Just a quick reminder that if you have not yet attended a Face to Face with Greatness Series, there is a tremendous opportunity coming up in Temecula, CA, April 9-10.  Registration can be made through Erika Lundquist at evlundquist@gmail.com through Tuesday, March 9th.  Face to Face with Greatness is life changing and opens up many avenues for understanding where Leadership Education and the tenets of Liberty and Freedom are concerned.  It is a not-to-be missed opportunity!

Kay Emerson is one of the most gracious, delightful people that I have had the pleasure of meeting.  She has invented a math manipulative that will blow your socks off!  Today, we are going to talk with her about why the Zillio is revolutionary, how it can not only benefit your children but you as well, and take a sneak peek into her presentation for the FATJEF, April 24, 2010 in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

I so encourage you to go over to www.zilliogames.com, where you can see the zillio in action, “test drive” a game for yourself, and download tutorials, games and suggestions for interactive use.  The support system for this product is nothing short of amazing, and it was MADE for Leadership Education!

Hello, Kay!  I’m so sorry that I’m late today for our appointment!  I was counting citrus for a wedding that I’m attending this weekend with my 8-year-old and lost track of the time.  He was counting by twos today!

It’s not a problem, Teri.  Let’s just dive right in together, okay?

You are always so gracious, and again, I apologize.  Can we begin with you explaining why you developed this math manipulative?

I’d be delighted! When I was in school, I did well in math.  I took Calculus in high school and went on to even more advanced math in college, but there was always this nagging feeling that I knew I wasn’t comprehending the “what” and the “why” of what I was doing.

When I was working in classrooms, it occurred to me that both students and many of their teachers didn’t know how math concepts related to one another. Many of the 3rd and 4th graders could perform the math, but there was no meaning behind it.  I wanted to come up with something that would be fun, challenging and help to develop a numbers sense.  While I was taking upper level math courses in college, at times I wanted to raise my hand and request that they show me the concept in clay!  Of course, I fully understood that with many math concepts this wouldn’t even be possible.  I also knew that I could DO the math, but I wanted to get my mind around it with a concrete illustration.

I also wanted to design with the goal in mind that I could come up with something that would address the whole child; not just as a student, but as an emotional, learning being.  I wanted to encourage the development of risk taking skills, acknowledge the pleasure of accomplishment and reinforce the teaching of critical thinking and reasoning skills as well as computational skills.

Consequently, the games are designed for a wide range of skills.  Youngsters that can barely add, can play games at the same time as kids that are factoring and have mastery of multiplication.

Alright, Kay, I can feel myself beginning to sweat already! What if you were a person that had horrible experiences with math and crummy teachers?

Teri, I would like to address several things here for a couple of minutes, okay?

The Zillio can be a little intimidating initially because it can do a lot.  It’s a lot like a Cuisinart, really.  A Cuisinart can chop carrots and other vegetables or it can build a gourmet meal.

I recommend that you let children take the lead and you act as the resource.  Starting with games is a great way to begin. Children accept information as a given and begin playing without having to “have it all figured out” in advance.  There is a game that we play often that seems very simple.  In fact, when kids begin to play “Sunken Treasure” they often say, “This is really dumb.”   However, about halfway through the game, the adults that are always cast as the “Pirates” in this particular scenario, start to win everything!  The kids immediately switch to “Hey, this isn’t fair!” The adults always respond, “Of course it isn’t!  We’re PIRATES!”  We always play it multiple times, and the kids begin to pick up on the patterns of intentional misdirection in the game and begin naturally using very advanced critical thinking skills.

Contrast that with 15 teachers in a problem solving workshop.  They tried to think the entire game through before they made a move, so it actually took them longer to solve any of the problems, because they weren’t experiencing it as they went along!

It’s funny, because when you play Monopoly, you don’t troubleshoot why houses are green and hotels are red!  You just play the game!  I heard a great illustration about the digital age.  It was stated that children are digital natives, while most adults are digital immigrants.  I think that the same can be true for math concepts that the Zillio teaches.  Children “just do it”, while adults do mental translations based on earlier educational experiences.

A major university in Chicago just did a study and the highest level of math anxiety is within elementary education.

Are you serious?

Very.  They have now shown that because children pattern on gender during the K-2 grade experience, they tend to pick up the anxiety of the teacher where math is concerned as well.  This is, unfortunately, very prevalent in young girls.  They follow the teacher.

Some of the testimonials and endorsements on your website are simply amazing where the success of  the Zillio is concerned.

Games are one of the most successful ways to teach math and math patterns.  When we go through and work adding and then fractions, we can move fluidly into algebraic notation, because they can see the patterning.  Use once, use many.  Once you learn how to apply something to integers, it’s a small thing to have them move into fractions and have that same success.

You are coming to the FATJEF in April.  Would you care to share with us some of the concepts that you will be covering there?

Well, I would like to start off by playing a game that fits a 6-11 yr-old age range, and then will segue way into a game that would be appropriate for 15 yr olds.  As we play the game, we’re going to talk about how different children at different stages of development play games, how to observe where they are and how to gently direct them next.

The workshop will also include discussion of how to make the games work collaboratively as well as competitively; along with how to modify them for your specific learners needs.

From games, we will move into a lesson on fractions and how we can look at meaning; equivalency and operations with concrete examples.

One of the strengths of middle school age students that have Zillio experience, is the ability to understand the strengths, power and fluidity of algebraic types of equations, because we’ve done our job by laying the foundation early on.

I am starting to relax, Kay, and am looking forward to this workshop!  Can you address the people that can’t attend and what can be done for folks wanting “long distance” support?

Tutorials are included with each Zillio, but we offer tremendous telephone support, so if you hit a snag in any scenario, with any child or learning environment, we are here and would love to help you.  We can go “mountain to mountain” by helping you to step through exercises over the phone with us on one Zillio, and you on yours.  We also show you where you can go on the website for our tailored support materials.  We can’t always anticipate people’s needs, and acknowledge that we don’t always hit the mark, but we are willing to adjust and rework where necessary so that your needs are met.

For example. we were working with a Professor at the University of Florida in a seminar that she was teaching highlighting a Special Education Curriculum.  All of the teachers were humming along in their workbooks, but came to equivalent fractions and hit a snag.  None of them were confident in the directions and how to implement them.  We spent 10 minutes on the phone, and they all went out and taught it with great success!

Sixty percent of our people have an initial “what do I do with this thing?!” reaction, but once we play and interact, it all turns out!

Well, I have one that I purchased from you at the CHN, and I can honestly say that my kids have figured out some things so intuitively that I am amazed!  I think that my own math stigma will be greatly helped by attending your workshop at the FATJEF.  I can honestly say that you have such a calm, reassuring presence about you, it makes me WANT to tackle some of the things that scare me.

Teri, you make people feel so good about what they do.  There are days when you wonder why you’re doing what you’re doing, but today, I’m feeling pretty good about it! Anyone can use the Zillio along with their children and recover what they’ve lost in translation or the classroom.  It’s all about experiencing and understanding.

Awww!  Thank you, Kay!  I can’t wait for you to come and I AM attending your workshop.

I am always excited to be a part of anything that helps people to feel comfortable with what they can offer and bring to the “party!’

The pleasure is honestly all mine, Miss Kay.  I sincerely thank you for your time and look forward to seeing you.