I'm Just A Math Man, He's THE Mathman

When I was a teacher I found a lot of interesting information on how to better teach math to children. I was trying to teach geometry to high schoolers when I came across the brilliant book Calculus By and For Young People by Don Cohen, whose philosophy is to give even elementary school-aged children "real math" problems and teach them how to think like mathematicians and scientists as early as possible.

Cohen left his job teaching school and has spent the last 34 years as the Mathman, working with small groups of children in his home. As can be seen in his book and website, he teaches young kids very high-level mathematical topics before they learn to hate or fear them. It's all about looking for patterns and since it's a fun game, giving up isn't an option.

However, his works are not what we commonly think of as children's books. Adults can also approach infinite series and matrices using the same materials. In my experience, this achievement is unique in the entire field of educational publishing. The tone of his books is that of a student exploring the topics in a playful, patient but determined way. Who else could "discover" his way to a dozen methods of solving quadratic equations?

I recently emailed him for feedback on a differential equations exploration I worked up, and he wrote back with questions as if he were an eager student and I were the teacher!

By adopting Don's perspective of being a lifelong student of math, I learn every time I teach a topic or sit down with a tutoring client. Read his page "On Thinking About and Doing Mathematics" for more wisdom.