Vedic Mathematics Newsletter No. 99
A warm welcome to our new subscribers.
Vedic Mathematics is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people are introduced to the beautifully unified and easy Vedic methods. The purpose of this Newsletter is to provide information about developments in education and research and books, articles, courses, talks etc., and also to bring together those working with Vedic Mathematics. If you are working with Vedic Mathematics - teaching it or doing research - please contact us and let us include you and some description of your work in the Newsletter. Perhaps you would like to submit an article for inclusion in a later issue or tell us about a course or talk you will be giving or have given. If you are learning Vedic Maths, let us know how you are getting on and what you think of this system.
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This issue’s article is "The many success stories of teaching Vedic and
Pebble Maths in New Zealand" by Jodie Mason. Jodie Mason is a
Primary/ Intermediate teacher at a state run school in New Zealand.
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NEWS
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Online VM Conference
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This is on the weekend of 14/15th March and promises to be a terrific event. It is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of the ground-breaking book “Vedic Mathematics” by Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji.
Since it is both a conference and a celebration we aim for a combination of quality presentations and lively interactions.
Day 1
• Introductory Workshop by James Glover
• Short presentations (multiple speakers) from around the world, currently 17
• Special Projects presentations (multiple speakers), currently 7.
Day 2
• Presentations (multiple speakers) from those giving a paper at the Bangkok Conference in July, currently about 12,
• Panel discussions on specific topics
Full details can be seen at:
http://conference.vedicmaths.org/2015-03%20Online%20Conference.asp
including details for registering.
Please join us for this inspiring event.
Expect a few surprises!
SUCCESS IN PUNE – from Pallavi Patil
Till now I have conducted many Vedic Maths workshops for parents, teachers, competitive exam seekers, school going children, etc and a couple of workshops for engineering students too. So many experiences to share. I would like to share recent one...
I am working with the children having maths-phobia. I have 30 children from a school of grade 3, 4 and 5. They had nothing but hate for numbers, that was really a challenge for me. But Vedic Maths made all things so simple for me and the kids too. After just 2 months, they don't want to miss maths periods. They want more worksheets for practise. This two months journey from "I don't want to do" to "Let me try" to "I want page full of numbers", "I want more worksheets", "Teacher, give me homework" is really exciting.
Pune, India
3 UNIVERSITIES TOE BATRA LINE, OFFER VEDIC MATHS COURSE
FROM Hindustan Times (Delhi), 29 Dec 2014:
NEW DELHI: By February, three Indian universities will be teaching Vedic mathematics, thanks to memorandums of understanding signed with the Shiksha Bachao Andolan of Dinanath Batra, widely known for his Hindutva-inspired ideas on education. The latest is Punjab Technical University (PTU), which begins the six-month certificate course in February.
Batra courted controversy this year when he got author Wendy Doniger’s book ‘The Hindus: An Alternative History’ pulped. His organization has also prepared a school syllabus in Vedic mathematics for classes 1 to 12 and is looking to design a full diploma course next year.
“We are providing PTU with the syllabus and resource persons and they will start both regular and online certificate courses,” Shiksha Bachao Andolan co-coordinator Atul Kothari told HT. The organization is widely seen as an offshoot of the RSS, but Kothari firmly denied any such association.
WORKSHOP UPDATE FROM VERA STEVENS
I am happy to report that the workshop was a tremendous success and will be continued next holidays ( Easter). We covered fractionalizing and decimalizing remainders on day four and the children are now creating their own patterns for division. ( e.g dividing by 8 and 7).
Once again the Dyslexic children were the most excited and were forward in asking and sharing insight.
NEW ONLINE JOURNAL ARTICLE – by Rohan Chandra
This is entitled Divisibility Tests and shows an application of the Sutra “The Remainders by the Last Digit” in an original application. See:
http://vedicmaths.org/resources/journal-of-vedic-mathematics
ARTICLE ON VM APPLICATIONS
"Vedic Mathematics in Microcontrollers", by Jai Sachith Paul. From Electronics For You, Feb 2015.
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ARTICLE for VM Newsletter 99
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The many success stories of teaching Vedic and Pebble Maths in New Zealand
By Jodie Mason
Approximately 5 years ago, a good friend and teaching colleague of mine Damen Pitiroi shared with me that he had not long started an online Maths course, called Vedic Maths. As trained Primary School teachers we were struggling with the current New Zealand Maths curriculum and teaching it effectively to the children in our classrooms.
At the end of the Vedic Maths course, Damen shared more closely what he had learnt, and the excitement that I saw from him was evident. He started applying what he learnt with his class and starting seeing immediate results, such as an increase in confidence in the children, and the children were problem solving, adding, subtracting etc. with so much more ease. By the end of a full first year and the next 3 years of Damen teaching Vedic Maths and thereafter Pebble Maths, all of his children, including and especially, those who had struggled since they began Primary School has made tremendous progress where many of them were at or above the National Standard for Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum. One of Damen’s students aged 8 communicated that he wants to do a PhD in Mathematics. This same student who is now not far from turning 12, has read and worked through both Vedic Mathematic books, and recently won a Waikato Intermediate Maths Competition.
During this time, I too began teaching my own class aspects of Vedic Maths via Damen, and I saw an instant shift in many of my children’s learning, especially the strugglers and children who had English as their second language. The children communicated, who were aged 7 and 8 years old, how much easier it was to add and subtract numbers.
From those 5 years ago, to present, the journey of Vedic and Pebble Maths has been astounding. 2014 saw Damen and I at a new school, and this was especially an amazing year as it saw us work together to teach Vedic and Pebble Maths to teachers and students in a combined Primary/ Secondary school called Murupara Area School. The results for both student and teacher alike have been phenomenal. Children as young as 5 years old were clearly articulating the difference between an odd and even number, and they were also able to smoothly add and subtract forwards and backwards in 1’s, 2’s and 4’s. One student aged 8 years old informed me that he helped his mum at the shop not get “ripped off”, as she was given the wrong amount of change back, and he was able to quickly calculate the correct amount of change she was meant to be given. It has been incredible seeing those students right through to the Intermediate Age of 12 years old become so immersed in Maths, have an increased love for Maths and share and teach their own friends and family members.
Many at the beginning of high school aged 13 plus, and a handful of students at the upper the Area of School, aged 16 years plus, were introduced to Vedic Maths, and their response was exciting to say the least! After the sessions with Damen, they couldn’t believe how easy Maths really was, and how being taught Vedic Maths was so much easier than any Maths they’ve had in the past. The looks many had on their faces as they were soaking up the knowledge and strategies were photo moments indeed.
In my own teaching class alone, I now no longer have students telling me that they are too dumb to learn. These students see numbers for what they are; place value is much better to comprehend, they are in love with Maths and if it were up to many of them, they communicated they would do Maths all day! My student’s confidence in themselves has been explosive, as their newfound confidence and learning in Maths has transferred into all other areas of the curriculum, such as reading, writing and social studies. Parents have also communicated that their child doesn’t like missing out on school and that their attitudes are much better at home.
Constant feedback and feed forward was communicated from both student and teacher in 2014, and a meeting was held at the end of the year to reflect on how teachers found learning and teaching Pebble Maths. The meeting was hugely positive, and comments from teachers ranged from how they love and enjoy teaching Maths much more due to the simplicity of pebble Maths; how it grounds number and provides a solid foundation; how ALL students are engaged (students at both ends of the learning spectrum were progressing); there is an increase of success and progress in the National Standards of the New Zealand Curriculum for the students to many many more! Teachers from other surrounding schools have also made enquiries, and it is exciting to continue to share Vedic and Pebble Maths from the boundaries of the Murupara Area School gates.
A huge thanks and acknowledgement to Kenneth Williams and Vera Stevens for their insight, their knowledge, their love of sharing and teaching Vedic and Pebble Maths. And also especially, many thanks and acknowledgement to Damen Pitiroi who those years ago, shared his enthusiasm of Vedic and also Pebble Maths, and who has been a constant support and teacher of Maths, both professionally and personally. My very own personal journey of mathematics since the initial conversation to now has too been hugely liberating and empowering!
End of article.
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Editor: Kenneth Williams
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6th March 2015
