Students MUST have a protractor for Monday’s class next week. The best protractor has these qualities:
1. Clear and see through.
2. Small as possible.
3. No movable ruler attached (which is only a pain in the neck and doesn’t help at all).
4. If it has lines that go from the center out to the edge that’s even better than having a half circle hole in the middle.
5. Inexpensive.
A compass will be needed soon too. The best compass has a tight grip and won’t wobble when you move it, so make sure the hinge at the top is very sturdy, metal is usually more hardy than plastic.
Mathematics Tables
Please consider going online to www.eason.ie (ie stands for the country of Ireland) to purchase your child a mathematics tables book. These are not available in America anywhere I have looked, but are one of the BEST purchases for a math student NOW and in the future you will ever make.
They are widely used by maths (this is the correct Irish spelling) students and teachers in Ireland. Ireland has an extremely good education system, and your child will be able to benefit from this same instructional quality.
The Mathematics Tables I recommend is called Mathematics Tables by Distribution Ais. ISBN 0-7557-7391-8. 9780755773916 It only costs 2 Euro plus shipping. I think your total cost would run about $5 in American money. You can give me the $5 and I’ll order it for your child if you are uncomfortable ordering online.
You can order with an American credit card. Surname means Last Name. It takes a while to get, but I think last year it was only a couple of weeks, nothing too major.
There are other Mathematics Tables available for slightly more. Stay with the cheaper ones, as those are the best and less bulky. I have ordered one copy of each this year today to check them out, but don’t have them yet, so I can only guarantee the one I named.
We WILL USE THESE TABLES regularly EVERY DAY in class for a while. They are a million times better than any calculator. They are quicker to use, plus they allow students to really understand the math we will being doing and the patterns of the numbers as they evolve and interact with each other. That knowledge means BETTER test scores and better math understanding and comprehension.
We will be using these tables for squares, square roots, sines, tangents, and cosines. They can also be used for logs in grade 11 pre-calculus math in the IB program.
These tables have some cultural value to as they are given in Irish and English (same booklet).
Thanks for considering this investment in your child’s education.
Some background on the store. Easons is the major bookseller in the country of Ireland. It has a large location on the main street of the capital city Dublin called O’Connell Street. it is as widely known as this country’s Borders or Barnes and Noble.
