Strategies give children confidence and independence. Rote memorization, on the other hand, is a low-level thinking skill. An example of a strategy is finding 9 + 6 by taking 1 from the 6 and giving it to the 9 to make 10 and 5, which is 15. Children who learn strategies have better number sense and are less likely to resort to finger counting.
Manipulatives, such as an abacus or tables, are not to be regarded as crutches. They enable the children to build a mental model, necessary for concept formation. In practice, children will refer to them less and less and finally not at all. Let each child decide when he no longer needs them. Sometimes just the security of having them nearby helps, even if they are not looked at. At the right time, a child may respond to the challenge of playing without them.
What looks like a simple step to us is often several steps for the child. That explains the variety of games. The games progressively get harder, building on previous concepts. The background section found in some of the games offers suggestions for presenting new concepts. Often a concept can be learned in more than one way, resulting in several games for the same concept.
When learning new concepts or practicing concepts, errors must be corrected immediately. The games allow the players to discover errors themselves or with the help of the other players. Most of the solitaires cannot be won if an error is made.
These games teach the players math while they play. The players need not know their facts before playing. Numeration, addition, subtraction, clocks, money, multiplication, division, and fractions are all adddressed.
