Danica McKellar, THE TIMES MACHINE
[0:08]Hi, I'm Zibi Owens and you're listening to Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
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[0:32]I'm so excited to discuss my sponsor today, which is Page One Books because my summer
[0:38]book bundle is ready on PageOneBooks.com and the bundle that I've fit together includes
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[0:48]you when I blink by Mary Loris Elpot, all of which have been on this podcast here.
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[1:02]of sun lotion.
[1:03]So go to page one books.com, page one with the number one.
[1:07]So page number one books.com and check out my page one book summer bundle by it is a gift,
[1:14]housewarming, if you actually go somewhere or just give it to yourself, everybody needs
[1:18]a treat without a long spring, page one books.com.
[1:22]I had the best time interviewing Danica McKeller about her latest book called The Times
[1:27]Machine.
[1:28]Danica is best known probably as her role as Winnie in The Wonder Years, at least I watched
[1:33]like every single episode of The Wonder Years, I'm wondering if maybe you did too.
[1:37]Anyway, she played Winnie, but since then, she has started something called McKeller Math
[1:42]and it's beyond impressive.
[1:43]She found her own math theorem spoke before the Congressional Committee in 2007 about
[1:49]why kids math scores are fried behind those in other countries and how we should really
[1:53]start in middle school targeting kids for math.
[1:56]She wrote all these different books.
[1:57]This is actually her 10th math book.
[1:59]She wrote math doesn't suck and she wrote, kiss my math, hot X algebra exposed, girls
[2:05]get curves, geometry, takes shape, she's written children's books, 10 different books
[2:09]for every age of the spectrum.
[2:11]She's a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA with a degree in math and also still an actress.
[2:16]She was on the West Wing, she was on Project MC squared, which my daughter loves.
[2:21]So she's just a total rock star and has dedicated her free time when she's not homeschooling
[2:26]her son or being an actress to writing math books to make math cool and teach kids everything
[2:31]they need to know.
[2:32]So thank you to Danica for coming on the show for inventing McKeller Math and helping so many
[2:38]kids and family is really get through the stress of learning math together.
[2:42]So I hope you enjoy your episode.
[2:43]I had the best time talking to her.
[2:45]Welcome Danica.
[2:46]Thank you so much for coming on mom's.
[2:47]Don't have time to read books.
[2:48]Oh, thank you for having me.
[2:49]It's my pleasure.
[2:50]It's true.
[2:51]It's true.
[2:52]I'm sorry.
[2:53]Yeah.
[2:54]So I can imagine.
[2:56]I think no matter how many kids you have, it's like a piece of dough that like fills a baking
[2:59]tray.
[3:00]Do I mean like no matter what you have, everything gets filled to the brim as soon as
[3:03]you have one child.
[3:04]Yeah.
[3:05]Well, I probably also because I homeschool my one child so that's more time consuming.
[3:09]Yeah.
[3:10]Actually, I wanted to talk about that now that like I spent a few months sort of homeschooling
[3:14]with the pandemic.
[3:15]How did you decide to homeschool and I want to talk obviously about your books, but how
[3:18]did you decide to homeschool your son?
[3:20]Yeah.
[3:21]I had already been writing math books at that point so I already had a really solid understanding
[3:25]of what I thought needed to get taught in math, but that was like a side of the point.
[3:28]Yeah, I had him in preschool and he was just he was bored and he just wasn't connecting.
[3:33]He was having fun with his extra curricular activities, but not that.
[3:36]And really both he's in preschool and we can do this.
[3:40]So I started doing homeschooling stuff with him and loved it.
[3:43]You know, you have time to like the field trips, whether it's the discovery cube or some other
[3:48]fun museum hands-on learning, figure out stuff on your own so many fun YouTube videos
[3:53]out there teaching all sorts of stuff is a great YouTube series called it's okay to be smart.
[3:57]Tons of fun, sciencey things that it's just it's oh, I love learning.
[4:02]Obviously, I love learning and teaching and all that stuff so it's extra fun for me.
[4:06]So I thought, well, okay, we'll do this for as long as it makes sense and it's continued
[4:09]to make sense.
[4:10]It's continued to go well.
[4:11]He continues to have lots of social time with kids and his extra curriculars and look, I'm
[4:16]his mom.
[4:17]He's now doing 8th grade math.
[4:19]I can't help but he's throwing algebra.
[4:21]It's like super fun and I actually swore that I wouldn't push him, but he just happens
[4:27]to really like math, really mind for it.
[4:29]I'm thinking he maybe got that for me and it's really, really, really fun to just see
[4:34]the light bulbs go out.
[4:35]I love, I love teaching him.
[4:37]And he's only nine and he's doing 8th grade math.
[4:39]Yeah.
[4:40]Well, we get an 8th grade math.
[4:41]We just started.
[4:42]Yeah.
[4:43]That's it.
[4:44]That's it.
[4:45]That's it.
[4:46]That's actually not something that it was a goal or it is even important.
[4:50]It's not actually at all important, it just happens to be really going to do yoga.
[4:54]You know, when you do yoga, they say it doesn't matter how flexible you are.
[4:57]As long as you're feeling a stretch, you're getting what you need to get out of it.
[5:00]Just like with that, with learning, you need to, it's not about the stuff you want to
[5:04]it's about how you learn.
[5:05]So that later in life, you can learn whatever your new job is, learn new coping skills
[5:10]for whatever situation you're putting, or whatever it is, it's about learning how to learn.
[5:15]And so that's, you know, the fact that he's doing algebraic doesn't matter at all.
[5:20]It doesn't put him ahead if anybody doesn't, you know, it really doesn't.
[5:24]It's just fun.
[5:25]And you don't.
[5:26]I feel like there was some headbutting, at least maybe because my kids weren't used
[5:29]in my trying to make them learn.
[5:31]No, but that's like, you know, there's headbutting in all of life when you're a mom.
[5:37]Like, whatever, pressure, teeth, time to go to bed.
[5:40]It's all the same stuff.
[5:41]However, we want to come to home school and I have come up with many, you know, techniques
[5:46]and things that have been really useful.
[5:47]So if you go to my Instagram profile, and I'm just at Deanna Kimme Keller, do you go to
[5:51]the highlights, those little circles on the profile?
[5:54]I have one that says, schooling at home, and it's tons of tips, the videos that I made,
[5:59]even some with Draco, where we act out the stuff that we do, and we can go into more of
[6:03]the details since we have time on this podcast too.
[6:05]But if I people want to go check that out, it's a good resource that I put there, because
[6:08]I know that a lot of parents are doing summer stuff, and might be doing stuff in the
[6:13]fall too.
[6:14]Might be doing stuff all next year.
[6:15]Say you didn't know.
[6:16]I say it doesn't sound like that.
[6:18]I mean, when the point is, I'm here to help.
[6:21]That's awesome.
[6:22]Now, I will definitely go to your highlights.
[6:23]I've gone to your Instagram, of course, but I haven't gotten all those tips, so now I'm thrilled
[6:27]to have a resource, because I was feeling a little overwhelmed to even just trying to get
[6:31]them to read the summer, and I read all the time, you know, you do math.
[6:34]I read all the time.
[6:35]I don't know.
[6:36]It's like, I just want them to love what I love.
[6:38]Sometimes that doesn't always work, but anyway, it's great to know about the highlights.
[6:42]So you majored in math.
[6:44]Well, first of all, you were winning on the wonder years.
[6:46]You're probably sick of talking about that.
[6:48]I can only imagine.
[6:49]I think I went through a phase when I was sick of hearing about the wonder years, and then
[6:52]I realized, like, duh, this is a beautiful gift.
[6:55]People loved the show.
[6:56]I didn't play some annoying character that people like to make fun of.
[6:59]I played a character that people love, you know, and I showed that people watched together
[7:03]as a family, and these same parents are familiar with me, and they're buying my math books
[7:08]for their kids, because they trust me, because they know me from age.
[7:11]It's just a beautiful, beautiful gift, and I don't take it for granted anymore, like
[7:14]I did when I was like 15, when I was over it, and that was in the middle of the show,
[7:18]when I was like, oh, I'm done with this, knowing you're not.
[7:23]But now I really, it's a beautiful hat that has led me to where I am now.
[7:27]Well, that's a great perspective on it, and I shouldn't have assumed you were sick of talking
[7:30]about it.
[7:31]I don't even know why I assumed that.
[7:32]Most people do.
[7:33]And I understand what.
[7:34]I mean, it's been 30 years.
[7:37]I was actually, as I was preparing for this, I was like, I should show my kids the
[7:41]wonder years.
[7:42]I never think to go back and play older shows for them, instead, they're like, you
[7:46]know, Netflix, whatever.
[7:47]I don't know.
[7:48]But now I'm going to go.
[7:49]This is perfect.
[7:50]It's a perfect age experience.
[7:51]What I'm going to see the wonder years is I believe on Hulu, but they don't have the original
[7:54]music.
[7:55]However, you can get the DVDs, and the DVDs are full, like they have the right theme song
[8:00]for the show, which they don't have on Hulu, and they have the right music for all the background,
[8:04]the Motown hits.
[8:05]They're very expensive.
[8:06]And I actually took almost 25 years, I think it did take 25 years for the show to end
[8:10]up on DVD, because nobody wanted to work out the money to pay the upfront licensing fees
[8:15]for all these amazing Motown hits that are, they really are a character in the show.
[8:20]The music is a character in the show.
[8:21]So finally somebody's decided to do it, and now it's available.
[8:24]Amazing.
[8:25]Yeah.
[8:26]I don't even have a DVD player anyway.
[8:27]Do you have a DVD player?
[8:28]Yeah.
[8:29]Maybe.
[8:30]Yeah.
[8:31]Really?
[8:32]Yeah.
[8:33]Yeah.
[8:34]Okay.
[8:35]Yeah.
[8:36]I'll figure it out.
[8:37]I'll find a way to do it.
[8:38]Because now I'm on a mission.
[8:39]Meanwhile, my daughter, who's 13, who I read, she and a girlfriend did the whole time
[8:43]machine book with me, or they just book, and I made them do all the exercises and read
[8:47]all the graphic novel-ish parts of it, and they loved it.
[8:51]But then when I showed a picture of you, I just was like, I don't know.
[8:55]Anyway, when I showed a picture of you to my daughter, she's like, wait a minute.
[8:57]I know where she's from Project MC Squared, which was like her favorite show, which
[9:01]I hadn't realized.
[9:02]And I, she even had the notebooks for all of our, like, anyway, we have like Project
[9:07]MC Squared stuff everywhere, and I did not even realize we're in that because I never
[9:11]watched it with her, which is another probably bad parenting moment.
[9:14]Anyway.
[9:15]No, no, no.
[9:16]But that's a really fun show.
[9:17]Project MC Squared, and it's like Charlie's Angels for teenage girls, and I play the Charlie.
[9:22]So I'm the one who gives them their missions.
[9:24]Girls, your mission today is the prince's in trouble.
[9:27]You must say that, you know, whatever it is.
[9:28]And they use science and math, but mostly science and logical, problem solving skills,
[9:33]two solve crimes.
[9:34]And it's really fun.
[9:35]It's their super glamorous, but they also really love being smart.
[9:40]And I think one of the, one of the, the models of the show is smartest and new cool.
[9:44]So I love that.
[9:45]It's actually right in line with the books that I wrote for her age in fact.
[9:49]I don't know if you're in, so if she's 13, then kiss my math would be the right book
[9:52]for her.
[9:53]I went online.
[9:54]I have all your books are on the way.
[9:56]One of them, not the baby, although I have younger kids too, so I got.
[10:00]them the 10 magic butterflies.
[10:01]And yeah, I was like, kiss my curves.
[10:03]They're like, I was like, look at all this.
[10:05]I'm not gonna cover it.
[10:06]I guess my math, if I'm at it's the pre-algebra one,
[10:09]it's kiss my math showing pre-algebra with his boss.
[10:11]And then the girls get curves, geometry takes shape
[10:14]as the high school geometry book.
[10:16]Yeah, that's time.
[10:17]That time is also a really fun one for your little ones.
[10:19]Or if you saw that one.
[10:20]I did, they're a little old,
[10:22]but that's perfect for some pieces and nephews and stuff.
[10:25]How old, how old are your kids?
[10:27]I have twins who are 13, boy and girl.
[10:29]And then I have an almost seven-year-old.
[10:31]Next week, she'll be seven and five and a half year old.
[10:34]Oh, yeah, so they're the little, yeah, five-year-old,
[10:38]10-year-old, 10-year-old butterflies.
[10:40]And then almost seven-year-old will be,
[10:41]do not open this math book.
[10:43]So you have like cornered the market on all these books.
[10:47]Yes, I need to get that one.
[10:48]I got that one.
[10:49]Adition of subtraction, oh good, first.
[10:51]Yeah, you're almost seven-year-olds.
[10:52]That was for her, that my little other one.
[10:54]Yes, it's not often that I can talk to an author
[10:57]who has something for every child of mine.
[10:59]Hi, impressive.
[11:01]You know what, it's been, it's been almost 13 years now
[11:04]of writing books.
[11:05]So slowly be sure, this is book number 10.
[11:07]The time of the machine, the one that's just come out
[11:09]is book number 10 for my calendar map.
[11:11]But if you go to makecalarmath.com,
[11:13]you'll see all the books from ages zero to 16.
[11:15]A big slider button that shows you, depending on your child's age,
[11:18]which book is the most appropriate.
[11:20]This was like dream of mine, like two years ago.
[11:22]I'm like, okay, I want a slider button.
[11:24]Because I was like, wait, I'm coming to a point
[11:26]where nothing's critical.
[11:27]I'm asking books for all these different ages.
[11:29]And I want to make sure people know which one is best
[11:32]for their kid.
[11:32]I am like your prime target for the slider thing.
[11:36]Like, that was perfect for me.
[11:38]I loved it.
[11:38]Thank you for putting that on your site.
[11:40]That was great.
[11:41]My pleasure.
[11:41]So why did you decide to write all these books?
[11:44]Why did you, I know you majored in math and everything.
[11:47]But like, what made you want to teach other people?
[11:49]What made you want to do it in book form?
[11:50]What made you want to turn math into something cool, honestly?
[11:54]I mean.
[11:55]So back in the year 2000, which is 20 years ago now,
[11:59]I was asked to speak in front of a subcommittee of Congress
[12:01]about the importance of women in mathematics.
[12:03]And since we're on a podcast, I can tell you the whole story.
[12:06]They were actually trying to get me to, it was a commission
[12:09]that was formed to try to get more money for women in college.
[12:13]So like stipends and things and scholarships.
[12:16]And I did, and they sent me this 100-page report
[12:19]of all the numbers, all the documents and all the studies
[12:24]and the graphs and showing all the issues.
[12:26]And at this point, I graduated from UCLA,
[12:28]had degree in mathematics.
[12:29]People, all these articles were coming out like,
[12:31]oh, Winnie is a math-wiz.
[12:33]And people were coming up some in the street
[12:34]and not just saying, hey, we love you all the wonders.
[12:36]But why did you study math?
[12:38]Like, why would you do that to yourself?
[12:39]And so many women would say, oh, I could never do math.
[12:43]Oh, I just, I just, you know, I had this one teacher,
[12:46]this one test, and that, I did fine.
[12:47]And then there was this one experience
[12:49]that I never looked back in.
[12:50]It was just too bad, yeah.
[12:52]I couldn't do it for men on it.
[12:54]And I saw all this, this failure and defeat.
[12:56]And then when I spoke in front of Congress
[12:59]and studied this report, it became crystal clear
[13:02]that middle school is the time when most young girls
[13:05]start to lose confidence in math.
[13:08]Not their grade, they're doing just fine.
[13:10]They lose some confidence, and that's the beginning of the end.
[13:12]Because when you lose your confidence,
[13:15]you will, you're telling yourself a story.
[13:18]You know, we all call ourselves stories,
[13:19]the story of our own life.
[13:21]We are pretty many, many times.
[13:22]And then we find evidence to fulfill that story,
[13:24]whatever it is, and that's how people get stuck.
[13:26]Well, this is one of those things that people get stuck in.
[13:28]And whether it's because they are afraid of not being popular
[13:32]because they're thinking if they're smart,
[13:33]then they won't, you know, they'll be intimidating
[13:35]to their friends, they'll lose their friends,
[13:36]or if they see all of the architects
[13:38]of the nerdy math student, oh, I don't wanna be nerdy.
[13:42]And you know, when you're in middle school,
[13:44]that's the time when math gets more complicated.
[13:47]And also when your hormones are just rushing around
[13:51]and you're confused, you're trying to figure out who you are.
[13:53]So I like to, this, I'm just studying all this stuff about it.
[13:56]I go to Congress and I give my,
[13:58]I have four, four minutes to give my speech.
[14:01]And my speech was, by college, it's too late.
[14:05]You know, inadvertently helping them to fail
[14:08]this request for more money.
[14:10]I was like, it's too late by that.
[14:11]Middle school is the time.
[14:12]You want to put more money into middle school,
[14:14]get teachers that are in sentence in middle school,
[14:16]hire some more, you know, give what you pay for it.
[14:20]If you want really quality teachers,
[14:22]you've got to pay a little bit more, right?
[14:24]So I'm like, well, that's the logic.
[14:25]Let's focus the extra money there.
[14:28]So I got so into this and was so obsessed
[14:32]with understanding what happens at age.
[14:34]And just a few years later, I had a publicist say,
[14:38]hey, you should write a vote for girls' math.
[14:40]I'm like, oh, I don't know.
[14:42]But it really just started percolating.
[14:43]And then an article came out about me
[14:45]in the New York Times,
[14:46]front page of the science section
[14:48]in the New York Times.
[14:48]This is 2005, I'll never forget it.
[14:50]And it talked about, it said,
[14:52]and I've written a math, I helped to co-author a theorem,
[14:55]to prove a new theorem in college.
[14:57]And I said, in one year, it was like,
[14:59]actually, it's become a superstar in math
[15:01]between series.
[15:02]So at that point, I was on the west one again.
[15:04]So I was on the one new years, then I wrote this theorem,
[15:06]and then I was on the west one again.
[15:07]So this article was like, in between series,
[15:10]yeah, I could become a superstar in math.
[15:12]And after that came out,
[15:13]a couple different book agents reached out
[15:15]to my manager and said, hey, would she let's her write a book?
[15:17]We think she's an author of some sort.
[15:19]And I remember back to what that publisher said,
[15:21]and I was thinking, wait a minute,
[15:22]I know exactly who I write books for.
[15:24]It'd be middle school girls.
[15:26]And I just knew.
[15:26]And I had been, I always loved learning that math.
[15:30]And I always come up with fun little ways
[15:32]to remember things.
[15:33]So writing that first book, Math doesn't suck.
[15:36]I remember the feeling very distinctly.
[15:38]It was like, I've been waving my arms around it.
[15:40]Somebody put me, take me up and put me in the water,
[15:41]and I was already swimming.
[15:43]I just, I knew what I needed to say.
[15:45]I knew how I wanted to say it.
[15:47]And the book just like, blue.
[15:49]I just wrote it.
[15:50]Like, and I spent a lot of time with it,
[15:51]but it was just effortless.
[15:53]Hundreds of pages, super fun stuff, cute little characters.
[15:56]Like, I confidence boosting side bars all throughout,
[16:00]calls from girls about math.
[16:02]I loved, I loved writing that book.
[16:03]So that, and I thought that would be the book.
[16:05]I didn't know there were gonna be more.
[16:07]And that book took off.
[16:08]This was 2007 when I came out.
[16:11]I mean, I was a person of the week on ABC World News,
[16:15]like Charles Gibson, like, I mean, it was crazy.
[16:18]News week, you name it.
[16:19]I was on, I was all over the place.
[16:21]The book sold crazy numbers, and especially for a math book.
[16:26]And we'd like you to do another one.
[16:27]I was like, what?
[16:28]Oh.
[16:29]And you're like, yeah, we want to come on next year.
[16:31]Like, what I have, it gave me four months only
[16:33]to write the next one.
[16:34]But I knew what to do, and I was excited about it.
[16:36]And so I wrote Kiss My Math.
[16:38]And that's actually, Kiss My Math.
[16:39]It might be my favorite book.
[16:40]That one, and the Times Machine.
[16:42]These are my two favorites that I've written, I think,
[16:44]in terms of the content and how useful I really know they are.
[16:48]Like, it's, I was really able to get to the nitty gritty
[16:50]of things and make it fun.
[16:52]I'm in Kiss My Math.
[16:53]I have my math over talking about integers, you know,
[16:55]integers are a super boring name, right?
[16:58]So how about, let's not call them integers.
[17:00]Let's call them integers.
[17:02]They're minty.
[17:03]So the positive integers are the ones that taste really good.
[17:06]The negative integers are like the yucky jelly bean
[17:09]flavors, the harry potter, like uggers, and you can combine
[17:13]a positive integer and a negative integer together.
[17:15]And then neutralize each other.
[17:18]Like I had so much fun writing, coming up with creative ways
[17:21]of making dry, boring material fun.
[17:23]And that's really been my challenge.
[17:25]And I love a good challenge.
[17:26]So why I was a math major in college in the first place.
[17:28]I love, like, well, this looks nearly impossible.
[17:31]It's like, I think I'd be a good candidate for a double dog
[17:34]dare you.
[17:35]Hey, if I see something looks really hard,
[17:38]that makes it interesting.
[17:39]So anyway, I've just had so much fun
[17:42]channeling all of this into these books to really be a helpful
[17:46]resource.
[17:47]And this is for years now, but an uncommon core came out
[17:50]a few years back.
[17:51]And all the parents were like, oh my gosh, what is this?
[17:53]That's when I started writing, do not open this math book.
[17:56]That's for ages.
[17:57]First and second grade, because you're always weird ways
[18:00]they're teaching, adding and subtracting.
[18:01]You'd think that would be like the easiest stuff.
[18:03]But parents were telling me, I can't help my six-year-old
[18:06]with their homework.
[18:07]What is going on?
[18:08]So I tackled that.
[18:09]I couldn't believe this book took me about three years
[18:11]to write with all the illustrations.
[18:13]I couldn't believe nobody else came out with anything
[18:15]in the meantime.
[18:15]Nobody came out with a fun, easy guide
[18:17]for parents who are struggling with common format.
[18:20]Why not?
[18:21]I figured I'd be in line with a bunch of other books.
[18:23]And nothing really has been done since.
[18:25]So anyway, if you were struggling with your sector zone
[18:28]and you're over there, weird additions to traction techniques,
[18:30]do not open this math book is the one that I wrote for that.
[18:33]And in the back of it, there is a new math translation
[18:36]guide for grown-ups, all the new terms,
[18:38]because there is no borrowing and carrying it.
[18:41]But it's regrouping.
[18:43]And then the same thing with the Times Machine.
[18:44]So the Times Machine is really the follow-up
[18:47]to do not open this math book.
[18:48]The Times Machine is for third and fourth grade.
[18:50]And it's the same character as the Little Mr. Mouse
[18:53]and the Little Danipie character
[18:54]from De Nona and his math book.
[18:56]It's got way more comics though in it.
[18:58]So because it's the Times Machine
[19:00]and we are time traveling after all,
[19:02]teaching the multiplication and division,
[19:04]the cartoons and comics, graphic novel stuff,
[19:07]like you said, that will have to time travel.
[19:09]I mean, you know, they see the dinosaurs,
[19:12]they meet Jane Goodall briefly with,
[19:15]anyway, there's so many fun little things
[19:16]I was able to put in.
[19:17]Travel all over the world, China, India, Mexico,
[19:20]however.
[19:21]I love the part about the history of how
[19:23]the name bagels came about.
[19:24]I did not know that that was such a fun fact.
[19:26]And I wouldn't have expected it in a math book.
[19:29]Well, you know what?
[19:29]I ain't too pleased in surprise.
[19:32]Oh, there you go.
[19:33]Yeah.
[19:33]Check, class.
[19:34]Yeah.
[19:35]And so there, so in the Times Machine,
[19:36]there's also the new math translation guide
[19:39]for growing up in the back.
[19:40]The same thing, tons of new topics.
[19:42]They teach multiplication with arrays now
[19:43]and all these things and partial products method
[19:46]for multiplication.
[19:48]So it's all there to make sure
[19:50]that parents have a resource, especially these days.
[19:53]I mean, it's crazy how much is on the parents' shoulders now
[19:58]for teaching their kids, being with children.
[20:00]I mean parents in an unprecedented way are responsible for their kids' education.
[20:05]So I'm thrilled that my books are here as a resource and in particular the time
[20:09]machine third and fourth grade fills out now the entire span of ages.
[20:13]So now I actually have books for every age between zero and 16 and I couldn't have
[20:19]happened at a better time for parents.
[20:21]What you should really do is sell it as a box set and then when somebody has a baby
[20:24]you could be like here is the box set this is all you will need.
[20:28]Put it like in the library for the rest of your life and your kids will just like
[20:32]learn as they go and then have it all ready.
[20:35]Yes, yes, good idea.
[20:36]Of course with your outfit you'll probably have like 20 more books by the time their
[20:39]kids got older so never mind that's a bad idea.
[20:42]I don't know.
[20:43]I don't know.
[20:44]I mean I know I'm working on one right now it's a picture book for 2022 right but what in
[20:49]terms of curriculum I'm done in terms of from zero to 16 is covered.
[20:54]I fill in all the holes so I'm feeling really good about that.
[20:57]It was good too because I like when I grew up I didn't learn about a raise like I mean
[21:01]that just wasn't something that wasn't the way we were taught so anyway so I was like
[21:05]I asked my daughter and we were like is this the way you learn did you do a raise and
[21:08]she's like of course you know like done.
[21:11]Okay so yeah it's like a translation so I had to talk to your kids because I feel like
[21:16]like I was good at math you know not like you but like I did find I took math in college
[21:21]like I was fine at math but like anytime I go to show my daughter she's like that's not
[21:25]the way we do it like my teacher won't like that.
[21:27]Anyway this is like right exactly helpful and yeah so there's a thank you if the end
[21:32]it's the the new new math translation guide for grownups but all throughout the book all
[21:36]show like hey this is how we used to do it and here's you know all of a side by side
[21:41]of division that crazy division shirt they do now that plays value chart yes exactly here's
[21:47]let's do one problem both ways long division and with this crazy shirt so you can see
[21:52]that you're really doing the same thing it just looks different but it's actually the
[21:57]same it's all the same so I prefer how we did it but it's not my business you know
[22:01]you know what what they do what what what the new stuff does is it makes it more visual
[22:06]and then the idea is you take that and then the way we learned it is now a shortcut so
[22:12]now you understand what's going on now it's too shortcut which is what we learned that's
[22:15]kind of how I look out in the way I treated in the books so that we we do eventually
[22:20]for each each way from a location with multi digits and also long division of course I teach
[22:26]the way that we learned as well and show how that is just an extension of what they're
[22:30]learning now I think the greatest part is just you being a role model for how math is like
[22:34]a great cool fun thing you know I mean it used to not be that cool and now like with people
[22:40]like you and I don't know it's just the greatest that you know my daughter often says like
[22:44]her favorite subject is math and I'm like really okay so it's so nice to have this whole
[22:49]like sort of renaissance of why math is cool and all the rest I don't know you know math
[22:55]yes it's very useful in life with finances you know you we want to raise generations
[23:00]of kids who are not afraid of the APR on their credit card statement who understand
[23:04]what the mortgage contract means and all the rest of us you if you have you know kids who
[23:09]are afraid of math they'll turn into adults who avoid numbers and that's just not good
[23:13]because you know who doesn't avoid numbers the banks credit card companies they don't
[23:17]avoid them they know what's going on and they will review off so I there's a very practical
[23:22]reason for being comfortable with numbers and not having them be the ending of it having
[23:25]them be your friend and your ally but also just doing problem solving in any form and
[23:31]math is a great way to exercise that part of your brain it sharpens your mind it sharpens
[23:35]your ability to solve any kind of problem even something that's nothing to do with math
[23:40]or science you you become more logical you see what was I assuming here what are the actual
[23:44]facts and what's an emotional response I'm having versus what's actually real which we
[23:49]could all use these days with the news and that kind of skill set and that kind of confidence
[23:55]that comes from feeling smart from a comes from saying maybe I don't love math but I can
[24:00]totally do it like that's what I want to make sure kids have if they turn out they love
[24:04]math wonderful fantastic maybe that's their passion and they would have been afraid of it
[24:08]before maybe they want to pursue become a doctor and that you requires calculus in college
[24:14]so now they're not afraid of that's not going to get in their way but really I just
[24:18]want to have that confidence that comes from feeling smart and capable and that stuff like
[24:23]that's not going to get in the way of their dreams it's amazing I feel like now I have
[24:27]to go do some math just to like figure out a way to manage my emotional response to situations
[24:31]if that's all I have to do I would say well a lot of money and other other pursuits that
[24:36]are trying to get me to calm down so hey I have a whole list of books for you are you going
[24:43]to write a book for grown-ups or no I mean the thing is look there are a bunch of products
[24:48]I could make but I'm most interested in making products so I think are really needed yeah
[24:53]because I'm an actress too I'm busy making movies and stuff I know you're still based
[24:56]but you know I and I'm just going my son and writing books is really it's a it's a labor
[25:01]of love it's not it's not my main thing even though it's something that I'm so passionate
[25:06]about and I'm thrilled to do it but I don't want to just make books for books sake like
[25:11]I don't want to make products just because I coder just because you know I mean I want to
[25:16]only create things that are actually filling in need and so I don't know it really depends
[25:21]on if I feel there's a need for something and they're probably will be is there a need
[25:26]for parents you know they say that but I'm not sure they actually are going to crack up
[25:30]with a book book crack up on a book I think they're going to look at the book they got
[25:33]with our kids and work through it together and that's my instinct about it could I make
[25:38]some fun little stocking stuff or book for you know like the joy of you know the joy
[25:44]of x right my math well you know sure I could do it yeah there's catchy things I could do
[25:50]but I just don't know that I want to do that yeah I mean the only thing no the only fine
[25:55]I research we have is our time right you have to like pick and choose and yeah but also I just
[26:00]want to like dilute my brand oh yeah so just do anything with math in it I don't know the stuff
[26:05]that I do is for real helpful for real inspirational for real so if it's something it's
[26:11]me like oh my gosh I know the thing I need to do for adults then I do it but for now adults have
[26:16]enough to do like you said mom's don't have time to read yeah come on but let's get the resources
[26:21]that are going to help save time for parents yeah save time that would be great easier for
[26:28]a kid yes and all say together save time yeah exactly save time save time do you have any advice
[26:36]for aspiring authors oh gosh well kind of what I was just talking about make sure there's a
[26:41]meat for it do you want to write something make sure you're feeling some sort of meat and make sure
[26:45]it's something you're actually really passionate about because there's there's the whole writing
[26:50]a book thing but then beyond that you have to sell the book you got to be ready to talk about this
[26:57]book a lot for years and figure out ways of getting people to hear what you're saying so that's
[27:03]the big big part of it first you have to write you have to write a book that's where you're
[27:07]super proud of it and it's actually really quality and then you have to take that part for granted
[27:11]now it's time to sell it now it's time to put it out there what my literary agent has told me
[27:17]when I've asked your hand got a friend who wants to be an author she always says look first thing
[27:21]is in this day and age you have to have a social media presence so whatever it is you want to write
[27:26]about you have to become that expert for your followers and gain a following so you've got to
[27:33]give away a lot of stuff for free so while you're writing your book write little tidbits spread it
[27:37]around find other people in your community other writers people who write the kind of
[27:41]same kind of books that you do and retweet their stuff praise them applaud them get them and
[27:46]then and give out free information for whatever it is and then hopefully you'll have a
[27:50]thing a fall into that when you finish your book you can go out and find a literary agent who's
[27:54]interested in or presenting you because you have a following or you could just make your own serum
[28:00]or you know like you for any good there is the self publishing route of course you can do that
[28:06]but even if you do that you still need to have a following so people will buy your book so very
[28:10]sure excellent advice amazing awesome well thank you so much thanks for all this advice thanks
[28:15]for the books that will be you know arriving at my doorstep any minute to fill every gap in math
[28:20]for every child in my home so we'll be reading your words for a while thank you well I'm so thank
[28:25]you for sure have me honest the pull titles the times machine learn multiplication and division
[28:30]like yesterday because of course the time travel involved I'm so proud of it it is so fun the
[28:35]comments are great wonderful illustrator Jose Massey she did an amazing job the nuances and the
[28:41]character spaces the humor because there's tons of humor throughout the book as you've seen I'm so
[28:46]proud of it and I'm really excited to hear back from parents about it oh well it was great and
[28:51]I'm so glad I could get a little advanced peek by a day or two yeah so it's fantastic congratulations
[28:57]on your book thank you so much all right I'll take care thank you okay okay thanks for listening
[29:04]to momstone have time to read books please don't forget subscribe rate and review this on iTunes
[29:11]tell your friends about it spread the word thanks so much for listening I really appreciate it
[29:15]thanks so much to page one books for sponsoring today's episode I hope you'll all check out my
[29:19]summer beach bundle at page one books dot com thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at the texture
[29:25]sound for the sound editing and thank you to morning moon productions for providing this
[29:29]fantastic intro and out trim music thanks for listening you can always email me at zibi at zibiowans.com