Ann McCallum Books - Eat Your Math Homework Review

I love hands-on projects for learning.  I spend a lot of time researching project ideas for all subjects to make learning as interactive as possible.  Seriously, I even find myself falling asleep just reading out of a boring textbook.  So imagine if you are the one just sitting there listening.  That has to be bad, if I am the one reading.  So I was super excited to get a chance to review Eat Your Math Homework - Recipes for Hungry Minds by Ann McCallum from Ann McCallum Books.

Eat Your Math Homework - Recipes for Hungry Minds by Ann McCallum ($7.95) is an interactive mathematics cooking book written for ages Elementary through Middle school depending on their grade level.  It introduces your children to new concepts with hands-on activities dealing with topics like  fractions, tangrams, probability, figuring Pi and even teaching topics like Fibonacci's theory of infinity.

I was a little worried when we received this that the boys would not enjoy it, thinking they were too old for this type of material.  The cartoon rabbits are cute, but would the boys get past it?  But boy was I wrong.  They have loved all the projects whether we were reviewing a concept or introducing a new topic.

You can use the Eat Your Math Homework - Recipes for Hungry Minds either as a project guide to use within your own unit study or as a reinforcement with your current curriculum.

We used it as a group project each week as a fun unit study.  One of their favorite projects was the Fibonacci Snack Sticks.  To be very honest, this was not a theory I was taught in any of my math classes, so I had to do some research before we did the project.  (This is one of my favorite things about homeschooling....learning right along with the kids.)

This project was easy to do and the explanation given was definitely spot on for Elementary through Early middle school aged children.  Some topics were a little easier and others a little more in-depth (like Fibonacci Infinity theory).

Each chapter in the book gives a full explanation about the math concept along with a activity that centers around food and cooking.  The fun illustrated book includes the ingredients needed as well as the tools needed to complete the project in the kitchen.  You can prepare ahead of time to make sure that you have all the supplies needed.

That being said, there are no unusual ingredients needed to complete the projects in Eat Your Math Homework - Recipes for Hungry Minds.  We had most items in our home already, and the items I did not, were inexpensive and easily picked up on our next trip to the store.

This full-color book, provides Step-by-step instructions so that you can step back and let your little chefs really do the work.  Minimal parent involvement is required on most of the projects, unless using a heat source is needed such as the stove top/oven.

We have thoroughly enjoyed using Eat Your Math Homework - Recipes for Hungry Minds.  What a fun way to learned math concepts beyond just counting M&Ms for adding and subtracting!

We are very excited that Ann McCallum Books offers other books in their cooking series.  These include Eat Your Science Homework, Eat Your U.S. History Homework, Beanstalk: The Measure of a Giant, and Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere: A Fibonacci Tale.  We can't wait to give them all a try.

Ann McCallum Books gave several students of the Schoolhouse Review Crew the opportunity to try out their series.  You can visit the review crew blog to see how the families used the books in their homes and how they worked for their families.