Big Numbers for Little Ones

The workbook covers, in a very simplistic way, topics of counting, patterns, number rhymes, basic math facts, algebra, geometry, data, probability, and word problems, in African dilemma story form.

Created to help stimulate and encourage learning math in a fun and meaningful way for young people of all ages.

This user friendly colorful, inviting and easy to understand math workbook covers all the basic math concepts for ages 4 to 7 years of age.

Purchase a copy here.

05 FIRE (2, 7)
VISIONARY

“Intimacy is a private public act where spirit is invited. 

In the act the couple goes on a spiritual high and no one is allowed to watch because it will suck up the energy.

When the couple returns from the high the spiritual energy spreads and is beneficial for the whole community and in that way it becomes public.”

Quote from late African healer Sobonfu Somé

06 WATER (1, 6)
PEACE MAKER

A maintenance ritual involving water is a great idea to promote peace and going with the flow. Information on water rituals will be found in my book, Common Daily Ritual Practices on pages 42-47.

For information on water rituals and so much more, considering adding a copy of Common Daily Ritual Practices  to your library.

If you are in the Detroit area, I invite you to attend my 2026 Year of Water presentation that will occur April 23, 2026 from 5pm-7pm at the Detroit People’s Food Co-op.

Mama Imani Humphrey Banquet Hall
8324 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202

EVENT COST: FREE | SNACKS: NOMINAL COST

Download the flyer here

07 EARTH (0, 5)
NOURISHER

Chayote squash (often called vegetable pear or mirliton) is a light, refreshing vegetable that shows up in many tropical cuisines—from the Caribbean to Central America and parts of Brazil. It’s incredibly nutritious while being very low in calories.

Health and nutritional benefits include:

• Very Low Calories, High Nutrients
• Supports Heart Health
• Antioxidant Protection
• Supports Digestive Health
• Detox & Kidney Support
• Grow some at home.

Gather a small clay pot and fill it with organic dirt, compost, and sea moss. Plant a chayote Squash in the container water it and watch it grow more  chayote .

This squash is non hybrid, delicious, nutritious, and scrumptious.

08 MINERAL (4, 9)
ARTIST AND HISTORIAN

Ear gauging (ear stretching) has existed in many parts of Africa for centuries, including Southern Africa, though the meaning and styles vary widely between ethnic groups. While today gauged earrings are often associated with modern body modification culture, in African contexts they historically carried spiritual, social, and protective symbolism.

Spiritual Protection

In many African cosmologies, openings in the body (ears, nose, mouth, navel) are considered energetic gateways. Jewelry placed in those openings serves not only decoration but also spiritual function.

Gauged earrings could act as:

Spiritual seals or protectors

• Materials like bone, wood, brass, or beads were believed to hold spiritual energy.
• Protection stones that can be used are black onyx, black tourmaline, and black quartz crystals.
• Certain colors or materials could repel negative forces.

Connection to ancestors

• Wearing culturally encoded jewelry signaled alignment with ancestral traditions.
• In African cosmology, ancestors are considered protectors of the living.

09 NATURE (3, 8)
TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE AGENT

Harriet Tubman was known for her ability to guide enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad without being captured. One reason for her success was knowledge passed down from her father, Ben Ross, a timber foreman who worked in the forests of Maryland.

Ross understood the language of the land—terrain, plants, waterways, animal behavior, and the movement of the stars. 

Tubman learned these skills as a child. Later, she used them to move through forests, marshes, and rivers at night, navigating quietly and avoiding slave catchers.

But this way of “reading nature” is much older than Tubman. It reflects a long tradition of African ecological knowledge where observation of wind, animals, plants, and water guided survival, healing, and movement across the land.

Nature was—and still is—considered a teacher.

Tubman’s success reminds us that ancestral knowledge of the natural world was not just wisdom. It was a pathway to survival, freedom, and liberation.

“Nature is your real school.”

The late Dr. Malidoma Somé of Burkina Faso, West Africa