McKellar aptly states in her book, “… we have to be careful that we don’t fall victim to other people’s low expectations.” Kudos to Ms. McKellar for developing a wonderful book that reaches out to young women who are just starting to engage in the wonderfully empowering subject of Math.

P.S. I think the examples throughout this book can be used by Middle School teachers in addition to any examples they come up with in class.

You can read more about Danica McKellar and her book at her website: http://www.danicamckellar.com/