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It's A Numbers Game
Stand and Deliver + Sudoku Puzzles
When a tough-talking bully challenges the authority of high school math teacher Jaime Escalante in East L.A., he counters with this startling advice: "Tough guys don't do math. Tough guys fry chicken for a living." In Stand and Deliver, based on a true story, Escalante (Edward James Olmos) challenges his barrio students to prepare for the Advanced Placement Calculus Exam, a feat that demands they study over the summer and work around challenging economic and family situations. No one - not their parents, not the school and not the kids themselves - believes they can do it. Yet when each student passes, we are reminded that a good teacher can change lives, one child at a time. A familiar tale, but one that we hope will take place in classrooms all over Los Angeles come September.
Even if your kids aren't up to calculus proofs, warming up their math skills before school is as simple as 1-2-3. Sudoku puzzles are logic games that have taken the world by storm. The Los Angeles Times publishes one every day, googling them is a breeze and bookstores display stacks of Sudoku books by the cash register. Getting kids of all ages into Sudoku is surprisingly easy (ours began at eight), and even our computer-addicted tweens have given their keyboards a rest and picked up a pencil. We offer one important warning: sudoku is highly addictive! We have found ourselves, heads bent in concentration over the morning paper, trying to finish where our kids left off.
Want to know a little more about this film? Here are our buttery bits of wisdom:
- The story that inspired the movie took place at Garfield High in East Los Angeles. Mr. Escalante's AP calculus program continued for another 8 years until a new principal discontinued the program.
- Although there are kids who smoke, drink, swear and talk about sex throughout the film, we didn't feel these subjects were used gratutitously. The film works for kids over eight, but is best for those over twelve.
- Lou Diamond Phillips stars as Angel Guzman, a tough guy with a head for math. He's also great in La Bamba.
Want to know how to talk to your kids about this movie? Here are some conversation starters:
- Ask your kids who is their favorite teacher. What endears this teacher to them - being tough, or being nice? Did they ever have a teacher they didn't like at the beginning of the year, but grew to respect?
Sudoku Puzzles
Where to find it: Los Angeles Times Calendar section every day. Start on Monday with the gentle level; the puzzles get increasingly difficult throughout the week.
Google: "sudoku" for puzzles to download.
Our favorite: Sudoku Easy Presented by Will Shortz is a great compilation of puzzles for beginners. However, any book will do, as long as the puzzles are identified as easy, gentle or for beginners.
Want some tips on how to play? Here are our buttery bits of wisdom:
- Soduku doesn't require actual math skills, it's all about logic. Like a crossword puzzle, the goal is to use clues to fill numbers into a grid. No number can be repeated, each number must be used on both a vertical or horizontal axis and in all of the three 3 x 3 boxes that make up the grid. There are always a few digits to get you started; the game is to deduce from these number clues how to fill in the rest of the grid. This sounds more complicated than it really is -- trust us, just pick up a pencil and get started!
- Sudoku has kept our kids busy for hours on long car rides and airplane trips. When we spend the day with other families, all the kids print out the same puzzles, start together and the first to finish, wins.
- These puzzles are popular world-over, from Asia to England. Our kids picked up the habit on a trip to Italy two summers ago, where they purchased books of puzzles at the local news stand. Since math is an international language, no translation was required.
- COOL FACT: Sudoku is a shortened name for suji wa dokushin ni kagiru (translated as "only single numbers allowed"). According to Will Schortz, soduku puzzles were actually invented in the U.S. as a game called "Number Place." They were picked up by a Japanese puzzle magazine and the rest... is game history.
Want some other ideas for math games:
- Chess: Local libraries teach chess: Santa Monica Public Library (310-450-0443 on Thursdays from 2:30 - 6 pm, ages 7 and up, free); Fairfax Library (323-936-6191, Mondays, 6 pm, 12 and up, free); The California Chess Club (310-940-9279 for group and private lessons, 7 and up).
- Rummikub: Our family favorite, either individually or as teams.
- Card Games: Our kids started with Go Fish, graduated to Gin Rummy and Hearts, and now are betting chips in heated games of Texas Hold 'Em. True, you have to allow gambling, but those math skills sure come in handy!
- Younger kids can start on Rubik's Cubes, jigsaw puzzles, and games like Rush Hour to get those logic skills flowing. Try The Puzzle Zoo (various locations in LA) for a good selection.
Want to watch more great movies about teachers? Click here to visit the Kids Off the Couch store at Amazon.com.
Want to do some further reading? Click here to visit the Kids Off the Couch store at Amazon.com.
Click here for your i-tunes download:
- You do the Math by Tower of Power: Funky number;
- School Days by Chuck Berry: Study this!
- Old School by Aaliyah: Smooth course.
- The Math by Hilary Duff: It all adds up.
- Jigsaw Puzzle by the Rolling Stones: "....they've been outcasts all their lives..."
- Stand and Deliver by Adam Ant: Enough said.
Here are a few of our favorite on-line sites for games: