• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: December 25, 2019
• Written by: Susan

I have always been a supporter of children having Lego to play with, but not because I wanted my children to keep busy and have fun playing, well, maybe a little of that, but for lots of other reasons, and I love and advocate Lego building for all ages.

While I was trying to fall asleep last night, I began mentally listing some reasons that Lego is educational and important for all ages from the youngest of children up through, well even up to older adults! So here is my list so far. If you can think of some others, please contact me, and I’ll include them!

Sorting colors
Color naming
Sorting by size and shape.
Counting pieces or the number of dots on the pieces.
Fine motor skills. Manipulating the pieces onto a Lego board or other Lego pieces.
Matching pieces to the pieces shown in the instruction booklets
Following directions. (Wow, this is a biggie!)

Addition and subtraction. I have 5 tiny black squares, but need 6. How many more do I need?
Learning to multiply. Lego pieces have rows of little dots. One row of 4 dots, or a 1 by 4, is an 4; two rows of 6 dots, or a 2 by 6, is a 12 piece, 4 rows of 4 is a 4 by 4 or 16 piece.
Learning to divide. Just the other day, we had to find 24 tiny clear pieces and stick them together in stacks of 6, yielding 4 stacks of 6. 24 divided by 6 is 4.

Sequencing while following directions. What to do 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so forth. Sequencing helps improve reading and spelling skills too.
Vocabulary such as first, second, last, next to, behind, under, above, taller, shorter, flat, smooth, thin, thick, circular, barrel-shaped, angled, larger, smaller, tiny ….
Spatial relations. Finding the correct locations in which to place each Lego piece. (This includes more counting!)
Figure ground skills. Searching to find a particular piece from a large group of many different pieces. It’s harder than it sounds.
Visual discrimination and sometimes with the more advanced Lego sets, trying to figure out from the instruction booklet exactly which piece is needed and how to place it can be tough.
Tactile challenges. Fitting pieces into place requires using the sense of touch and finger dexterity, and can be a real challenge.

Self-esteem. A feeling of accomplishment as the Lego project progresses and becomes completed. I hear my little granddaughter now using vocabulary words such as awesome and perfect.
Creativity. Choose instead to take Lego pieces and build whatever one’s imagination directs.
Imaginative play and creativity. I often observe children playing with their completed Lego projects, created buildings, vehicles, Lego people and more.
Learning to work cooperatively with others to search for pieces, put Lego sets together, and to play together. My children spent hours with their Lego cities and other Lego themes.

Brain stimulation! At my age, this is one of the main reasons Lego is in our family room and being worked on by us “less young” folks. Yup, including me. I incorporate Lego building into a weekly, if not daily, routine. My husband also benefits from Lego project-building, the first of which we completed together is shown below; we are nearly finished with a Lego Taj Mahal; and received another architecture Lego set for a holiday gift!

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: December 2, 2019
• Written by: Susan

If you child needs to learn math facts, and you need only only book, we are offering free shipping this month.

Free shipping throughout December!

If you only need one book, shipping is also FREE!

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: August 19, 2019
• Written by: Susan

Whether you are part of a year-round school, you start the beginning of August, or after Labor Day, back-to-school is always an exciting time. I enjoy seeing teachers’ posts on Twitter of photos of their classrooms. Their enthusiasm is wonderful, and I am sure it extends to their students as they enter the classroom.

I always look for glimpses of math-related posters or centers. Reading is very important; including learning the sounds to be able to read. I feel the same way about math. Math facts are the keys that open the doors to be able to solve harder computation and word problems.

Ask any teacher or parent if they know students who still need to use counting devices, fingers, or charts to answer basic addition and subtraction facts, or multiplication facts. Ask if this inability affects the student’s math grades, speed in finishing math assignments, and general self-esteem in the area of math. Knowing the math facts will ease the students’ ability to continue to learn other basic math skills and to solve word problems in all subjects and areas of life.

If you are looking for a good program for math facts mastery, and want to make a difference for your students, Two Plus Two Is Not Five has strategies for addition and subtraction facts, and Five Times Five Is Not Ten is our multiplication workbook. Both workbooks have been helping teachers and parents teach math facts to children for over ten years.

View the sample pages, and search the Blog for strategies to get an idea of why these workbooks do make a difference for children, of any age, who still need to become fluent with math facts. There are two other workbooks. One is for children ready to learn division facts, and the other is for learning more advanced addition and subtraction, beyond math facts.

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: August 13, 2019
• Written by: Susan

I am reposting this from a previous post because children need to understand and memorize math facts. Also, post-covid, many children might have missed out on having the opportunity to have learned addition and subtraction facts during the school year, and may still be counting on fingers to get answers. Don’t let the summer slide make things worse.

Reasons to Buy

Two Plus Two Is Not Five
Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction

You are a parent or grandparent and know children need to master addition and subtraction facts.

You are an elementary school teacher who has students needing to learn math facts to 18, and would appreciate a different kind of workbook with strategies to help kids learn.

You are an upper level teacher and you need practice pages for students who are still struggling with basic addition and subtraction facts.

You homeschool children and want a math workbook with instruction and lots of practice and review pages.

You want to give a head start to young children who have the readiness skills, and are asking to learn.

You know students with or without a learning disability who still use number lines, counters, or charts to get answers to basic addition and subtraction facts to 18.

Your child has not had success in memorizing math facts, and was told to “just use a calculator.”

You have students who need to learn, brush-up on, or review math facts.

You want to put the GOOD back into self-concept. You want children to gain confidence while doing math tasks, and hear them say, “I love math. Math is fun!”

You are in an educational leadership position, and know that once math facts are mastered, students will be able to focus on learning new skills including solving mathematics problems.

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: June 13, 2019
• Written by: Susan

1. When shopping for a few items, have children mentally estimate the total. (Practice with estimation and addition.)
   
2. If on a long car journey, tell children how many miles your car can get with one gallon of gas, and how far you are driving. Ask them to figure about how many gallons of gas you will use. (Practice with division.)
   
3. With the answer from number 2, ask them to figure the approximate cost to do the drive. Point out the price of a gallon of gas at the gas station. (Practice with multiplication or repeated addition.)
   
4. If you notice identical light fixtures in a building with the same number of light bulbs, have them figure out how many bulbs there are in that room. (Practice with repeated addition or multiplication.)
   
5. Baking or cooking? Include your children to help with measurement. Use this time to help them understand what the lines on a measuring cup mean. If doubling or tripling a recipe, let them help do the math! (Practice with addition, fractions, and measurement.)
   

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: June 11, 2019
• Written by: Susan

Last month I received another email from Georgia’s Rabun County Primary School. In September this year, they had ordered one copy of Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction for each of the 2nd grade students, and now, because the books helped the children master addition and subtraction facts, they wanted to order again for the 2019-2020 school year.

It isn’t often that I get to hear feedback from principals and teachers. In December, this principal sent me a few comments (see below) from the 2nd grade teachers, but when schools order one book for each of their 2nd graders for a second year in a row – well, that’s one of the best testimonials!

If you are a principal or purchaser of workbooks for your school or district, please contact me about pricing for large orders.

—————————————————————————————————————-

“We are very excited to have such an awesome resource for our students to work on building fact fluency.  Teachers and students are loving it!” – Kelly McKay, Principal, Rabun County Primary School

 “I have seen an improvement with my students fact fluency since started using this. It is quick and easy to use…takes about 5 min at the most each day-and students really like the tricks.” – Carla Kilby, 2nd Grade Teacher, Rabun County Primary School

 “I really like the book and all of the tricks in it. It doesn’t take up too much of our time each day, and it’s great practice for the students.” – Heather Stockton, 2nd Grade Teacher, Rabun County Primary School

 “We love it, and our kids really get excited about working on it each week.” – Beth Scruggs, 2nd Grade Teacher, Rabun County Primary School

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: March 14, 2019
• Written by: Susan

To see examples of sample workbook pages that introduce math facts using
the 2 Ladder strategy visit:
https://www.longevitypublishing.com/sample.pdf

IMPORTANT: Before asking children to memorize answers to math facts, be sure that they can demonstrate what the math facts mean.

Once children can count by 2s to at least ten, teach them these addition facts:

2+4, 4+2, 6+2, 6+2, 2+8, 8+2

Tell them to think of going up a ladder with two feet. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Draw a ladder and show the numbers going up by 2’s.

Ask: What comes after the 2 when counting by 2’s? 2+2 = 4
What comes after the 4 when counting by 2’s? 4+2 = 6
What comes after the 6 when counting by 2’s? 6+2 = 8
What comes after the 8 when counting by 2’s? 8+2 = 10
Offer counters, and let kids discover that a number +2 is the same answer as 2+ a number.
(2+4, 2+6, 2+8)

Once the children are comfortable with these math facts, help them learn to count backwards by 2’s from 10.
10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0
This will allow them to learn the related subtraction facts.
To teach 10-2, ask what comes under the 10 when counting down by 2’s on the 2 ladder.
For 8-2: What comes under the 8 when counting down by 2’s
For 6-2: What comes under the 6 when counting down by 2’s
For 4-2: What comes under the 8 when counting down by 2’s

View sample pages from Two Plus Two Is Not Ten: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction.

To see more strategies from our math workbooks, search for Strategies in the top right corner.

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: December 11, 2018
• Written by: Susan

The principal at Georgia’s Rabun County Primary School called me in September this year. She wanted to order one copy of Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction for each of the 2nd grade students in her school. She purchased copies for each of the 2nd grade teachers last year, and liked the books so much that she wanted each student to have a copy. It isn’t often that I get to hear feedback from principals and teachers. I asked her if she would send something that I could post in my testimonials, and she agreed. Here is what I received today from her and a few of the teachers.

“We are very excited to have such an awesome resource for our students to work on building fact fluency.  Teachers and students are loving it!” – Kelly McKay, Principal, Rabun County Primary School

If you are a principal or purchaser of workbooks for your school or district, please contact me about pricing for large orders.

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: July 30, 2018
• Written by: Susan

I first published this a few years ago.  I mentioned teaching my young granddaughter a card game called Golf. It is a game we play with some adult friends, and was easy to teach to my then 6 year-old granddaughter. She enjoyed the game, and didn’t realize she was “Doing math” to play and total her points. We played this for well over an hour on an airplane ride too, and it’s now a game we play whenever we get together.

The game is played with 2-6 players. Use one deck of cards. Each player is dealt 4 cards face down per round. Play 18 rounds-hence the name, Golf.
Object: Score the least number of points  
Card values: Ace = 1 point; 2 through 10 are face value (2 points up to 10 points);
Jacks and Queens are each 10 points;
Kings = ZERO!;
PAIR = ZERO!;
Three of a kind = -5! (That’s minus 5);
Four of a kind = – 10! (Minus 10)
Note:  1 King = 0 points, 2 Kings= 0, 3 kings= -5, and 4 kings = -10
Therefore, Kings, pairs, 3 and 4 of a kind, Aces and low point cards are better than high point cards.
Jacks or Queens, 9,8,7,6,5’s, unless you have a pair, or 3 or 4 of a kind are high points.

After each round, the value for the 4 cards is added up for each person’s score. I love this part! “Doing the math!”
Examples: Jack, Queen, 4 and Ace: (10, 10, 4, 1) = 25 points
Ace, Ace, 2, King: (0, 2, 0) = 2 points
8, 8, 8, 6: -5, 6 = 1 point
5, 3, 9, Jack = 27 points

How to play: Each player is dealt 4 cards face down. Place your 4 cards face down in a square, and keep 2 cards close to you, and 2 cards farther away. You may look at the 2 cards CLOSE to you, but NOT at the other 2. The rest of the cards are in a pile face down and become the pile to pick from. One card is faced up, and that is the Discard pile.

Here’s where the fun, chance, choices,and risk start!

1. At each of your four turns for this Golf round, you may choose either from the face up discard or from the face down pile. You cannot look at the card from the pile and then change your mind. Once you pick from the pile, it’s yours for that turn. You may choose to keep the card or discard it. Everyone can see this card because it will now become one of your face up cards OR you will discard it.

2. At each turn, you must face up one card and discard one card. If you don’t like the card you picked from the pile, then discard it and you must face up one of the four cards. You can choose to face up one of two cards close to you that you looked at and you know what they are, OR take a chance and turn over one of the two UNKNOWN cards. Once you do that, you may not change your mind. That card stays face up now, and may not be moved or exchanged again. If you are stuck with a high value card, you never know, you may get lucky and pick another to match for a pair! Or, maybe you picked a low-scoring card OR a card to match another you have to make a pair!

If you chose to keep the card you picked from the pile, you can place it face up in place of either one of the cards you looked at that you don’t like, OR, take a chance, say you are keeping it,  and place it face up in place of one of the UNKNOWN cards. Once you turn over the unknown card to discard it, you must discard it even if it’s a card you like.

*You cannot peek to see what’s under the UNKNOWN before deciding what to do.

Once a card is faced up, it cannot be exchanged.

At this point, the next player has a choice of taking your discard or picking from the pile. If the next player LIKES the discard, then it would be picked and turned over in place of one of her other face down cards. For example: Discard is a Jack. Player 2 knows one of the cards she looked at is a Jack, so Player 2 picks it for a PAIR, and turns it over in place of another card-either an UNKNOWN or the other card Player 2 knows she has, and doesn’t want. Or, if Player 1 had discarded an UNKNOWN card which happened to be a King or Ace, or other low card, Player 2 might want that because it has a low score value.

Play continues until all four cards are face up. Score is tallied and then another set of four cards are dealt, until 18 rounds of Golf are played. Lowest score, like in golf, wins!

Children will have fun making choices to play the game, and then adding up their four cards. They can total their running scores as well. It lends well to to teaching regrouping of tens and ones, and use of negative points and subtracting! My granddaughter wanted to tally my score as well.
Even more important, this is good quality family time!

• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: April 5, 2018
• Written by: Susan

Free Shipping:

We are continuing to offer free shipping on orders of $20 or more.

Reduced Shipping: 

We have reduced the shipping fee for purchases under $20 to only $3.50 from $4.95. If you “Do the math,” this saves you, our customers, $1.45.

“Scuffed” Cover discounted pricing:

Note the low prices on copies of Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction and Five Times Five Is Not Ten: Make Multiplication Easy. These math fact workbooks are NEW and NEVER USED, but have some scuffed areas or minor damage to the book covers. The insides of the workbooks are perfect. The outsides have such little damage that when you receive your copy, you might even wonder why the books were even reduced in price.

Bundles at discounted pricing:

Many teachers and parents like to buy sets of our books. We offer a variety of combinations, so look for the one that meets your teaching needs, and save money!

Please contact us if you have a specific combination of books that IS NOT listed on our site.
Schools sending a PO: Contact us regarding multiple copies of titles.