(2021–)
The math textbooks used in schools today tend to be colorful and filled with illustrations and characters. This might sound appealing — but how does it actually affect learning? Children have a more limited working memory than adults, and with every colorful illustration added, focus on the mathematics slips away, little by little. Scientist Factory’s math workbooks turn these conventions on their head, using a deliberate, minimalist design that lets children focus on what truly matters: the math itself.
The workbooks cover the most important topics in primary school mathematics. The first workbooks are adapted for new readers, with larger text and fewer exercises per page. In the grey boxes, adults will find tips and tricks to help them support their children.
Hanne S. Finstad authored the workbooks, which are based on the teaching materials from Scientist Factory’s math courses, and I took them from manuscript to print-ready files. Along the way, I quality-checked all the exercises and contributed pedagogical input. What started as a few workbooks for practicing multiplication tables has grown into a series of 20 workbooks, several of which have also been translated into English and Swedish. The math workbooks have been a major commercial success for Scientist Factory and continue to be reprinted. Some of the workbooks are also used at Scientist Factory’s summer schools.
The Norwegian curriculum is packed with verbs describing everything students should do, but with few details about what they should actually know. Teachers use exploratory methods and student-centred teaching. But this pedagogy doesn’t work with the brain. As a result, many students are set up to struggle in math class.
Hanne S. Finstad in Dagens Næringsliv (Norwegian), 10.03.25.
The covers follow the same minimalist design, exploring the relationship between mathematics and art.
In this video, author Hanne S. Finstad explains what is wrong with today’s math textbooks, and how the workbooks help children learn mathematics on the brain’s own terms (Norwegian audio only).
What do customers say?
My child, who is in primary school, found it fun and easy to do math for the first time! No doodles, just simple, clean and very clear! This is how all math textbooks should look! We need more learning materials like this!
Review from Miniräknaren