How math works : a guide to grade school arithmetic for parents and teachers / G. Arnell Williams.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Part one : The relevance of the past. Tools of the intellect -- The world in symbols -- An ancient tool gives rise to modern mathematics -- The ancients perform miracles with numbers -- Part two : The spectacular fusion of calculation with writing. Numeral formations come to arithmetic -- The symmetry of repetition -- Dance of the digits -- The highest mathematical faculties -- The powder keg of arithmetic education -- Part three : Beautiful dreams and horrible nightmares. Triumph of the numerals -- From the frontier to the classroom -- Part four : Illuminations. Symbolic illumination -- General resumé.

We hear all the time how American children are falling behind their global peers in various basic subjects, but particularly in math. Is it our fear of math that constrains us? Or our inability to understand math's place in relation to our everyday lives? How can we help our children better understand the basics of arithmetic if we're not really sure we understand them ourselves? Here, G. Arnell Williams helps parents and teachers explore the world of math that their elementary school children are learning. Taking readers on a tour of the history of arithmetic, and its growth into the subject we know it to be today, Williams explores the beauty and relevance of mathematics by focusing on the great conceptual depth and genius already inherent in the elementary mathematics familiar to us all, and by connecting it to other well-known areas such as language and the conceptual aspects of everyday life. The result is a book that will help you to better explain mathematics to your children. For those already well versed in these areas, the book offers a tour of the great conceptual and historical facts and assumptions that most simply take for granted. If you are someone who has always struggled with mathematics either because you couldn't do it or because you never really understood why the rules are the way they are, if you were irritated with the way it was taught to you with the emphasis being only on learning the rules and "recipes" by rote as opposed to obtaining a good conceptual understanding, then How Math Works is for you! - Publisher.

Math is a subject many people find intimidating. But many don't understand the history of math and how it came to be what it is today. Here, G. Arnell Williams illuminates, in plain and simple terms, how we got the math we use today, the math our children learn, and the math we struggle at times to explain. -- Provided by publisher.