New Maths Help Book

[MathsMan]

Hello all, I'm a maths teacher and I'm writing a book to help secondary school students improve their maths. It's not a text book and it's not a revision guide, although it could be used to aid revision. I'm planning to release it as an e-book to sell for a few pounds (and I mean a FEW).

Questions :

1. Would any of you be interested in such a thing ?

2. If yes, would you / your ds / dd read it on a Kindle, iPad, laptop or other device (please specify), so I can plan what platforms it should be released on.

Thanks in anticipation.

1. No

The market is saturated with revision guides/maths books/websites and I doubt your idea would be that unique to make it worth your while!

(Speaking as a Head of Maths)

OK. Thank you for that.

Yes I would be interested, and particularly because you say it's not a text book or revision book. Makes me think it will perhaps open up how we use maths every day (and get away from the phrase "when will I ever us this again!" And not just another maths lesson).

A tablet version please.

If it's not a textbook or a revision book then what is it?

Yes. My Dd really struggles with Maths and the Internet might be swamped but I can never find the right thing.

Interactive app would be good.

Or could you just pop round?

Hmm, my 13yo has dyscalculia would it be suitable for her? Nothing else on the market is anywhere near her level.
iPad for us.

Another Head of Maths here.

What would the book be? How would it be different from all the others on the market? Who do you expect to buy it - schools or parents?

Thank you for your responses.

Anoushka - thank you for your interest, I wasn't intending to go into how the maths could be used, but it's a valid point. It's intended to be more of a "how to do ..."

noblegiraffe - I suppose it is intended to be a kind of "self-help" book, there are plenty of textbooks and revision guides already, and good ones. The more I write it the more I'm conscious of the intended user - I started out writing it for students, now I'm thinking of making it for parents - maybe I need to do both, hence my question here.

ExitPursuedByA Bear - I could pop round (jokes) but if I write the book then maybe I wouldn't need to, and it would help lots of people.

thornrose - difficult to say without knowing exactly what your daughter finds difficult, but it is not intended to cover special needs, more mainstream secondary to GCSE. However, I'm trying to explain the content really clearly to aid understanding.

marcopront - as I said above, I'm kind of pigeon-holing it in "self-help" although I'm currently leaning towards "parental-help" and I'm not sure if this is a good idea - hence my questions here.

I can't really expand on how it's different from other books as I think that I have a different angle and if I leak it here, someone else might go and write it first ! It is not intended for schools, there are plenty of good, comprehensive textbooks out there, it's intended for home use.

So who should I write it for - parents or kids ? I think it would have to be written differently. Do parents have the time ?? I know they're always keen to help, but often don't know how.

Again, thanks for your interest.

I have a 12 year old with dyscalculia, so I am in the maths-book buying population - but there isn't much around. Loads for GCSE though.

Tablet format or a plain old book for me. :D

I agree ther is plenty of stuff for GCSE and for 11+ (i have one of those atm) but I have struggled this year for top set but reluctant mathematician in year 8. We got a couple if letts ks3 books which were about half too easy and all dull and it was like pulling teeth to make her do any. She's 12 and was very jealous of DD2's sticker books and crosswords for maths practice. She asked us to help by the way!! and made fantastic progress in the end so it paid off but it was grim. ipad best or maybe iphone. Something with a built in progress/reward chart would be nice that parent could link to a suitable treat. I reckon some kids would like a go on a little game at each level or to collect coins or jewels of different sorts?

Something that not just covers the "how to" route, but also covers the "why" if you see what I mean. My dd finds maths very difficult if she does not understand why she is doing something. It is not enough to say "you do this, then this and this, to get this" because her memory is poor for this type of learning. If she can see the why, then she can follow logically and it makes much more sense to her.

Would be interested in a version for tablet, so we can snuggle on sofa together and help each other

Thanks all,

alimac87 - I'm thinking now of maybe two books, one for KeyStage 3 (years 7-9) and one for KeyStage 4 (GCSE). I take your point that there is a lot for GCSE.

FriedSprout - in terms of the why, do you mean why from a real-life point of view, or why from a mathematical point of view ? I always try to impress on my students that they need to understand the methods I show them and not just apply them blindly. Real-life examples are sometimes easy to find, sometimes not, and not everything has a real-life application directly - sometimes we need to learn a mathematical technique as a building block to be able to do something more complicated, that THEN has a practical application.

Thanks for your interest, keep 'em coming.