I came across Alexandre's project via Alex Bogomolny of Cut the Knot. I am reading the current version <a href="http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~avb/ST.pdf">http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~avb/ST.pdf</a> with growing fascination. Please help Alexandre make it even stronger by contributing to his inquiry. From what is already in the book, there are all indications it will powerfully support families and educators who want to help their kids work on advanced math early. Here is Alexandre's request. Cheers, Maria Droujkova <a href="http://www.naturalmath.com">http://www.naturalmath.com</a> Make math your own, to make your own math. ~*~*~*~*~* I send this request to every person interested in mathematics or mathematical education and who I have managed to get in contact with, personally or via networking. I am writing a book on mathematical thinking, and I ask you to kindly pass to me your recollections of challenges you encountered in your early learning of mathematics. Such stories provide a fascinating insight into the psychology of mathematical thinking. One example of what I am looking for: A girl aged 6 easily solved “put a number in the box” problems of the type 7 + [ ] = 12, by counting how many 1’s she had to add to 7 in order to get 12 but struggled with [ ] + 6 = 11, because she did not know where to start. Worse, she felt for years that she could not communicate her difficulty to adults. This example is one of many from my forthcoming book “Shadows of the Truth: Metamathematics of Elementary Mathematics”, available for free download from <a href="http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~avb/ST.pdf">http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~avb/ST.pdf</a> It is a follow-up to my recent book "Mathematics under the Microscope", AMS, 2010, available from <a href="http://www.mrlonline.org/bookstore-getitem/item=MBK-71">http://www.mrlonline.org/bookstore-getitem/item=MBK-71</a> Please also give me the following details: [*]Your gender. [*] Your age when a particular episode happened. [*] What was the language of mathematical instruction? Was it different from your mother tongue? Please send your stories to <a href="mailto:borovik@manchester.ac.uk">borovik@manchester.ac.uk</a>. My warmest thanks! Alexandre Borovik