“Children possess a far greater capacity for mathematics than has been granted them hitherto.
 As soon as a favourable pedagogical climate is produced what today seems extraordinary will be done simply as a matter of course.” 

Madeleine Goutard ‘Mathematics and Children’ 1964

eorge Cuisenaire was perplexed.

 Why did children find it so difficult to learn math?

His solution to the problem was to invent the most complete math model ever devised. It consisted of a set of colored cuboids of wood ranging in size from a 1cm cube to a 10cm cuboid.

In 1953 Caleb Gattegno met Belgian schoolteacher Cuisenaire and immediately recognized the potential of the rods to allow learners to investigate mathematics for themselves at every level of development.

He realized that the rods provided teachers with a means for making the lesson a personal investigation of mathematics for every child. His subsequent work with children convinced him and others wherever he went that all children have a latent ability which, in classroom situations where the rods are used and where teaching is learner centered, can yield truly remarkable results.

o why aren’t the rods used in schools today?

The answer is, in a large percentage of schools they probably are. Unfortunately more often than not they are employed in piece-meal fashion to introduce concepts like fractions in isolation. The true potential of the rods is rarely recognized. It’s like owning a Porsche and never getting it out of second gear – not that I would know personally!

Unlike computers, Cuisenaire rods never crash, don’t get overtaken by new technology and are truly interactive. What’s more Cuisenaire rods are virtually indestructible. Their genius is in their simplicity. Like a piano, once the basics have been mastered it is possible to create an infinite variety of math shapes, patterns and equations.

There are many excellent publications available on how to use the rods unfortunately most focus on a specific aspect of math and those that do not are not really very reader friendly and get ignored.

acing the challenge.

Unhappy with the standard of math teaching in my school I challenged my teachers to change the way they taught. They responded with a challenge of their own, “Show us how?” For ten years I immersed myself in research and development of a math program that would ensure children acquired not only the concepts of math but a love for the subject. The result was ‘Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math’.

One of my most treasured memories was seeing a mother, convinced she was a lost cause when it came to math, almost in tears as she realised that she was actually ‘good at math’ having undergone a six week workshop based on the program. Her confidence levels rose and shortly afterwards she enrolled in college and has since obtained a degree.

Success is as powerful an influence on our lives as failure. The self esteem she experienced through mastering her ‘weakest’ subject overflowed into every area of her life. Isn’t that what we want for our children?

et your child in the flow.

The nature of Cuisenaire rods allows for open ended tasks and problem-setting that enables your child to develop at his/her optimum learning level – what Csikszentmihalyi describes as the ‘flow state’. Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math embodies this principle and is supported by 50 animated instructional sequences. Children frequently become so absorbed in whatever they are engaged in creating with the rods that they are oblivious to everything around them.

Cuisenaire rods reign supreme among math manipulatives. It is a tragedy for our children they are not more widely used and understood in schools generally. One of the ‘hidden’ benefits of using Cuisenaire rods is the enriched sensory stimulation your child receives through plenty of handling and touching. Infants who receive enriched sensory stimulation become more mentally alert and physically stronger. 

Neurobiologists Shatz at UC Berkeley and Jacobs at UCLA confirm this fact.

rain-friendly learning for your child.

One of the brain’s abilities is the capacity to recognize color.

Color creates an emotional response. Imagine visiting London and trying to make sense of the underground system if the map were in black and white and not color coded. Using Cuisenaire rods children can be introduced to basic math concepts before having to cope with numbers. Number is itself an abstract concept and difficult to grasp. Caleb Gattegno called this approach ‘algebra before arithmetic’.

In his book ‘The Learning Brain’ Eric Jenson states that 75% of teachers are sequential analytical presenters. Unfortunately 70% of their students do not learn in that way. He suggests that a better method would be to start with a global overview or ‘big picture’ and then move to a more sequential approach. Cuisenaire rods lend themselves perfectly to this method and is reflected in Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math. Cuisenaire rods will become your child’s window on a rich landscape of pattern and relationships.  

Not all of us learn in exactly the same way.
Basically we are either predominantly: visual, auditory, kinesthetic or tactile learners.

Ensure Your Child Succeeds At  Math  combines these four learning styles perfectly. Young children are strongly tactile learners as are many boys who benefit from a ‘hands on’ learning program.  Visual learners will respond to the color of pattern and relationships revealed by Cuisenaire rods.  The program is task-driven and the emphasis upon questions to instigate open-ended tasks will appeal to auditory learners. The very nature of the program creates an environment kinesthetic learners will thrive in.

nsure Your Child Succeeds At Math offers you a unique window of opportunity that may never open again.

 It is an opportunity that reaches far beyond the limits of one particular subject. An opportunity that allows you to directly influence the most powerful ability your child possesses for good or ill. Sadly in the math class, because of one little word, it is usually for ill. An opportunity you cannot afford to miss.

All will be revealed tomorrow.

See you then,

Phil Rowlands

 Click on this logo at the bottom of the page and receive RSS feeds as soon as a new post is published – don’t forget to tell a friend.