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Kenken Puzzles – The New Sudoku 
By Professor Homunculus
You many have just heard of KenKen. It’s the invention of a Japanese math teacher named Tetsuya Miyamoto, who says, “I believe that if you give children good learning materials, they will think and learn and grow on their own.” Imagine that!

KenKen is a brilliant puzzle which takes the logic of a sudoku puzzle, and adds the use of basic arithmetic to make KenKen a truly fascinating challenge on many levels.

But you don’t have to be a math whiz to play KenKen. The rules are truly easy to learn. A typical grid has 16 squares, with four rows and four columns. Just as in sudoku, you must use the digits from one to four in each row and in each column. You cannot repeat a digit in a row or column.

KenKen has the additional trait that some groups of squares are bounded together by a bold border. Within those squares is a number, say 6, and a mathematical operation sign, say a plus (+) sign. That simply means that the digits in those squares must add up to the number 6.

If you’d had the number 15 with a multiplication (x)sign next to it in two squares bordered in bold, you’d know that the digits that go in those squares must multiply to 15.

Simple enough? Yes, it is – even a second grader can start doing KenKen puzzles. That’s how easy it is to begin. But the level of play can get tougher – much tougher.

KenKen can be played on grids of 6×6 squares, or 8×8, or even 9×9 squares.

Filling in the 81 cells of a 9×9 grid can take hours, or days. Or more! Once you start though, you’ll find the time to do KenKen. You won’t be able to stop! Your mind will learn so much logic and arithmetic, without you even noticing.

KenKen is possibly the best brain exercise you ever may try. That’s why you owe it to yourself to check it out. If you are a parent or a teacher, KenKen can become the greatest tool in your educational toolkit to get your child or students interested in math.

KenKen doesn’t feel like math at all – it’s just pure fun

You can get free, downloadable KenKen at http://kenken.com.
For free KenKen video lessons, all the way to the very advanced level, check out mathmojo.com/kenken. Brian Foley is a guerrilla-math teacher and professional magician. He teaches methods of thinking and learning used by master magicians. Improve you math and learning skills at mathmojo.com/chronicles

Valentine’s Far From Home
By Stephanie Olsen, Fri Dec 9th

“What shall we make grandma and grandpa for Valentine’s Day?”

This is an oft-repeated question as February 14th draws near;and despite being another highly commercialized holiday, it isstill a nice way for geographically separated families to touchbase.

Although e-mail is invaluable, homemade cards from grandchildren- gluey, misspelt and smudged, delivered in crumpled envelopeswith upsidedown stamps – are the wishes that will be caressed bygentle hands, hung on the fridge under hatted cow magnets, andproudly shown to passers-by.

My own daughter knows that her grandma is a jigsaw puzzleexpert, so she glued a teddy bear picture to a red constructionpaper heart, with little messages of love written around theperiphery. With great care, tongue tip protruding to steady herhand, she then cut the artwork into several large pieces.Proudly, dumping her homemade puzzle into an envelope, we wentto the post office hand in hand.

We press flowers, collected on warm walks and summer picnics,haphazardly collecting them in any book on hand. It’s always alovely treat when fragile petals float from a page we’rereading, and sometimes we glue these decorations of nature tohomemade Valentine’s Day cards sharing colorful memories ofspring.

Children grow up fast, and grandparents miss the little things -like a first lost tooth, a new smile. One fun way to sendpictures is to decorate cards with sunshines and flowers,replacing round centers with cut-out faces of the grandkids.There’s no better way to wish the folks Happy Valentine’s Daythan to have a garden of your children’s faces beaming up atthem.

About the author:Stephanie Olsen, published writer, homeschooling mother of twoand ESL teacher currently residing in Europe, is also owner ofthe expatriate site, Family Life Abroad http://www.familylifeabroad.com where you’ll find humorous andinformative articles by experienced expatriates on all aspectsof living abroad, with lots of links and travel tips.