The Best Vacation Ever (MathStart 2)

Product Description

Help kids with their math skills plus their reading skills with the engaging and fun MathStart series!
The Best Vacation Ever is perfect for teaching data collection to first, second, and third graders. The family needs a break. Everybody’s always so busy. But where should they go? A very smart and practical little girl asks some key questions and charts the answers. Mom wants to go someplace quiet and cool. Grandma and brother Charlie are looking for fun. And everybody but Dad wants Fluffer the cat to come along. Is there any place that’ll make everyone happy? 
Kids will love the story and the funny illustrations by Bernard Westcott. Parents and other educators will love how the story and pictures make understanding comparisons a breeze—as well as the concrete examples of how math works! The book contains activities for adults to do with kids to extend math into their own lives! Math = Fun!
MathStart is an award-winning series by Stuart J. Murphy that teaches math through stories and visual models. Young readers find the stories engaging and relatable, because each story revolves around practical applications of the math concept being presented and features lively art from top-notch illustrators.
Charts and other visual representations help children understand how the math works and promote deeper comprehension. This unique combination of stories, illustrations, and visual models helps teachers and parents in the teaching of math and provides all children with the opportunity to succeed.
The 63-book series is divided into three levels with 21 books in each. The math concepts taught in MathStart books conform to state and national standards. Level 1 is Pre-K–Kindergarten; Level 2 is Grades 1–3; Level 3 is Grades 2–4.  The series follows math topics across grades so there is a foundational path to learning that runs through the levels.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. This series of introductory math books presents various concepts on different levels. The Best Vacation Ever shows how a family decides where to go on vacation (problem solving); Divide and Ride shows how 11 children are able to sort themselves into smaller groups in order to go on different rides at a carnival. In Every Buddy, a young girl counts her friends and her pets. All books are simply written but very clear, and concepts are explained in a number of ways. The cartoon illustrations are of average quality and capture the many characters’ diverse activities. Suggestions are presented at the end for related activities, such as planning a picnic, dividing snacks, and measuring to make cookies. An entertaining approach to progressive levels of math concepts.?Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

This busy family needs a vacation, but they don’t know where to go. Mom and Dad want peace and quiet. Grandma wants to go somewhere hot. Fluffer wants to go somewhere that pets can go, too! The pig-tailed narrator gathers all this data and makes a chart to help determine the perfect vacation destination. Learning math is fun when a vacation is the answer!

About the Author

Stuart J. Murphy is a visual learning specialist. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has a strong background in design and art direction. He also has extensive experience in the world of educational publishing. Drawing on all these talents, Stuart J. Murphy brings a unique perspective to the MathStart series. In MathStart books, pictures do more than tell stories; they teach math.
Stuart J. Murphy and his wife, Nancy, live in Boston.

Nadine Bernard Westcott has illustrated numerous books for children, including How to Grow a Picket Fence by Mary Louise Cuneo and two popular children’s songs: There’s a Hole in the Bucket and Over the River and Through the Wood. She has also illustrated another book in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science serie