The following article appeared in The Washington Times on Tuesday, June 17, 1997. It appears here with permission from the author. All rights reserved. Students diagram and write out in prose the procedures they follow in solving a problem.
Problems involve story lines like planning a party or shopping and getting change.
Numbers as abstract symbols are de-emphasized. You can guess at an answer that satisfies Condition 1. Then you can check to see whether your guess also satisfies Condition 2. The hope is that math will not only be more fun but be reinforced in a concrete manner. Calculators and computers.