Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion New Math Book for Gifted Students

I have always had a lot of girls on my math teams. As a social scientist I have to say that it's probably just a coincidence plus the fact that I have daughters. But it could also be that my more reading-oriented approach is a good fit for many girls.

If it's not too much bragging, you can find a story about some of my girls at
http://mathprizeforgirlscommunity.blogspot.com/2012/08/newton-north-math-prize-shout-out.html

gellison--that is awesome; thanks for posting that! Congratulations to you and your daughters. It's wonderful that you took the time to do all that for the team, and that they did so well.

I have been looking into this kind of team a little, but it seems like opportunities here (a mid-sized, Southeastern city) are pretty limited. Which is kind of surprising to me given the number of high-tech, mathy businesses and also universities not too far away. Maybe I need to look harder to find the local groups, which I will do, but I am also wondering whether there are any such or similar teams that are not geographically limited. After all, in the age of the internet and Khan Academy, it seems like maybe somebody would be running a group via Google Hangouts or something similar?? I will keep searching. Not that our own DD is very into competitions at this point, but it would be nice to have more options. And I'm sure there are other girls in a similar situation who might be even more interested in math clubs.

WOW!!!!! You must be excruciatingly, if not unbearably, proud of your daughters.

Thank you for sharing the link about them. My daughter beamed, seeing the picture of "real" girls who had won the Math Prize for Girls, and reading of the team's growth from middle school to their unparalleled caliber in high school. I think those stories of growth are so important, regardless of how gifted someone may be.

Thank you for allowing my daughter and many other children to benefit from the work you did for your daughter and other local children by publishing your worksheets and books. You are to be lauded for your work with your children and their schools. With your professional demands, I cannot imagine anyone faulting you if you acted no further. A heartfelt thank you for doing the additional work to ensure that children like my little girl who do not live in an area with robust resources could benefit from your formidable mathematical mind as an elementary and middle school student.

Dbat, thank you for the suggestion to look at the Danica McKellar books. I'll check them out.

We face the same issue. We live in the southeast somewhat close to a mid-size city, and I haven't been able to find math circles, etc. in which they could participate, even when older. I've thought of starting a math circle, but their age and ability are so mismatched that I cannot really envision it working. My children have zero tolerance of something too easy. (Obviously, we homeschool.)

gellison, thank you for posting this. Wish it had been available a couple of years ago! Due to his triple acceleration, DS is beyond the elementary book, but I ended up buying your middle school book from Amazon.

One of the comments/reviews referenced a high school version of your book, but I could not find a link to it. Is that book out of print or did the reviewer mean to reference someone else's book.

I think that reviewer is probably just mistaken. I do have some handwritten lecture notes from when I've taught high school students about writing proofs, but have only given copies to a few kids and none sound like the one she mentions.

If kids are interested in high school contest-style math I'd recommend the AOPS books.

Thanks for all of the great insights-- I realize this is probably a touch off-topic for the thread, but--


Would you mind elaborating a bit?

Because of the lack of any direct instruction at all (long story-- cyberschool), we've had to take a strange path through high school mathematics. As a PhD scientist, statistics is an area where I feel far more comfortable than I do with teaching calculus to my DD. She is not probably 'mathy' the way some kids are; that is, gravitating to theoretical exploration. But she certainly enjoyed AP Physics B after she slogged through algebra-based classical mechanics, and loved geometry and algebra II. She doesn't like economics, even though she could see the appeal of the math in it (again, this is a longish story).


What things should I be on the look-out for as I coach my DD through AP stats? (Understanding that I've taught the material to undergraduate biology and chemistry majors, and a few graduate students in pharmacology.)

Any recommendations for improving understanding while working with that curriculum? Or is it just fatally flawed in your estimation?

One thing that I noticed with AP Physics B (aside from the clunky approach mandated by algebra) was that the syllabus was very prep-focused, VERY broad, and not very mastery-oriented. This wound up working out fine for my PG DD, who was more than able to work to a mastery level at that pace, we just had to offer explanations and add a supplemental text that was more conceptual than the example-heavy Giancoli that the course used. She found that she really enjoyed the modern physics semester.

Anyway. I'm just curious here and wanting to pick your brain a bit.

Our copy arrived last night, and I plan to share it with DD9 this weekend.

Howlerkarma, my lack of enthusiasm for AP Stats is related to the mastery issue.

I think statistics is a beautifully logical and consistent subject as well as an important one. But the right way to understand it is to start by learning probability, then learn the random variable concept, and then think of statistics as functions of random variables. If you do this everything makes a great deal of sense.

In my daughter's AP Statistics class they went in the opposite order. They spent the first few months talking about statistics and then did probability later in the year. When you do it this way, it seems like it becomes an exercise in learning that there are a large number of formulas you'd apply in different situations, but doesn't form a coherent whole.

In our department we teach statistics using Degroot and Schervish which is good, but I know it requires calculus and perhaps also some linear algebra. I don't know if there are AP-level textbooks that go in the more mathematically appealing order. (Like physics I also think statistics is better done using calculus.)

One other thing I would recommend if you are doing AP Stats is to also work with some statistical programming package. Our daughter's class did a lot of things with a graphing calculator which I thought was insane. No one really doing any statistical analysis would start by typing a dataset into a calculator, so I see no point in learning how to do that.


ElizabethN, I hope she likes it. For most 9-year-olds I'd start with Chapter 1 to build comfort. For some advanced and/or impatient kids Chapter 2 can will be a better place to start to let them know there will be things that are more novel.

I appreciate the insight. Sounds like I'll have the same-- exact-- feelings about this class as you have. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you've stated about starting with probability and building from there, because the math just falls effortlessly out of it. Well, as noted-- from the calculus approach it does. I also agree re: statistical analysis programs and calculator magic. GREAT tip to seek out a stats package for the PC.



Again, I appreciate the insight and the tip on a text with a superior approach. Thank you very much.