MoMath, the New Math Museum in Manhattan

Here at The Yellin Center, we've got math on our minds. While it seems that a great deal is known about what happens in the brain when people process language, comparatively little information exists about the way the brain conceptualizes numbers and amounts. So we've been reading new studies about the brain and numbers with great interest and are expanding our knowledge about what “number sense” actually is, how automaticity in number recognition impacts math performance, and the very real problem of math anxiety.

With all this background, we were especially excited to visit Museum of Mathematics, or MoMath, which is just a few blocks away from our learning center! Mo Math is the brainchild of Glen Whitney, a former math professor who now serves as the museum’s president. The museum, which focuses on abstract concepts without much emphasis on numbers, is the only math museum in the country according to the New York Times. It opened its doors for the first time on December 15, 2012, and has received rave reviews from visitors ranging from preschoolers to Ph. D. candidates.

According to its mission statement, the museum “illuminates the patterns that abound in our world.” Its exhibits are dynamic and are intended to spark visitors’ curiosity, inspire them to ask questions, and reveal the fascinating side of a subject many people find dull, obtuse, or downright scary. Whitney hopes to dispel myths that math is hard or boring with beautiful, exciting exhibits that may inspire some visitors to take a second look a at subject they thought they had pegged.

If our observations there were any indication, Whitney has met his goal and then some. “On a scale of one to ten,” we heard a father asking his family as they exited the museum, “what would you rate this place?” “Ten!” called out a boy who looked to be about eight. “Twelve!!” his older brother yelled. Everywhere we looked, children and adults alike were intent on riding square-wheeled tricycles (that actually work!), creating patterns with tessellation tiles, solving wooden puzzles by detecting patterns, jumping around on a dance floor-like space that lights up, and adjusting lengths of track to make a toy car race along it as quickly as possible. One of our favorite exhibits was a calculator that was two stories high and made of string; we enjoyed figuring out how it worked (but we won’t give away the secret!). Who’d have thought this level of engagement would exist at a museum? About math?

We thought we detected a caveat for a while; the museum was seriously lacking in meaty, mathematical explanations for the phenomena we were observing. Touch screens are available near many exhibits with explanations, and we could choose how detailed we wanted the explanation to be. But even the most in-depth explanations were pretty abstract, and this caused lots of fervent discussion within our group about the cold, hard data that would explain what we were actually seeing. Suddenly, it seemed that perhaps sparking this kind of discussion was the whole point. And the children around us were too busy having fun with rolling shapes and scattering light waves to miss the numbers.

To sum it up, you should visit the National Museum of Mathematics. It’s located at 11 E. 26th Street in Manhattan and is open seven days a week, from 10:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M.


*Chang, Kenneth. “One Math Museum, Many Variables.”The New York Times. June 27, 2011.

Photos: Beth Guadagni

Tax Deductions for Parents

If the ads for tax preparation services haven't yet gotten your attention, then perhaps the pile of W-2 and 1099 forms in your mail basket might. It's time to think about taxes.

For the past several years we have reminded parents that they may be able to deduct certain expenses they incur for their child's special education. As set out in IRS Publication 502, the cost of tuition at a school with a program designed to help a student overcoming a diagnosed learning disability is generally deductible. Likewise, special instruction or tutoring outside of school, such as a certified reading instructor for a student with a diagnosis of dyslexia, may be deductible.

Other items that parents should consider for deduction include transportation to therapy appointments, and technology that is designed to enable a child to benefit from special education, such as text-to-speech programs, other specialized technology, and devices such as hearing aides.

These deductions are considered medical expenses and are subject to limitations as are all medical deductions. Raising children is expensive, and raising a child with special educational or medical needs is even more so. Make sure you speak with your accountant or tax preparer to take advantage of all the deductions to which your family is entitled.

photo: philiptaylor cc

Free Professional Development Event for Educators March 6 in NYC

The Yellin Center's acclaimed (and complimentary) Professional Development Series for Educators continues Wednesday, March 6 at 4:30 p.m. at our offices in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Dr. Yellin will discuss Struggling Readers. Some seats remain available as of press time!

Who should attend?

• Teachers
• School Administrators
• School Learning Specialists
• School Psychologists
• Other Related Professionals

The event is free - however, advance registration is required and restricted to professional educators and related professionals only (Parents, fret not! New parent-focused presentations will be announced in the coming days!).

You may register for the presentation online here, or by calling The Yellin Center at (646) 775-6646. Don't miss out!

Visit our Events Calendar for more information on upcoming events at The Yellin Center and beyond.

Interested in having Dr. Yellin speak at your school or organization? Contact us to learn more.

Photo: CC by Karin Dalziel

Better Quality TV Programming Can Improve Behavior of Young Children

We've noted before that researchers have found that what children watch on television can impact their behavior. For example, the ability of a group of four-year-olds to maintain attention, control behavior, and solve problems was severely compromised after just nine minutes of watching a fast-paced cartoon.

Now, new findings just published in the journal Pediatrics note the results of a randomized controlled study of 565 three to five year-old preschoolers where researchers "developed and tested an approach in which preschool-aged children’s viewing habits were altered such that they substituted high quality educational programs for violence laden ones."

The study used parent education as the key to reducing the children's exposure to violent television and other media. Participating families received home visits, newsletters, and telephone calls that provided information on the benefits of educational programs, how to use blocking features on televisions to keep children from accessing violent programs, and recommended channels selected from those available to that specific family. In addition, families received DVDs with clips of "positive" programming, designed to capture the interest of parents and children and encourage them to seek out such programs. There was no effort made to curtail the amount of screen time, just the quality of programs to which the children were exposed.

The researchers found a significant increase in high quality viewing in the families that were encouraged to focus on educational programs, as well as a move away from violent viewing. Notably, there were also significant changes in "social and emotional competence," a result that was particularly strong in boys from low income households. The changes in viewing habits and resulting positive impacts continued for the months of post study follow up.

The study authors note, "Although television is frequently implicated as a cause of many problems in children, our research indicates that it may also be part of the solution. Future research to perhaps further enhance media choices particularly for older children and potentially with an emphasis on low income boys is needed."

Photo: CC by Sarah Reid

Schoolhouse Rock! Turns Forty

“It’s great to learn, 'cause knowledge is power!”

Sound familiar? That’s a line from the introductory song to Schoolhouse Rock!, an educational cartoon series beloved by millions of students. Believe it or not, this year Schoolhouse Rock! celebrates its fortieth anniversary!

The sixty Schoolhouse Rock! videos cover topics as varied as math, grammar, science, American history, economics, and geology. In approximately three minutes, each pairs informative lyrics with a catchy beat to help students with tasks like differentiating between parts of speech, reciting the multiples of three, or understanding how a bill becomes a law. Despite their age, the videos are still used in some classrooms. Teachers find that students enjoy the fun, goofy videos, and they’re often able to recall important information more easily when it comes in the form of song lyrics.

Yes, Schoolhouse Rock! is dated, but that’s part of its charm. So invite your kids along for the ride as you unpack your adjectives, visit Conjunction Junction, and bring Interplanet Janet (from the days when Pluto was still a planet!), Mr. Morton, and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla to your celebration of this rockin’ anniversary!

Image via Wikipedia

Recommended Reads: Seeds of America Trilogy

We continue our Recommended Reads feature, where we highlight books for children and young adults, with the Seeds of America trilogy of historical novels by Laurie Halse Anderson, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

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Seeds of America by Laurie Halse Anderson

Chains - (originally published in 2008)
Forge - (originally published in 2010)
Ashes - (due to be released in book format March 1, 2013)

Awards: Chains was a National Book Award finalist and winner of the Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction prize. Forge was named a Junior Library Guild Selection, a Kirkus Best Book for Teens, and a YALSA 2011 Best Book for Young Adults. It also appeared on the Horn Book Fanfare List of the best books of 2010.

Plot(s): Isabel is introduced in Chains as an orphaned slave girl in New England left to care for her mentally handicapped younger sister Ruth. Although her mistress swore to free Isabel when she died, documentation of this fact is difficult to track down after the old lady’s death and Isabel and Ruth are sold to a family in New York. Here, Isabel meets Curzon, slave of a Patriot master, who persuades Isabel to supply the rebel forces with damning political information about her cruel Tory masters in exchange for her freedom. Alas, the would-be Americans care as little for the fate of a slave girl as do her masters, and despite the information she provides, Isabel finds that she must act for herself if she ever wants to be free. But Curzon, who has fought in the first few battles of the Revolutionary War in his master’s place, is dying of illness and starvation in a British jail, and Isabel decides she can’t leave him behind. She stages an ingenious and daring escape, and the book ends as both set foot on the shore of New Jersey, free at last.

Unfortunately, freedom was not that simple for escaped slaves. In Forge, the narrative is taken over by Curzon, who reports that Isabel has flown the coop in search of Ruth and he is on his own. Under the guise of a free man, he joins the Patriot army yet again, in exchange for food and pay. Things are going, if not smoothly, at least somewhat tolerably for Curzon until his captain announces that the troop’s next move is to head for a winter camp, a place called Valley Forge. Curzon endures the blistering cold and aching supply shortages with his fellow soldiers until he runs unexpectedly into his former master and is pressed into servitude again. The only positive outcome of his re-enslavement is his reunion with Isabel, who has also been recaptured and forced to work for the same man. This time, it’s Curzon who, with the help of his friends in the army, arranges a successful escape for the two friends. Ashes, the final installment of the series, promises to continue the story of these two protagonists.

Adult Themes: Slavery and war are gruesome topics, and it is to Anderson’s credit that she does not shy away from some of the uglier aspects of life for the people who actually lived during Isabel and Curzon’s fictional existence. While the violence and cruelty are never gratuitous, particularly sensitive readers may want to read these with an understanding adult who can help them grapple with some of the darker chapters in United States history. 

Our Take: Is there anything better than a good work of historical fiction? Yes, if it’s one of a three-part series and you know you have two more novels to enjoy! Isabel and Curzon are so three-dimensional that even history-averse readers will find themselves fascinated by Anderson’s rendering of their world. In Forge in particular, the irony of a country fighting for a freedom that it denies to its slaves is fully explored, setting the stage for stimulating critical thought and discussion. Anderson begins each chapter of each book with a real quotation from a concurrent primary source that echoes the chapter’s themes. Additionally, extensive sections found in the back of both books explain which characters were fictional and which were not, the meanings of authentic words from the period which appear in the text, and other interesting information. Seeds of America showcases the very best kind of historical fiction: the kind that makes historical events feel relevant to readers more than 200 years later.

Duolingo Offers Free Online Language Instruction

Software like Rosetta Stone has been widely touted as an effective way to learn a new language. Unfortunately, these packages do not come cheap, making them out of reach of many would-be linguists. Duolingo, however, seems poised to make expensive language-learning packages a thing of the past.

Duolingo is a free--yes, really; users won’t even see advertisements--web-based site that can teach users to speak Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, or English in simple, effective lessons. (Site administrators say that Chinese curriculum is on the way.) What's the catch to this free service? According to its website, Duolingo users -- presumably more advanced learners -- can use the learning tools for free, "because while you are learning you are also ...simultaneously contributing to translate real-world content from the Web." Advanced speakers can skip ahead to more challenging material, but beginners start with simple lessons that teach useful, basic nouns, verbs, and articles through varied examples and lots of repetition.

Imagine you are an English speaker who wants to learn French. Seconds after creating your account, you can begin your first lesson. Initial instruction methods include reading a sentence in French and translating it to English, typing an English sentence in French, selecting correct translations from multiple choices, listening to a sentence in French and typing the translation to English, and matching pictures with vocabulary. Learners can hear new words pronounced for them frequently, and if the user enables a microphone the system can even capture and correct a student’s pronunciation. Lessons are taught through a series of interactive questions, and feedback is provided after each answer so users know immediately whether they understand a concept. Forget a word? No problem. Simply hover the mouse over the word in question and a translation will appear.

Students may find their rapid progress through lessons motivating on its own, but if not, they can accumulate skill points by completing lessons successfully. And a free iPhone app is available so learners can practice on the go.

Duolingo is worth a look, whether you are a student who needs extra practice for a traditional class, a travel enthusiast, or someone in search of a new hobby.

Watch an introductory video below: