Teaching my son math has been a long process. He finally gets the concepts of adding and subtracting, but only in a very concrete way. Taking it to the abstract is too hard for him, so he doesn’t do computations with numbers greater than 100 as his siblings did when they were learning math.

He also tends to lose what he’s learned if he doesn’t review his math facts regularly. So I occasionally pick up new books to use with him. A new book holds his interest even when the concepts it teaches are not new to him.

Recently I picked up a new book for him called “Subtraction Secrets.” It was recommended to me by a clerk in a teacher supply store. This book contains 30 map puzzles that require my son to do subtraction problems, then use the answers to determine how to find a specific point on each map.

He likes these problems because they’re entertaining. I like the fact that he reviews subtraction, he learns very basic map skills, and he enjoys doing the puzzles. This book is reproducible, so I can keep copying the puzzles for him as long as he needs them.

There’s another book in the series called “Addition Adventures.” I didn’t buy it because the addition problems in it require the student to figure out one of the addends instead of the sum. For instance:

Instead of 7 + 5 = ___

It says 7 + ___ = 12

My son’s not there yet; it’s a little too abstract for him. But we’ll work up to it.

Here are sample pages for both “Subtraction Secrets” and “Addition Adventures.” The publisher recommends these books for ages 6-10, but I think the typical 8-10 year old would find them too easy. Six-to-seven year-olds will probably enjoy them as much as my son does.