Math Toys Get Back to the Basics

"It is better to help kids first learn what math is before moving on to electronic aids." —Marcy McLeod, an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles

If you’re going to carry electronic learning aids (ELA) that teach math, reach for something small and handheld. Retailers and educators have been telling TDmonthly Magazine that the trend is toward a traditional “hands-on” learning approach, featuring manipulative aids, such as marbles, beads, blocks and non-electronic counting apparatuses.

Large-scale retailers and manufacturers are still doing good business with ELAs. However, the advent of inexpensive home computers and educational software within the last five years has slowed their growth in specialty stores.

Educators favor manipulative aids, not electronic ones. After consulting with several specialty retailers, TDmonthly discovered that their customers, too, preferred manipulative devices instead of ELAs.

Cathy Seely, president of The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, a nonprofit group dedicated to improving mathematics education, stressed that children need to “make sense of math, be able to do it and do something with it.” Seely said that this is best accomplished with manipulative, hands-on and verbal-based methods.

Educators stress when children first begin learning math, they have yet to develop the ability for abstract thought. They need to see real, concrete evidence for what they are doing. With electronic apparatuses, children tend to memorize the results without understanding the concept.

For beginning math, educators use a variety of tools, including marbles, beads and various animal figures. Laura Whitbread, a Montessori teacher in Los Angeles, feels, “Once the child masters the concept of what math is, it becomes almost second nature, and then they can move on to more difficult, advanced mathematics, including multi-number addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions.”

Karen Barwick, owner of Boomerang Toys in New York City, stocks only a few electronic math toys. “We believe in a much more hands-on approach, as does our customer base,” she said.

Nick Ionoff, owner of a Learning Express franchise in Belmont, Calif., noted that his most popular math aids used to be the electronic/interactive type, but today his best-sellers are old-fashioned workbooks and blocks. “It’s what teachers want and what parents want,” Ionoff concluded.

Todd Merryfield, owner of The Learning Shop stores in Wisconsin — a specialty store featuring educational toys and classroom supplies — stocks limited electronic/interactive learning aids, although Math Shark by Educational Insights (ToyDirectory), has been a popular ELA item. Merryfield said that his clientele want products, “to reinforce what the teachers are teaching, and that’s best done with hands-on, manipulative toys like old fashioned blocks and beads” for ages 3 through 6. For older kids, "ELA is more of a tool used at home to help reinforce math skills learned in school.”

Despite the trend, a number of electronic math aids are popular and practical. Manufacturers of ELAs who were surveyed said that they were experiencing record-setting years.

James Whitney, president of Southern Calif.-based Educational Insights, manufactures a variety of hand-held ELAs. Whitney said that the company’s philosophy is to create manipulative toys that allow “the teacher and parent to decide what works for the individual child.” Their products follow, “a pedagogical concept,” said Whitney. Ideally, the user develops skills so that — without thinking — he or she knows that nine multiplied by nine equals 81.

Creative Teaching Associates (ToyShow) is a Central Calif.-based manufacturer of Power Learning games — a series of non-electric interactive games especially designed to challenge and motivate students. Mark Carlson, director of sales and marketing, said that his products are “self-correcting, have computational intensity, and help develop verbal communication.” More advanced than blocks and marbles, but more manipulative than ELAs, Carlson said that “Power Learning games saw record sales numbers in 2004 and are on pace to exceed that in 2005.”

The following are some popular interactive math aids and ELAs: