Addition the Fun Way!

I am so excited to share with you a curriculum that has allowed my children to move past the traditional black and white numbers and into a world where numbers create characters and characters stories. Allow me to introduce you to Addition the Fun Way! by Judy Liautaud with City Creek Press. 

The curriculum is a fun, picture method of learning and the addition facts, per the author. I whole heartedly agree. Let me explain how the method of learning the addition facts work. First, the author goes into great detail to explain how to use and teach this book. I found this area very helpful simply because this was an entirely new way for me to think about numbers and for my children as well. Any question that you may encounter will more than likely be answered in this section and if not, Judy Liautuad is incredibly prompt at answering any email request AND phone calls that you may have have! This is based on personal experience!

The book then goes on to explain who each of the number characters are. Each number becomes a constant character throughout the entire book. For example, there is ” 3 bee” and ” sick 6″. The stories are constructed around these characters and a new addition fact is learned after each story.

The curriculum covers EVERYTHING from adding zero through ten. Learning the one’s and two’s addition facts are covered in the beginning and not used as character in stories. Rather the numbers are given the staircase picture of going up one step if you add one and two steps up the stairs if you add two to a number.

Silly and memorable number characters are a great way to describe how the author draws the children into learning in a very visual and interesting manner. For example, one of our favorite stories is 3+3=6. The story, in summary, talks about how sick 6 was picking flowers on a beautiful spring day but there were 2 bees in the flower who stung him. The author then recaps each story with,

” Remember: When its 3+3, the 3-bees sting the 6 and make him sick.”

Now, for the best part, our experience with the curriculum! I received this curriculum in February and was not sure how long it would take for me to accurately write this review, based on my children’s results. However, the method and results with the picture methodology presented in Addition the Fun Way! is incredible!

We began with two stories a day. That is all. Then after my boys became familiar with each character they would go through the book and pick out stories that appeared interesting to them. We did not go through any specific order. Rather we simply enjoyed reading the stories and learning the characters.

After a couple of weeks, I began pulling out some manipulatives that I had in our home. I did this for the purpose of observing if they were understanding the concepts behind the stories ( they were!!). I began to incorporate the flashcards that can be purchased along with the curriculum. The fun part about these flashcards is that they show the characters on them thus further helping to press the pictures as well as the addition facts into a child’s long-term memory.

I cannot, honestly, say enough great things about this incredibly fun and EASY way to learn the addition facts. After a few short weeks my boys were rattling off EVERY single addition fact while smiling about them. We all know those “flash card” moments where we sit with a black and white fact and continually repeat, ” you know this, what is this, what is this??”. Now, I hold up a flashcard and it is still black and white (the book is all in color) yet the difference is with the picture association built into the addition fact there is an immediate recognition and recall from the stories. I find this so encouraging and incredibly helpful in building the math foundation!

• The author has addition and subtraction as well as multiplication and division programs for you to choose from on her website: City Creek Press.
• The addition book that we have will cost $19.95 and the flash cards at $8.95.
• There are also great options to buy for one student on her site that include basic and deluxe kits.

I encourage anyone who is looking for an addition program that is engaging and fun to try out Addition the Fun Way! We have not been disappointed!