June 9, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by Dakota State University.

“I’m terrible at math!” is a phrase Kevin Smith has heard often. Other words he has heard associated with the subject include ashamed, lost, boring, stressful, humiliating, wrong and failing.

These math-related words have been uttered countless times throughout Smith’s career, which started as a high school math teacher.

Now as a professor at Dakota State University, he has found it necessary to remember not everyone enjoyed math as he did growing up. Others’ feelings on the subject helped inspire his first children’s book, “Yucky!”

“Yucky!” Follows Lilly’s math struggles until the right teacher comes along and shows her that math can be fun. Once Lilly discovers that math can speak to her creative side, she realizes that ‘Maybe math isn’t so YUCKY!’”

Smith brought his two passions of math and art together in Lilly’s character. She loves art and learns that many of the skills she uses in her art can help her in math, like pattern recognition.

“I’m hoping that it sparks conversations about what math is and that attitude matters,” Smith said.

At this year’s DSU virtual Teach Camp, Smith led a session focused on helping students realize that math isn’t yucky. He tries to instill several key ideas in his students, including the importance of developing a positive attitude about the subject and that math can be exciting.

He asked educators at the Teach Camp to brainstorm other words associated with math such as critical thinking, persistence, problem-solving, puzzles, patterns, creativity, imagination and even fun.

He shared with the campers that his book has two messages: what is math and that attitude about math matters. Smith mentioned research that shows when parents share their math anxiety with children, it can impact their children’s performance negatively.

“The first thing we do is talk about our own feelings and attitudes about math,” he said. “It’s important to recognize that negative feelings about the subject can have a detrimental impact on learning.”

Next, Smith stresses the importance of providing students with a safe and supportive environment. “Math anxiety is real,” he said. “We need to recognize this and do things to alleviate that anxiety.”

During the camp session, Smith shared fun student activities that help them learn math by using resources and tools like Mathigon, a free site with games, activities and lessons in math, and Math for Love, which features free lessons, award-winning games and math art shows.

He shares more resources on his web page dedicated to “Yucky!” Smith started writing and illustrating the book in the spring of 2022 and shared it with friends, colleagues and teachers for feedback. He created several revised versions until he was happy with the final product.

While the book’s topic is appropriate for children age 3 to 12, Smith believes the message will resonate with all ages. The book is available for purchase on his website, Kevinandkaia.com, and will be available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble beginning June 13. It also will be sold at several local bookstores.

He hopes teachers, parents and grandparents read the book to their kids. “I want to get the book in the hands of as many people as possible,” Smith said.

About Kevin Smith

Dr. Kevin Smith graduated from DSU in 1993 with a degree in math education. He spent three years teaching high school math in Columbus, Nebraska, before earning his master’s degree in educational technology and working as an instructional designer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Upon graduating from UNL, Smith continued working as an instructional designer at different companies, developing distance education programs. Smith earned his doctorate in instructional design and technology from the University of Memphis in 2017.

At Dakota State, Smith teaches math education, STEM and educational technology courses. He also is the program coordinator for the Master of Science in Educational Technology.

Kevin & Kaia

In 2019, Smith and his daughter Kaia began selling hand-drawn greeting cards at a local farmers market to raise money for a school trip to Washington, D.C. Smith would draw, and Kaia would color them.

They received a lot of positive feedback, and local businesses wanted to carry items in their stores. Over time, they added postcards, stickers and prints to their inventory, which are available on their website, kevinandkaia.com.

They grew their business through email marketing, social media, word of mouth and art fairs.

“We sell our items at wholesale prices to over 150 retailers worldwide,” he said. “In addition, we have done a lot of commissioned art pieces for individuals and businesses.”