Showing posts with label Danica McKellar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danica McKellar. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail
Product Description
The runaway national bestseller, now in paperback
About the Author
Danica McKellar, best known for her roles on The Wonder Years and The West Wing, graduated summa cum laude in mathematics from UCLA, where she co-wrote a groundbreaking mathematical physics theorem, published in Britain’s esteemed Journal of Physics. She has spoken before Congress about the importance of women in math and continues to be an outspoken advocate for math education.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Math Doesn't Suck:How to Survive Middle School Math
When I was seven, my mother got a Mathematics degree. At 29, I got my own Mathematics degree -- and of 60 people that day who got Math bachelor degrees then and there with me, only three were women. My mother proved, and those three co-graduating women proved, and Danica proves now, that women can learn math. But that's not what junior-high and high school girls think, is it? Most teen girls think they're math-morons.
Danica has written this book for such math-panicked teen girls -- Danica has written this book not only to TEACH them, but to ENCOURAGE them: "You can learn this!"
The math covered in Danica's book is junior-high level -- Danica presumes that the reader already knows how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; then Danica takes the reader up through Algebra I. Danica's math is solid; and Danica's explanations, easy to understand.
But this is not your brother's math book. If you flipped through the book quickly, not reading the text, the illustrations and all the girly-handwriting would make you think that it was a book about teen fashion. The book also has chapter headings like no other math book I've seen -- Chapter 7, for instance, is entitled, "Is Your Sister Trying to Cheat You Out of Your Fair Share? (Comparing Fractions)." Chapter 9, on complex fractions, starts out, "Say you're trying on an outfit for a party. You've got the dress, the shoes, and the earrings -- and now you're choosing the right necklace...."
Danica also includes three "testimonials" (profiles) of young women who are successful in their careers because they've mastered math. Rather than show three "Ugly Betties" or nerdettes, the three women profiled are BABES.
To me, the most amazing thing about her book is that she tells the "blank quiz" story about herself: In a seventh-grade math class, "[w]hen the bell rang and my quiz was still blank, I wanted to disappear into my chair. I just didn't want to EXIST."
When I read this book, I learned something. Not about math, but about people. Junior-high girls, in particular. I give this book a 4.99999999999999999...-star rating.What will this book teach your daughter? That she can work out math problems by herself. That she can learn to love math, and even excel at it. And that she can do these things while still being every bit as girlie as she wants to be. Makeup and math? Yes, this book says, you can love them both.
Will girls read it? I think so, because, unlike so many academic texts, "Math Doesn't Suck" is so much more than a study guide. Author McKellar -- yes, Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years" but also a summa cum laude math grad from UCLA -- combines a step-by-step approach to middle-school math concepts with lots of personal anecdotes (such as how she once struggled with particular math problems) as well as stories of how other feminine women have excelled in the subject. Also adding some insight is McKellar's 12-year-old goddaughter, Tori.
Best of all, McKellar makes her points well. Each chapter is devoted to just one topic (i.e., decimals, or factoring) and uses real-life situations (baby-sitting, shopping) that really make things easy to understand.
Overall the book's chapter titles are a little too pink-and-purple for my tastes, but then again I'm not the target audience. I'm not 13, striving to define myself while getting Paris Hilton, the Pussycat Dolls and Hooters commercials driven into my brain. Girls can be smart AND feminine? Math is for them? Say amen, somebody!
Danica has written this book for such math-panicked teen girls -- Danica has written this book not only to TEACH them, but to ENCOURAGE them: "You can learn this!"
The math covered in Danica's book is junior-high level -- Danica presumes that the reader already knows how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; then Danica takes the reader up through Algebra I. Danica's math is solid; and Danica's explanations, easy to understand.
But this is not your brother's math book. If you flipped through the book quickly, not reading the text, the illustrations and all the girly-handwriting would make you think that it was a book about teen fashion. The book also has chapter headings like no other math book I've seen -- Chapter 7, for instance, is entitled, "Is Your Sister Trying to Cheat You Out of Your Fair Share? (Comparing Fractions)." Chapter 9, on complex fractions, starts out, "Say you're trying on an outfit for a party. You've got the dress, the shoes, and the earrings -- and now you're choosing the right necklace...."
Danica also includes three "testimonials" (profiles) of young women who are successful in their careers because they've mastered math. Rather than show three "Ugly Betties" or nerdettes, the three women profiled are BABES.
To me, the most amazing thing about her book is that she tells the "blank quiz" story about herself: In a seventh-grade math class, "[w]hen the bell rang and my quiz was still blank, I wanted to disappear into my chair. I just didn't want to EXIST."
When I read this book, I learned something. Not about math, but about people. Junior-high girls, in particular. I give this book a 4.99999999999999999...-star rating.What will this book teach your daughter? That she can work out math problems by herself. That she can learn to love math, and even excel at it. And that she can do these things while still being every bit as girlie as she wants to be. Makeup and math? Yes, this book says, you can love them both.
Will girls read it? I think so, because, unlike so many academic texts, "Math Doesn't Suck" is so much more than a study guide. Author McKellar -- yes, Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years" but also a summa cum laude math grad from UCLA -- combines a step-by-step approach to middle-school math concepts with lots of personal anecdotes (such as how she once struggled with particular math problems) as well as stories of how other feminine women have excelled in the subject. Also adding some insight is McKellar's 12-year-old goddaughter, Tori.
Best of all, McKellar makes her points well. Each chapter is devoted to just one topic (i.e., decimals, or factoring) and uses real-life situations (baby-sitting, shopping) that really make things easy to understand.
Overall the book's chapter titles are a little too pink-and-purple for my tastes, but then again I'm not the target audience. I'm not 13, striving to define myself while getting Paris Hilton, the Pussycat Dolls and Hooters commercials driven into my brain. Girls can be smart AND feminine? Math is for them? Say amen, somebody!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss
Product Description
From the author of the runaway bestseller Math Doesn’t Suck, the next step in the math curriculum-- pre-Algebra.
Last year, actress and math genius Danica McKellar made waves nationwide, challenging the “math nerd” stereotype—and giving girls the tools to ace tests and homework in her unique just-us-girls style. Now, in Kiss My Math, McKellar empowers a new crop of girls—7th to 9th graders—taking on the next level of mathematics: pre-Algebra.
Stepping up not only the math, but also the sass and style, Kiss My Math will help math-phobic teenagers everywhere chill out about math, and finally “get” negative numbers, variables, absolute values, exponents, and more. Each chapter features:
• Step-by-step instruction
• Time-saving tips and tricks
• Illuminating practice problems with detailed solutions
• Real-world examples
• True stories from Danica’s own life as a student and actress
Kiss My Math also includes more fun extras--including personality quizzes, reader polls, and real-life testimonials-- ultimately revealing why pre-Algebra is easier, more relevant, and more glamorous than girls think.
About the Author
Best known for her roles on The Wonder Years and The West Wing, Danica McKellar is also an internationally recognized mathematician. She was chosen as ABC World News Tonight’s “Person of the Week” for writing Math Doesn’t Suck and has recently been featured in Newsweek and The New York Times, and on the CBS Early Show, and NPR’s Science Friday.
From the author of the runaway bestseller Math Doesn’t Suck, the next step in the math curriculum-- pre-Algebra.
Last year, actress and math genius Danica McKellar made waves nationwide, challenging the “math nerd” stereotype—and giving girls the tools to ace tests and homework in her unique just-us-girls style. Now, in Kiss My Math, McKellar empowers a new crop of girls—7th to 9th graders—taking on the next level of mathematics: pre-Algebra.
Stepping up not only the math, but also the sass and style, Kiss My Math will help math-phobic teenagers everywhere chill out about math, and finally “get” negative numbers, variables, absolute values, exponents, and more. Each chapter features:
• Step-by-step instruction
• Time-saving tips and tricks
• Illuminating practice problems with detailed solutions
• Real-world examples
• True stories from Danica’s own life as a student and actress
Kiss My Math also includes more fun extras--including personality quizzes, reader polls, and real-life testimonials-- ultimately revealing why pre-Algebra is easier, more relevant, and more glamorous than girls think.
About the Author
Best known for her roles on The Wonder Years and The West Wing, Danica McKellar is also an internationally recognized mathematician. She was chosen as ABC World News Tonight’s “Person of the Week” for writing Math Doesn’t Suck and has recently been featured in Newsweek and The New York Times, and on the CBS Early Show, and NPR’s Science Friday.
Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail
“Danica McKellar has a message for girls: Cute and smart is better than cute and dumb.”
— The Associated Press
“[A] fun and accessible resource to help spark undiscovered math abilities in girls.”
— Dr. Sally Ride, first American woman in space
“McKellar is probably the only person on prime-time television who moonlights as a cyberspace math tutor.”
— The New York Times
Product Description
The runaway national bestseller, now in paperback
About the Author
Danica McKellar, best known for her roles on The Wonder Years and The West Wing, graduated summa cum laude in mathematics from UCLA, where she co-wrote a groundbreaking mathematical physics theorem, published in Britain’s esteemed Journal of Physics. She has spoken before Congress about the importance of women in math and continues to be an outspoken advocate for math education.
— The Associated Press
“[A] fun and accessible resource to help spark undiscovered math abilities in girls.”
— Dr. Sally Ride, first American woman in space
“McKellar is probably the only person on prime-time television who moonlights as a cyberspace math tutor.”
— The New York Times
Product Description
The runaway national bestseller, now in paperback
About the Author
Danica McKellar, best known for her roles on The Wonder Years and The West Wing, graduated summa cum laude in mathematics from UCLA, where she co-wrote a groundbreaking mathematical physics theorem, published in Britain’s esteemed Journal of Physics. She has spoken before Congress about the importance of women in math and continues to be an outspoken advocate for math education.
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