Math-U-See Blog

In today’s “ Math-U-See Highlight” I would like to introduce you to another member of our Math-U-See family: Miriam Homer.

Miriam is our in-house “Arithmetic Regent.” She is the co-author of several books in the Math-U-See curriculum, she manages inventory, and is one of the friendly voices you hear if you call our office. Currently, she is working on the International editions writing problems that are specific to each country.
A typical day for Miriam begins with checking e-mails and answering questions. She then begins work on the international editing, and updating or proofreading other projects. All the while, she is also answering questions on the phone, monitoring the inventory and ordering more books when needed.

Miriam at her desk

I asked Miriam a few questions, beginning with the most important question of all:

Ethan: “Do you like cheese?”
Miriam: “Yes,” She said smiling.
E: “What is your favorite part of work?”
M: “I’ve found helping to write the books is very rewarding, but I also like to work directly with the customers–answering questions–because I’m a teacher at heart and it gives me chance to be a teacher.”
E: “What is your previous teaching experience?”
M: “I taught at a Christian school in New Hampshire for a number of years, several different daycares and a small church school (which was essentially a one room schoolhouse). I found that materials designed for homeschoolers worked very well in that setting.”
M: “I remember as a child, thinking that writing textbooks would be an interesting thing to do. And now, that is what I am doing.”
E: “Tell our readers a little about your family.”
M: “I am married and have two grown children–a son and a daughter–and one granddaughter.”
M: “I’m definitely a doting grandmother and I have discovered that being a grandmother is a very special experience.”

Riley - with sweater by Miriam
E: “What are your hobbies?”
M: “Knitting and reading. I like knitting because it’s very mathematical.”
E: “How is it mathematical?”
M: “You sew it on a graph, for one thing. You have to get your stitch gauge right and that relates the size of your needle with the size of your yarn to the size of the finished garment. A lot of the designs you make are mathematically related. I got a book for Christmas called ‘knitting nature’ which is written by a woman who was a biology major in college and ended up doing knitting designs. She knits designs that occur in nature like a hexagon spiral or a fractal. And she explains how it occurs in nature, the mathematical basis of it, and she does really funky knitting designs.”
E: “Is there anything else you would like to add?” (No pun intended)
M: “It’s been interesting to see how the different things that I’ve done in the past have prepared me to work with Steve Demme at Math-U-See. And certainly none of us saw where we were going with this.”

Well that concludes the interview, a few bit of trivia for you, Miriam is Peter’s sister and she was my homeschool evaluator when I was a young lad.