For the past 25 years, Cathy Draper and I have engaged in many fascinating conversations
focused on teaching and learning math. Two things are clear to me. Cathy has a deep
understanding of conceptual and practical math. Cathy, unlike many educators, knows that
each human brain assimilates and processes in its own unique way. I have witnessed her
analysis and diagnosis of each "student", and applauded as she found the unique prescriptive
approach needed to help them understand and learn in their own way. She takes math from the
linear left-brain to the visual, conceptual right brain and develops an approach that successfully
integrates the two into a whole-brain approach. Sharing her lifetime of math experience with us
is her gift to the world. -- Mary Ann Grassia, M.Ed, former board member, Math Science Collaborative Project, Salem State University; retired Salem public school teacher Catheryne Draper makes math homework less of a chore and more of a game. She succeeds at this by saying use visuals and use the imagination. The highlight for me was the chapter on Becca's Pattern Ancestors. The two children in my life, at ages four and six, began using "Silly Bands" to form groupings and create patterns. Years later, they both now understand sequences, and they are working on factoring and quadratic expressions. Catheryne demonstrates through out her book that math can be learned by using visuals and a child's imagination and that there isn't just one method for teaching but to use the method that is most effective for your child. -- Kathy Miles, Mutual fund compliance and product development, NY