Don's Calculus materials

Calculus For Young People (2 CD set- 3books,2videos,Map,poster) $70.95 Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up) (CD-ROM) $23.95 Calculus By and For Young People-Worksheets (CD ROM) $35.95

Exciting news- all the time

14 December 2011: Don found the sample problems from chapter 11 of his worksheet book, on the website of NSDL, the National Science Digital Library (search "iteration" or compound interest to E and I).

7 November 2011: In a note from Tammy's greatgrandmother: "Hi Don! Thank you, thank you for instilling the power to learn, to Tammy and the fact she's enjoying it. Enclosed is my check for 10/29-11/28". [Tammy came for one month, twice a week; she is 15 yo, with a weak background in math, but is committed to learning. It's a pleasure to see her confidence grow].

13 September 2011: Sarah's Mom worked with Don ~ about 30 years ago. See what Sarah, age 6, did with Don in 5 days, 2 hours/day, June 29-July 3, 2011.

27 July 2011 email: Don worked individually with Zachary for 2 hours each day, for 5 days.

Dear Mr. Cohen,

Thank your taking your time to teach Zachary last week. I must admit, I enjoyed watching the light bulb go off in his face the many times that it did. Not many teachers have the technique that you use. You do not correct the error in his problem. You correct his thought process and make sure that he understands the issue by solving it many different ways, all hands on. Your course was more that of a mathematics apprenticeship than of a worksheet grind that we are so familiar with. Your one and one teaching challenged him, made him go just a little bit farther and made him excited about math. Again my hat is off to you.

       Sincerely

       David K.  (IN) - Zachary's Dad

[David followed up and has brought Zachary back for one weekend (four hours individually with Don) in each of the 4 months, September, October, November and coming December 2011].

11 June 2011- from an unexpected email: An acknowledgement

I think you might enjoy this story: In his astronomy PhD thesis, our older son, Alex, wrote “Mom and Dad (Jan S. and Tim H.), thank you for all the ways you nurtured my curiosity (maybe even including the calculus book in first grade) ….” We didn’t remember giving him any such book, but our younger son, Peter, confirmed the story and said the spiral-bound book had been handed down to him and was still on the bookshelf in his old bedroom. Sure enough, I found there your Calculus By and For Young People! So apparently Alex remembered correctly (or almost correctly—it’s the 1991 edition, and Alex was in first grade in 1988–89).

Tim

Don has found someone who can make his A Map to Calculus™ into an APP !!! (as of 13 April 2011)

He has also initiated plans to make his 3 books into Google Ebooks- in about 4 months.

6 April 2011 The following is an essay that was sent with his college application by an 18 year old:

    I am no dunce at mathematics, yet from the time I was six years old, I have studied with a math tutor named Don Cohen.  Math, while an extremely important skill, is not the most crucial lesson I have learned from him through the years.  Don Cohen, a renowned math teacher and a winner of many teaching awards[2], is known for his unusual approaches to teaching.  My math instruction has been no exception.  I have not memorized a single formula, and instead, I have learned to approach math problems from different perspectives.  Simple lessons that I have learned, such as any problem can be broken down into a simpler form of the same problem, have uses outside the field of mathematics.  I have learned the analytical thinking that is essential to mathematics.  At the same time, this discipline influences my other thought processes to this day.

29 March 2011 From an email: Hi Mr. Cohen,

I wanted to know if you are still teaching. If you are what is the current rate structure of the program? My children have just started school and I wanted to ask what you would recommend as far as getting them started with mathematics. My daughter will be in first grade and my son will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. I would love for them to be able to come and experience the “Mathman” environment. I too was a student of yours and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I would love to come back.

Cordially,

Jennifer W.

Jennifer is the 3rd mother he had long ago, who now sends 2 of her children to Don!

February 2011 From a parent and son:

It's Peter Farrell, a math tutor/teacher fan of yours from California. I've gotten an unbelievable amount of inspiration from your works. You have a unique way of making it seem perfectly normal to have little kids playing around with calculus, infinite series and matrices!

I've been acting like a little kid myself, trying to come up with fun ways to teach a short calculus course to homeschoolers next month. I plan to go straight to differential equations, since they're the whole point to learning calculus. I'm planning to use computer applications to circumvent the drudgery of taking derivatives and slogging through the algebra. I learned from you that the majority of the ideas in calculus are immediately accessible.

The attached word doc is an exploration in optimal design I came up with, but your influence is obvious. I wonder if calculus teachers would be interested in an elementary application of differential equations. Any input you have would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes for the holidays and Happy New Year!

Peter Farrell"

"The funny thing about the boy in our carpool was that a few days earlier he had asked Ashley if she knew her multiplication tables, which she does not, although she does know how to do "four fives" and count it up to get the answer. So he was explaining about the nines multiplication facts, and showing her a method of using your fingers to represent ten and then counting starting with your left pinky. Well, Ashley thought that was cool, and the next day she said she wanted to explain a math problem to him. I chuckled to myself as I drove, because I knew what she was going to explain. He kind of brushed her off, and he explained something he had learned in math that day, and when she took her turn explaining how to use bags of washers to solve equations with balance pictures, it really surprised him. He had put her at a certain level because she doesn't yet know the multiplication tables. But when students learn the way that you teach, you are building on whatever they do know and helping them figure out ways to solve problems with what they are already able to do, instead of thinking that someone can't do something because they haven't learned multiplication or division yet" :-)  [ see Balance pictures to solve equations on Don's A Map to Calculus™ ].

Do you see why Don loves to teach?

I came across your book "Calculus By and For Young People" in the last few days, after not cracking it for some time. I happened across your note about Judy Silver, [a 1st grade teacher in Don's class for teachers at Webster College, who figured out the relationship between the derivative and the integral],  and the tear in your eye. Though not in math, but in other areas, I have had similar experiences, and can appreciate what a great feeling it is. And I have not found others speaking of similar situations, so I was very hapy to see your expression...

For sure, if there is reincarnation, I hope to remember to ask my mother to get your books for me when I am about 6.

Anyhow, I am going to pretend I am 6 or so, and play around with your material. I have a 3 year old grandson and I have great hopes that I can get him off to a good start in understanding mathematics.

Thanks for the inspiration and good ideas.

Enjoy,

Dean E.

 12 October 2010 See Lori Johnson Morse's 4 Wolfram Demonstration Projects, based on Don's book Changing Shapes With Matrices. Check out Lori's website at 

Hi Mr. Cohen, 
 
I am a past student of yours and I was just thinking about you the other day and thought I would see how you were doing. You taught me about 11 years ago until my family moved to Chicago. I have since graduated college with the idea that I would be premed, but found myself in a Master's of Science program in epidemiology and biostatistics. I haven't had a math course since freshman year of college but I am loving statistics and I am currently applying to PhD programs in biostatistics as well as medical school. 

I wouldn't have the math abilities that I do today if it weren't for some of the guidance you gave me early on. In fact, when I doubt my math background I always remember your encouragement. 

Before I moved you gave me a watercolor of a tornado. It was the first picture I hung up in my new room and I think of you every time I see it. I hope you and your family are doing well and you are still helping students learn to enjoy and appreciate mathematics.

Thank you for everything you did for me in the past.

--Maggie P.

The synopsis of a paper that was  presented at  the 23rd International Congress of Applied Psychology in Madrid, Spain, July 1994, by Janie Shaklee:

"A COGNITIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING CALCULUS CONCEPTS TO 10 YEAR OLD STUDENTS IN A MAINSTREAM ENVIRONMENT

SHAKLEE, Janie; McGILL, Karen; PULOS, Steven; COONEY, John and Teresa McDEVITT, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado, USA.

D. Cohen developed a cognitive instructional program for teaching calculus to children. This study was conducted to systematically implement and evaluate the program's effectiveness in lower-socio economic status classroom environment. Twenty-six ten year-old students received instruction in the calculus concepts of limits and infinite series using Cohen's approach. An adjacent classroom, which also had 26 students, served as a control. Pre tests and post tests in calculus concepts understanding and attitudes to mathematics were administered to both groups. Results indicated that ten year old students can learn calculus concepts in a group instructional format. While the pretest indicated a lag in scores achieved by girls, there were no significant gender differences in the post tests. We conclude that the teaching and learning of calculus can be achieved in mainstream classrooms using the conceptual instructional program designed by Cohen".

9 August 2010 Xander, 7 yo, came from SC to work with Don for a week, 9 August-13 August 2010. See his work here (not complete yet).

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_ rosling_shows_the_best_stats_ you_ve_ever_seen.html

On this day 6 June 2010, Don & Mrs. Cohen met Sheri, on the way out of a restaurant where she was working. It was great to see her. She will be a sophomore at the U of Michigan in the Fall, loving it, majoring in Neuroscience, and aims to be a doctor! Her sister Amanda whom Don also worked with, will be a senior at the U of CA, San Diego, and is planning to go to law school. 

Besides seeing his own children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren grow up, it's also a pleasure seeing his students grow up. Especially when he has had their children; one former student helped Don set up his website and one, Jonathan, has helped make his A Map to Calculus clickable! Don feels very fortunate to have positively affected so many young people. Mrs. Cohen has been the greatest supporter of his work and the love of his life for the last 57 years.

21 May 2010 David, an 7th grader, is very good at figuring out hard functions (we've played a lot of Guess My Rule lately, instigated mainly by Jerry, Anna, and David). Don asked him how he did this. He announced to Don today that he had a way of doing it- his "Rule Generator" or how he can come up a function from about 7 pairs of numbers!  He is presently writing this up for the world.. Stay tuned.

19 May 2010  From the Mom of Don's student from NZ, many years ago, on facebook: "Hi Don, It was William you taught calculus to. How he loved your classes! He is now grown up (mostly) and doing very well working in IT. Best wishes"

Dear Don,

I was a student of yours about ten years ago.  I just wanted to send you a
little note to let you know that I still very often use the most important
lesson that you taught me: when a problem is too difficult, first think of
an easier case of the problem and work from there.
I am now a student at the California Institute of Technology, studying
Chemistry.  I very much enjoyed working with you when I was younger, and I
don't recall whether I ever really got to thank you, so I wanted to make
sure that I did that.

Thanks,
Geoffrey

Don was so pleased to hear from Geoffrey. See his work at Geoffrey, age 11, graphs the 6 trig functions ,  Geoffrey generalizes the infinite series, Geoffrey works on powers of powers, Geoffrey worked on the Fibonacci numbers. Search Geoffrey, above to see other fine things he did.

Time lapse here due to Don working on his MAP

1 January 2010 An email to Don from Japan

Dear Don and Marilyn,

Hello! How are you? I didn't have a chance to visit you

last summer, but I hope I can soon

I hope that both of you will have a

Happy New Year

Love,

Nanako

-Nanako came to work with Don for a week in the summers of 2007 and 2008! See her work at www.mathman.biz/html/nanako.html , www.mathman.biz/html/nanakograph.html andwww.mathman.biz/html/nanako08.html         

It was a beautiful ceremony.

RE: Mathematics - See what an Educator and young students can produce!  FYI – I’m forwarding email sent to me by Don Cohen about his students’ recent work [ Van & Jack below]. Don wrote Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up) . I’ve known Don since the early 1990s, and I have used his materials in my classrooms.

·   If you are a young person, studying mathematics with Don Cohen is a great investment.

Notice that the piece above the diagonal orange line in the tall rectangles, equals the area below the orange line above the square to its right. Notice also that the length of the base of the orange triangle = 2/5 + 2/5 + (2/5)² + (2/5)² + (2/5)³ + (2/5)³ +(2/5)⁴ +(2/5)⁴  ... = 2_* [2/5 + (2/5)² + (2/5)³ + (2/5)⁴ +  ...]. The area within the orange triangle = (1/2)(base x height) = (1/2)(2x [2/5 + (2/5)² + (2/5)³ + (2/5)⁴ +  ...])x1= 2/5 + (2/5)² + (2/5)³ + (2/5)⁴ + ... , the sum of the infinite series whose limit is 2/3. This is also 1/2x4/3x1= 2/3 and also 2/(5-2) = 2/3. This last one comes from doing lots of series and students generalizing A/B + (A/B)² + (A/B)³ + (A/B)⁴ +  ... -> A/(B-A).

Below you can see Lori Johnson Morse's applet  for this, made in GeoGebra.

"Love your book

Hi Don,

I ordered your book "Calculus By and For Young People" a few years ago, even before my children were ready for it (my oldest was just turning 5). It's a good thing I ordered it before they were ready because I wasn't ready for it yet. But my wife and I were homeschooling our children, and I was looking for new ideas for teaching mathematics, so I started reading them.

I'm not a math-phobic person. I'm currently completing my PhD in Computer Science. My wife isn't math-phobic either, and she earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

Still, as I read your book, I felt like I was experiencing math in a whole new way. I felt like there was truths in the book that were mind-blowing. I read it several times before I started to understand that Calculus wasn't the main point of your book. Learning, Living and Loving mathematics were the core of your book and Calculus was just the vehicle.

This year, Alex is 7 and he's really advancing in his schooling. We were preparing (over the Summer) our curriculum for the fall and your book was going to be Alex's text. Then I was sent the Paul Lockhart article, "A Mathematician's Lament" by a friend. It had a powerful impact on me, but I couldn't have understood that article, without first reading your book. The two together helped me come up with a Math "method" that I am now using with Alex that is just amazing. He has a math notebook, similar to an engineer or scientist's notebook, that we use every day to explore math problems. We're currently exploring the math problems in your book "Calculus, by and for young people." As we learn new formulas, we add them to another section of his notebook we call the "Formula Toolkit". I do have Alex do some drill problems every day based on things that are in his "Formula Toolkit", but Alex knows that the drills aren't the math, they're simply the tools to help him do real math. Thanks to your book, and Lockhart's article, mathematics will never be the same again for me, or for my children.

Thank you again for your amazing contribution!

(PS, I have a home schooling blog at http://typehpersonalities.blogspot.com. It's not all about math, but you might like to read my post about "The Joy of Mathematics")."

-- Seth Nielson

[See www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf for Lockhart's article "A Mathematician's Lament".]

[Don thinks Seth really understands what Don's book is about! -and a second linking of Paul Lockhart's article and  Don's works in 2 months. Check out his blog- a real math teacher in the making. Thank you Seth.]

11 August 2009  Guess who came to visit with Don and his wife? Yes Kirsten,

who was 8 yo in this picture, which is on the back cover of Don's Worksheet Book. Don worked with Kirsten from age 4 when she was at The Montessori School of C-U, through age 15 at UNI high (when she got a 5 on her AP Calculus test). She is now about 28 yo, having graduated form U of Munich (in German!) a couple of years ago, and is now teaching German and English in Beijing, China and engaged to be married next year.

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15 July 2009 Shaleen moves a parabola 2 units to the right and something else happens!- or an example of what the teacher does to allow good mathematics to come from a situation, when the student's answer is different from what is expected or would be considered "wrong". 

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7 July 2009 Don received an email out of the blue. "Freeman Hunter is now following your updates on Twitter". I looked at her Twitter site with the update 

Check out @TheMathman website, esp example probs. Could his method be one answer to The Mathematician's Lament (see Paul Lockhart's 25 page paper   on math education)? 

[WOW!! Thank you Freeman].

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19 June 2009 Don received this email:

Dear Don,
I don´t know if you remember us, but we came to see you for a week about six years ago.  My son Johann was five years old.  I have thought of you so often and how you inspired our family. Johann loves math and now our younger son Tristann is also learning to love math through his interest with origami.  I don´t know why we didn´t keep in touch with you, but somehow life got in the way.

I would like to be able to bring my kids back, I know they would love it.  I am so impressed with how you teach and your love of math.  I would love to hear from you.

Warmly,
Svava (CA)

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7 June 2009 A conversation between Maya, 8 years old, Don, a TI-84 plus calculator, and WolframAlpha, to find the sum of 2+1/2+4+1/4

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4 June 2009 Just so you know that Don is not perfect. From a note to Don from one of his mothers: Mr. Cohen, Could you work on some basics with Sarah. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, counting money, and word problems. She still got a C-  in Math.. Thanks, Frances C. [Sarah is continuing to work with Don through part of the summer].

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2 June 2009 From a note to Don from one of his fathers: Don, The kids had a very good year with you. In addition to all the things they learned about geometry, numbers and puzzles, I think they've absorbed the most important idea: math is fun!

I hope you have a good summer, and I know the kids look forward to seeing you again in the fall.- Charles

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22 May 2009 From a note to Don from one of his mothers: "Thanks for helping Jesse to his "A" in math! Fondly, K. [Jesse was taking algebra when he started with Don in Dec. '08 with an "E" (for failing- of course he didn't hand in homework), and by the end of January, a month later, he got an "A" and continued that until the end of the school year!]

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7 May 2009 - a note from a parent of 3 of  Don’s students, along with a check for May:
Hi Don! I wanted to mention that we might send Jack to you this summer- and have Joe take the summer off. If Joe’s schedule allows him to go to you, we’ll send both boys.

You have made a huge difference in Joe’s life! Certainly his confidence and skills in math have increased- but your (and Marilyn’s) influence goes beyond that. You model for him an attitude and approach to life that he very much admires. I believe it really does “take a village” to raise a child. I feel mighty good that you both are part of Joe’s “village”- that you have been a part of all of our children’s village. Thank you! Bernadette

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1 May 2009

from: Maria Droujkova<droujkova@gmail.com>

subject: Changing Shapes With Matrices - in the Math Clubs!  

This is an activity designed by Don Cohen-The Mathman, in his book "Changing Shapes with Matrices." You can find some sample book problems here, and follow links to other Don's materials:  http://www.mathman.biz/html/probcswm.html

The general idea is to start with a simple "dot to dot" picture on a coordinate plane, and then apply a matrix transformation to coordinates of every dot.
Like many activities involving massive number crunching, it works much better on computers. [That’s why Don starts with a simple “doggie” with only 9 integral points, and limits students to only 1’s, 0’s and ^-1’s to form the transformation matrix, so there is not a lot of number crunching]. You can experiment with this applet, transforming a doggie, on Don's site [made by IES in Japan] at: http://www.mathman.biz/html/dogtrans6/changing_shapes_with_matrices%20ies6.html

…Kids could quickly test conjectures, such as: "What makes the shape flip? How can you stretch the shape more? What happens if you put opposite numbers in the matrix? Reciprocal fractions? Zeroes?" This was some excellent math by kids - the reason I love this activity so much.

…We did some very meaningful math and had a lot of fun with the activity. Don, thank you very much for your wonderful books, full of great activity ideas. 

For Maria’s complete article, go to  http://groups.google.com/group/naturalmath    

Thank you Maria, for sharing this activity with your google group.

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28 April 2009 Don and his students Jay, Chris, and Elizabeth find a new number- the Dottie number

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2 April 2009

Check out Don's granddaughter Tara and fiance Tyler on their world trip by bicycle at www.goingslowly.com - they started April 1 in Scotland, rode through England, France, Switzerland, Italy are now in Tunisia at this time (28 November 2009)! See the article about them in the April 20 issue of The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.

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30 March 2009 From a note to Don from one of his mothers: Dear Mr. Cohen, ..We are  fortunate that Mildred was able to work with you this past year.. We will always happily recommend your services to others and would not hesitate to contact you in the future if we should find Mildred in need of additional math tutoring. Thanks for everything. T.C.

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23 March 2009 from an email

Dear Don,

 ..Ashley received her letter of acceptance into the Radiology Program at Parkland College on Saturday, March 21, 2009 and is so excited about that!  Thank you again for assisting her with her Math!  If she ever needs any future tutoring, we would certainly give you a call.

Sincerely,
Julie (Mom)

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20 March 2009 From Michael's Mom: Don, Thank you for working with Michael [8 months via email- see some of his work below]. Maybe we can come spend a few days in person with you this summer...

Michael is really enjoying your calculus worksheets. Thanks again!!  Sincerely, Theresa (WI)

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26 February 2009 Dear Lori Johnson Morse, my friend and fellow math tutor wrote a little article about Don which was accepted on an eNY Times page- take a look.

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18 February 2009 See Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers The Story of Success. Chapter 8 is entitled: Rice Paddies and Math Tests. Lots of interesting connections and without knowing these, Don had his Calculus.. book translated into Japanese and sold much better in 10 years in Japan than the original English version has sold in 20 years in the US.

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2 February 2009   Email: “I heard about your product (2 disk CD set) from a homeschooling family that is registered with the same DL school [in Canada ] that my children are and they recommended it”.- Karen T., after she purchased same.

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23 January 2009 Email from Don's Facebook file

Subject: Thank You! 

I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much my girls and I have enjoyed your math program. Last year we bought the Calculus program at our home school convention, and my girls have not put it down since. They are so excited about math and it has become their favorite subject. Thank you so much! Julie, GA

Thank you Julie, for sharing this wonderful information!

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November, and 10 December 2008 Ann-Emily, 2nd grader, adds fractions using complex fractions and multiplies mixed numbers-WOW! (and Don never taught her how to do any of this)

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As a teacher, Don likes this quote by an anonymous writer who said: "We have not succeeded in answering all your problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things".

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Mathematics in Science: Michael has been working through Don's worksheet book and with Don via email, for about 8 months. In chapter 6 there is a diagram of hinged mirrors at left, below. Students are asked to look between the mirrors to see how many images of a red rod, say, that they see with the mirrors open at an angle of 90^o (3 + the original=4). 

Michael made the diagram at the right below, using an angle of 60^o  between the mirrors, and proceeded to show the path of the light rays as they leave the red rod, bounce off the mirrors (the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection) and to go to the eye, He found the 6 images (5+original=6); and they all lie on the same circle!

  And there is a rule here.                                                  

Fine job Michael!!

     The Nautilus Shell applet done by Lori and Don - you need to download free, geogebra

    Area of triangle= limit of infinite series, applet done by Lori and Don - you need to download free, geogebra

     Changing Shapes With Matrices  applet done by IES in Japan to go with Don's book of this title

    The six trig functions in one picture applet done by IES in Japan- upon Don's recommendation

    The difference of 2 cubes (Maggie, 9 years old, builds a box..and does some algebra)- applet done by IES in Japan- upon Don's recommendation

    (a+bi)^(a+bi)^ ...  applet done by IES in Japan, inspired by Don's  problem of i^i^i... in his Worksheet Book, Chapter 11 -IES as usual, did a great job with this, ending up with fractals!

Dear Mr. Cohen

Thank you for being a teacher and an example to Elizabeth and other kids in math and in life. 

Pat

There were 89 rows in the one direction and 55 rows in the other direction, both Fibonacci numbers, including 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ... see the pattern?

See the sample problems from chapter 7 in Don's worksheet book and you'll find that Don has his students use the infinite sequence of the Fibonacci numbers to get the ratios of these. They are working with infinite sequences, ratios, fractions, mixed numbers, division,  decimals, infinite repeating decimals and finding patterns. The infinite sequence of  ratios has a limit which turns out to be The Golden Mean or The Divine Proportion, 1.618033... which  equals (1+ Sqrt(5))/2. 

Don's son Brian made a beautiful, wooden 3-D diorama for the story written by Don's granddaughter Tara, for her UNI HS geometry class, at age 15, entitled  A Quest For The Sacred Golden Pineapple, Pine Cone and Artichoke.  The diorama includes 1.) a figurine of The Old Mathman holding a golden pineapple, made by Tara, within a dome, 2.) a watercolor painting by Tara and Don of The Old Mathman's house in the woods, and 3). a shelf underneath with a copy of Tara's story.

Hi Don,

For ages I have been thinking about getting in touch with you - and hope that this e-mail address still works. I'm not sure that you'll remember Andy from about 12-13 years ago, but if you do I thought I'd give you an update. He graduated from U of I with majors in math and physics in 2006 and then went on to grad school in physics at Harvard in the Fall of 2006. He finished his Masters in January 2008 and then decided that he really didn't want to be an experimental physicist. So, he's now on a 2-year leave from the program and working as an energy analyst for ___ in downtown Boston . He is very happy to be making $ and really engaged in his work. In fact, he seems all grown up and indeed an adult.

I hope that you are well and still the mathman. Andy really benefited from working with you, and I always enjoyed talking with you too. Have a good October.

Chris

It has been 10 years (1998) since Kodansha Ltd. published the Japanese translation of the original book.

Mr. Sasaki at Kodansha Ltd., wrote to Don a month after they published the Japanese translation of Don's book Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up) in 1998: "We can say that your method was accepted to Japanese people as a kind of new text in which they could learn and understand math much more than ever before".

Needless to say, Don's Japanese book has sold much better in 10 years, than the original English version in the US in 20 years!

Back in 1988, Don felt his book was 20 years ahead of its time, and now in 2008 he still feels it is 20 years ahead of the math taught in schools- of course it's not just the book, but also his methods of teaching.

While in Albany, he and Marilyn drove past Bethlehem Central Junior High School (now Middle School) where Don started his math-teaching career in 1954!

April 2008 Margaret, an 8th grader, asks a great question!

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Don's  2-disk CD set,  "Calculus For Young People (2 CD set)", ISBN 9780977949311, contains all of Don’s materials -3 books, 2 videos, map, & poster, listed here: 

1. "Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up)”
2. "Calculus By and For Young People--Worksheets"
3. "A Map to Calculus"-- a 15" x 18" flowchart, overview
4. Video #1 "Infinite Series By and For 6 year-olds and up"
5. Video #2 "Iteration to Infinite Sequences with 6 to 11 year-olds"
6. "Changing Shapes With Matrices"
7. “On thinking About and Doing Mathematics”-11x14” poster  

The 2-disk CD ROM set above, for PC and Mac users, sells for $70.95 on Google

/PayPal Checkout above. 

Note: Shipping on all items is FREE in the US, 

To outside U.S. email Don for S&H.

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Besides the two-disk CD set above,
Don will continue to sell these, paid via PayPal/check only:

"Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up)"    (CD-ROM);

ISBN 9780977949304 ______$23.95 (also on 2 CD set)

 "Calculus By and For Young People--Worksheets" (CD-ROM);
        ISBN 9780962167478 ___________$35.95 (also on 2 CD set)

"A Map to Calculus"-- a 15" x 18" poster-flowchart;
        ISBN 9780962167485___________ $13.95 (also on 2 CD set)

"Changing Shapes With Matrices" (paper);
        ISBN 9780962167430 __________$

15.95 (also on 2 CD set)

See what Rainbow Resource Center says about Don's materials.

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1 January 2008 What a way to start the new year! Don spoke to Jonathan (now 26 years old) and his Mom and Dad who are in CT.  Jonathan, at age 7, started working in Don's book Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up), with his Mom acting as his secretary. She sent his work to Don. (This started Don on his Math By Mail/Email Program). That and the following summer, his Dad brought him to Champaign for a week to work with Don. Some of Jonathan's work is in Don's worksheet book and he is on his videotapes.

Jonathan has finished the course work for his PH.D. in High Energy Physics and is working on his dissertation, which he plans to finish next year!

Don is very pleased when his students do well!

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What a wonderful year 2007 has been. If we could only have Peace, and no one should go hungry!

28 December 2007: Don and his wife Marilyn celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary today!

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Marilyn and Don Cohen are excited about their part-time work as Shaklee Distributors and users of many Shaklee “in harmony with nature” products-100% guaranteed -nutritional supplements including the new VITALIZER, Get Clean, Cinch inch-loss program, air purifier and more!- and they want to share these with you. Please take a look at their Shaklee website if you want to feel better, want a healthy home, a healthy planet, and bring in some extra money.

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 19 July 2007: Don received this email  from a parent who had purchased his 2-disc CD set: "..I just wanted to say thank you again for inspiring me and helping me realize that kids can understand and do so much more with math than many people are willing to believe..". 

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13 June 2007: Leah's Mom called to tell Don that Leah got into UNI High School and would continue to work with Don in August when she returns to Champaign- Congratulations Leah!!

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3 March 2007: Geometric Sequences and the 88 Keys on a Piano by Don

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17 February 2007 Five views of  Don's Math Room - where it all happens!   

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9 February 2007 Don received an order for his 2-disc CD ROM set from Moscow, Russia !!

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7 February 2007 Don spoke to Loralee Johnson at "4 Your Mind" and told people during the radio interview that Loralee is selling Don's materials in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and can be reached at 1-780-485-0969 or ljohnson@shaw.c

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Check out  Lori's website for her "MathHead Tutoring Inc."

“..You wrote an amazing book

(Don's worksheet book).  Every week what my kids learn puts smiles on their faces.  It makes me smile, too.  You make people smile because they can understand math better.  It’s a gift and you share it with as many people as you can!  And I am having a blast following in your footsteps.  Much, much thanks! Lori”. KC, MO

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See the internet links to Don's website and references to his books from around the world!

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Homeschooling math by Don Cohen

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                   “ ..Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - -
            I took the one less traveled by,
            And that has made all the difference.”

From The Road Not Taken  by Robert Frost. Don feels that what he has done is not the usual, and something that has touched many people, young and old, around the world, very positively, and has been very rewarding-  and that has made all the difference in his life!

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To get around on Don's site, choose from the menu below:

• Try sample problems from Don's books, by chapter!

• About Don's materials (7 items) and how they are used. Especially see the write-up about Don's materials on the Rainbow Resource Center website and where Don's books are sold around the world!!

• New discoveries, new student work
and Don's new pages: Anna L., a 4th grader, does some fine mathematics; Van, a 4th grader, graphs in 3D; Jack, a 3rd grader, invents new ways of looking at mathematics ; While iterating a function, Laura, a 4th grader, divides 7.75 by 2- WOW! And Anushka, age 6, knew neither division nor graphs ! ; Shaleen moves a parabola and gets something different! ; A conversation between Maya, 8 years old, Don, a TI-84 plus calculator, and WolframAlpha, to find the sum of  2 1/2 + 4 1/4; Don and his students Jay, Chris, and Elizabeth find a new number-the Dottie Number; Ann-Emily, 2nd grader, adds fractions using complex fractions-WOW!;  Sara and Maya, 7 yo twins, find Patterns in division; Alex, a 2nd grader, sees an infinite series!!! Margaret, an 8th grader, asks a great question!; Nanako changes a graph without changing the equation-HOW!?; Katy finds the area under a sine wave from 0 to Pi (after Archimedes);  Donna, a 4th grader,  graphs a circle, then changes the equation!!!; 2 ways to rotate a triangle 90° CW - by Alvaro, Ian & Don; Using trig to do rotations with matrices;  Don paints in watercolor with.. + + +
• Have your daughter/son study with Don,
here in Champaign, IL. Don has stopped working with students from afar on IM with voice. He worked with 50 year- old Tim, an M.D. from FL for over a year;  he worked with 10 yo Tadeo from Argentina;  7 yo Erin, from ID, for 5 mos; a Juku teacher in Japan came for the month of September 2003 to study with Don. Grace, then a 6th grader in Chicago, worked with Don using Email for about a year, and came here twice. Don worked with 2 students from afar via email during the AY '08-'09, but without voice.
• About Don's teaching - Sample problems, new student work, patterns in mathematics, the non-trivial use of calculators & computers,
beginning trig, ..
• About Don's books in Japanese
: as of  21 July 2006,  25,860 copies of the Japanese translation of Don's book "Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up)" were sold by Kodansha Ltd. in 6 1/3 years and as of 2009 they have stopped selling this book; and 8,012 copies of Don's book "Changing Shapes With Matrices" were sold by Kodansha Ltd. in the first 2 yrs., 8 months!
• Patterns in Mathematics (patterns in numbers, patterns in graphs, patterns in shapes,..) and how Don's students work on particular topics.
• About Don's website - see the four or so Java applets at IES in Japan using Don's ideas, like showing the 6 trig functions on one diagram and
the new Java applet by IES
on Don's website at  "Changing Shapes With Matrices" .

 

Don's Materials Will Teach You To:
Discover Patterns -New discoveries & Patterns in Mathematics		Try sample problems from Don's worksheet book, by chapter! Don's Materials (all published and copyrighted by Don Cohen-The Mathman) Get Ready for Calculus Book: "Calculus By and For Young People (ages 7, yes 7 and up)" (CD-ROM) Worksheet book: "Calculus By and For Young People - Worksheets" (CD-ROM) & Table of Contents of books 1 & 2 Videotape #1: "Infinite Series" Videotape #2: "Iteration" "A Map to Calculus" "Changing Shapes with Matrices"   All of Don's materials are on a 2 disk CD set (see above)  Science to math activities The non-trivial use of Calculators and Computers in Don's materials The important mathematics The importance of guessing Patterns in Mathematics
	Visualize Mathematics
Learn to Learn - Tessa at 5 works with Grandpa ! "When Grandma talks, everyone listens!"
What parents, teachers, kids, Martin Gardner, Morris Klein, W.W. Sawyer, the MAA, the ASCD, Kodansha, Mary Pride in her 'Big Book of Home Learning', the July/Aug. 2000 issue of The Home Education Magazine, The Math Forum.. say about Don's materials On Thinking About and Doing Mathematics Who was that Mathman? 'The Math Program'- Don and Jerry's great way of teaching math & loving it! (and what parents and students say about The Math Program) How other sites use Don's ideas & his website Don's Favorite Places on the WWW Puzzles, Games, & Hands-On Activities Don Uses With Students After 45 years of teaching math & parenting.. Links to this website- how many now ? Don's materials are for grades K-12, ages 6-8 with adult help, up through pre-calculus students, adults, teachers, teachers of teachers, and parents!

Send email to Don Cohen concerning his 'Math by Mail/Email' with IM and video, coming to Champaign to work with him , ways he could improve his web site, or other issues. people have come in, peeked, glanced, shook, were curious, skeptical, impressed, excited, thought about what their children are doing in school or as homeschooled, tried a problem, solved a problem, emailed Don, called Don, ordered his material, .. since June 6, 1996. Notice, this site slipped past 200,000 visitors in early  2004- in less than 8 years!
                 Thank you for stopping, do try some problems before you go!

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Don's web site was designed and started by one of his former students, Jennifer, while at MIT, and continued & maintained by Don, with some help from his grandson, Lian.