How Many Ways Can You Cut A Pie?

With Pi Day earlier this week, Lilly and I have been doing some pie themed activities. One of them included this book, How Many Ways Can You Cut A Pie? by Joan Belk Moncure.

This book is a favourite of mine because it is simple. It's a sweet story of sharing, friendship, doing what is right and also fractions! If you've known me personally in this life or as a teacher you know how passionate I feel about fractions and their instruction. They are absolutely essential to success mathematically in life. Did you know that the number one reason that students find frustration with high school mathematics is that they were not adequately instructed or they lack understanding of basic fractions and their rules? Because of that fact and because I'm a stay-at-home-teacher-mama who graduated Magna Cum Laude from one of the Top Ten Ranked Universities for educators in the United States with a degree and specialization in Elementary Education... I am telling you that it is so very important to start fractions early and teach them well.

Now, I know you're likely wondering if teaching fractions to your two year old is just a little too early. The answer is no, it isn't too early. Creating experiences for children to explore numeracy and abstract concepts like fractions is imperative even for toddlers. Now, I am not saying we are teaching how to factor and solve rational equations but you can bet that your child will need to understand fractions in order to do that later on. With our tiny toddlers, it's a simple as starting with 'sharing' and teaching them fraction names.

The book does a great job of this (which is why I love it so much!) and using this book gives you a natural starting point for these kinds of lessons.

You can see the book uses the mathematical fraction language and representation of fractions brilliantly. At home, using language like "I am splitting this into two pieces. One half for me and one half for you." or "Let's cut this into three pieces. One third for me, one third for you, and one third for daddy." helps children begin to internalize the concept of fractions quite concretely.

For Lilly, we've been using language like that for a while so it's not surprising to hear her saying things like, '...half for you and half for me,' and you likely use that language, too! So you are already doing it without even knowing it! Hooray! Now, simply being a tiny bit more intentional around it will foster the space for them to expand their understanding of fractions even more.

So now I have to (like REALLY have to) give you a little history on this book and author for you because if you even try to get your hands on this book, you'll find two things:

1) You can't find it in any store... definitely try though! I was not so lucky. It's heartbreaking I know... but don't be discouraged!

2) If you're blessed enough to see it on Amazon, like I was, you'll find it is priced at $50 or more. *Yikes!* But still, dont be discouraged! I have the solution to this problem. Read on!

So why is this the case? Shouldn't this book be in the hands of every child and on the shelves of every bookstore, library, school, etc? Absolutely yes! But... this book, along with countless others, was published way back in 1988 by Moncure. So it was thirty four years ago they all were released en masse to the public but not through bookstore or major publishing companies. I am lucky enough to have two of her books in physical form in my possession because my mom ordered them for me through the mail in subscription papers all those years ago. Jeez, did I just date myself with that one? LOL Anyways, Moncure passed away in 2013 and is no longer writing for the wide world but the wide world knows how incredible these books are and people have held on to them tightly. As an early educator herself she crafted these books that are incredible for teaching early concepts to children. From learning the colours to the basics of fractions, she has a title for everything in between.

Here is the golden ticket my friends... I lucked out when I did a search for them in my public library system! I am hoping you might, too! I live quite rurally so our local (tiny) library here is connected to 20 or more other local (tiny) libraries and between all of them, I have been able to request over 30 more of her titles to read with Lilly. So my suggestion is to head to your local library if you want to find How Many Ways Can You Cut A Pie? by Joan Belk Moncure and some of her other teaching tales!

Happy Reading! Happy Pi Day!

-Ashley

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