Both of Pumpkin’s parents are writers and avid readers. So I know that at least two of the three R’s are covered. When it comes to ‘rithmatic, we’re on shakier ground. I know I’m not alone here, so I decided to pose some questions about instilling a love of numbers in your children to a mom who is a math whiz.

Today’s Questions & Parents feature, Q&P for short, is with Yorktown Heights resident Brenda Dietrich, the director of mathematical sciences at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center. Brenda leads a team of researchers who are using math to solve real-world business problems, like moving goods through factories and making computers faster. Yesterday she was named a Fellow, Big Blue’s highest technical honor. She is one of just 10 women have achieved the distinction in the 44 years since the program was started.

As a mom, Brenda tries to share her fascination with math with her children, Peter, 21, Joshua, 19, Monica, 15, and Ingrid, 8. Even though Brenda doesn’t expect any of her kids to become mathematicians, she hopes none of them will ever be intimidated by numbers. Here are some of her tips for the rest of us to bring math into our homes in a way the kids will welcome.

Q: How old were your children when you started to teach them about numbers?

P: Very young, as soon as they could talk, we started counting, sorting, looking for patterns, etc. We probably had more counting books than letter books. Then we’d count by 2’s, by 3’s, and play adding games.

Q: As a parent, how do you make math fun?

P: I’m not sure I make it “fun,” but I do make it visible. I try to link it to everyday things: cooking, shopping, money, planning schedules. We also had math games (Tower of Hanoi was one of my favorites) and math computer games. I try to focus on algorithms — methods for computing — rather than just memorizing facts. For example, if you don’t know 7×8, but you know 7×4, then you can compute 7×8 = 7x (4+4) = 7×4 + 7×4 = 28+28 = 56. If my daughter asks, “What’s 24+35?” I say, “What’s 20+30?” and, “What’s 4+5?” rather than just giving her the answer.

Q: Is there a way to introduce math into everyday experiences without being “teachy”?

P: When the child asks a question which requires “math” to answer, help them learn how to compute the answer. For example, when driving, if asked, “how much longer?” give the speed and the distance to go, and let the child figure it out. When a child wants books from the school book fair, have her figure out the cost by adding up the prices or (better) see how many books she can get for $10. When Ingrid wanted to know how much the puppy weighed, but the puppy wouldn’t sit on a scale, I told her to weigh herself while holding the puppy. Then I asked her how she could use that weight to figure out the weight of the puppy. It’s not just about the computation (“math facts”), it’s about using computation to get information.

Q: What advice do you have for parents who simply can’t help their child with their math homework?

P: I think that parents need to tell their kids that they wish they had learned more math in school and find others (teachers, friends, older children of friends) who like math to help the children. Neither of my parents took “pre-college” math in high-school, and were not able to help their own children with math beyond arithmetic. In fact, when my father was going to college at night, his kids used to help him with his math homework. The fact that he wanted/needed to study math to get a college degree, and wanted us to know math clearly made an impression.

Q: If a child seems to have a talent for music or writing or other artistic pursuit, should a a parent still emphasize math?

P: I’m clearly biased on this, because I strongly believe that mathematical skill is necessary for many interesting professions. Some college degrees cannot be completed in four years without adequate mathematical course work in high school. So taking math, beyond just the graduation requirements, in high school, keeps the student’s career options open. But, as with most things, there are trade-offs to consider. If getting an acceptable grade in a math class is going to require so much effort that the student has to forfeit other activities that he loves, and he’s sure his college major and future career won’t require math, then I would make sure the consequences are understood, but I wouldn’t insist on additional math classes.

Q: As a mathematician and a manager at a major technology corporation, what advice do you have for parents who want their children to be equipped for tomorrow’s jobs?

P: I think curiosity, creativity, adaptability and a love of learning need to be nurtured by parents. The jobs we have today may not exist for our children, but opportunities will always exist for those who can rapidly respond to change.

Thanks very much to Brenda for sharing her knowledge by doing a Q&P! Check back next week for another Q&P. If you know any parents who you think would be great to feature, please comment here on the blog or send me an e-mail at jalterio@lohud.com.