I launched this Mag to demonstrate to my then-5-year-old son that math can be a fun and fascinating subject, rather than boring and mundane. As a child, I became drawn to math and science through reading intriguing stories, and I felt that there was a lack of similar materials available for young kids. So I decided to create a Mag to showcase the wonder of math to my son. The primary goal is not to provide children with specific math knowledge, but to immerse them in the enjoyment of math. If we can connect math with the word "fun" in our kids' minds, then we will have accomplished our objective. After all, interest is the most effective teacher.
Sphinx’ New Riddles
January 9, 2022
“Have you heard of the Riddle of the Sphinx?” I asked my son. “No, can you tell me!” “In ancient Egyptian and Greek myths, Sphinx is a monster creature with a lion’s body and a human’s head. The most famous statue of Sphinx is the one you often see next to the Great Pyramid. “Legend […]
An Investment Class For 7-year-olds
January 7, 2022
Son is turning 7. It’s time for an investment class. OK, not really. But it doesn’t hurt to try, right? So I gave him a 100 dollar bill. “Let’s say if you put this bill in a bank, the next year you will have 110 dollars in your bank account.” (Well, this is very hypothetical, […]
The Stories of Little Carl
January 1, 2022
Year 1784, Town of Braunschweig, Germany. It was a hot day. In the town’s elementary school, a hundred or so 7-year-olds were studying in the first grade classroom. It was a typical-sized class of that age. When I say studying, they were reading, talking and mostly making noises. The teacher became impatient while trying to […]
24 Game Episode 2 – Odd and Even Numbers
August 29, 2021
Previous episode on 24 Game. After some practice runs of the card game 24, son became very interested and played more. He noticed sometimes the solution is simply adding the values of the 4 cards to get the number 24. “I can tell if the total of the 4 cards is not 24, in 1 […]
24 Game
July 25, 2021
My son enjoyed it a lot playing the card game 24 with me. I found it a fun game to improve his basic math calculation skills at his age. For those who don’t know the game: it’s a simple game using an ordinary deck of playing cards. Remove all the face cards. Aces have the […]
Dice, Probability and Bell Curve
September 29, 2021
I was playing The Settlers of Catan (a board game) with my son. The game uses two dice. Each time a player rolls the two dice and records the sum. A simplified summary of the rules If the number matches the label on a land of yours, you can get some type of building materials. […]
Rice on the Chessboard
July 18, 2021
My son is a pretty big chess fan. So he was delighted when I told him this story. Legend has it that chess was invented by Sissa from India. He presented his new creation to the king, who was highly entertained by the game and offered Sissa a gift. The king allowed Sissa to choose […]
Preface
July 6, 2021
One day, while my son was in Kindergarten, he was working on a math worksheet that had dozens of simple addition problems. He looked up at me and said, “Dad, math is boring.” I immediately responded, “Wait a minute, math is not boring. It’s actually a lot of FUN!” As a child, I discovered my […]