Hands-On Equations | Education
About Us
Hands-On Equations is a supplementary program that can be used with any math curriculum. It uses the visual and kinesthetic approach developed by Dr. Henry Borenson to provide students with an algebraic foundation for success with algebra. The program also provides students with a unique five-step procedure enabling them to concretize and solve word problems. Even ten lessons of Hands-On Equations can make a dramatic difference in the ability of your students to be successful with algebraic linear equations and word problems! Hands-On Equations provides a foundation for the Common Core State Standards and, in many instances, exceeds those standards.
Additional Information
What are the benefits of using Hands-On Equations?
- No algebraic prerequisites are required
- It is a game-like approach that fascinates and motivates students
- The gestures or "legal moves" used to solve the equations reinforce the concepts at a deep kinesthetic level
- The program can be used as early as the 3rd grade with gifted students, 4th grade with average students and 5th grade with LD students; it also serves as an excellent component of a middle-school pre-algebra program
- Students attain a high level of success with the program
- The program provides students with a strong foundation for later algebraic studies
- The concepts and skills presented are essential for success in an Algebra 1 class
Algebra concepts your student will learn in only seven lessons!
- The concept of an unknown
- How to evaluate an expression
- How to combine like terms
- The relational meaning of the equal sign (both sides have the same value)
- The meaning of an algebra equation
- How to balance algebra equations (using the subtraction property of equality)
- The concept of the check of an equation
- The ability to solve one and two-step algebra equations
- Solving equations with unknowns on both sides
- How to work with a multiple of a parenthetical expression
But students learn much more; they learn that:
- Mathematics is a subject one can understand
- Mathematics can be learned without memorization
- They need not be intimidated by algebra symbols
- They can enjoy doing mathematics
- They can explain mathematics to others
- They can have success in one of the most “difficult” topics of mathematics
- They have far greater learning potential then they ever realized












