Have you seen the 1958 movie Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell? (Or seen the play or read the book?) The highly eccentric Mame suddenly finds herself, out of the blue, the guardian of her young nephew Patrick. She takes on parenting in her usual unorthodox style. Mr. Babcock, who manages Patrick's inheritance, makes a surprise visit to the progressive...

This swirly mess is basically what math started to look like in my brain.At 41 years old, I watched a Montessori instructor in Chicago demonstrate dynamic addition with the Golden Beads. In a Montessori classroom this work is introduced at the primary (pre-K and kindergarten) level.My heart jumped a little as he worked through adding the two addends and arriving...