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Natural Math courses invite parents, teachers, and children to make their own mathematics. Each page has sample activities you can check out, download, and try with your children.

 

Ongoing Multiplication Explorers Self-Paced – for families and groups, ages 3 and up

Multiplication is our most requested course topic. This course is self-paced, organized into three themes: calculus, algebra, and number sense.

We love to read notes from participants explaining why they join, so here are a few:

  • My homeschooler (age 7) is discovering multiplication. He thinks math is like a fun mystery puzzle. – Christina
  • I teach at the secondary level to kids (Gr. 9 and 10) with very poor numeracy skills.  I want to teach numeracy (esp. multiplication) since this has been a major ‘gap’ or roadblock to understanding curriculum. – Dawn
  • My daughter is only 4 so maybe a bit young, but she seems quite interested in numbers and things like fractals (partly thanks to Let it Go from Frozen that mentions fractals!) – Joe

We give you lots of ideas for adapting them for younger (ages 3-5) and older (13+ ) children. A single activity can take you as little as 10 minutes or as long as a couple of hours, depending on how much your child and you get into it.

Multiplication Explorers invites you to master holistic approach to learning multiplication. Memorization based on smart number patterns is a part of it. The course also includes bridges between multiplication and natural world, as well as links to many virtual and imaginary worlds in books, music, technology, art, and games.

Transformers Linear Algebra

Ongoing Transformers: Matrices and Graphs – for children ages 9-15

One week daily, live online, math camp that is a fun way to learn about linear algebra and Cartesian geometry: matrices, graphing, coordinates, and more!

Children will…

  • …Do a lot of number practice without it being tedious.
  • …Be encouraged to look for and predict patterns.
  • …Learn coordinates.
  • …Learn what a matrix is and how to multiply a matrix by another matrix.
  • …Learn how matrices underlie programming and graphics.
  • …Grow their math eyes for noticing how transformations happen in nature.
  • …Enjoy the chance to visualize math in action.
  • …Be introduced to GeoGebra, a powerful modeling tool for algebra and geometry.
yes and workshop

Ongoing “Yes, And…” Improving Math Play with Improv – for teachers, parents, and math circle leaders

  • Are you uncomfortable leading a math activity without a script?
  • Do you wonder: What if they ask questions I can’t answer? What if it doesn’t go like I planned? How can I let the kids lead the activity?
  • Do you want to be more comfortable leading discussions and activities that are open-ended?

No matter your situation or past math experiences, you can learn the skill of effectively leading children while letting them make their own math. It may seem unusual, but acting improvisation can help us become more comfortable with open, playful, friendly mathematics!

 

15 comments on “Courses
  1. Rhonda says:

    is it too late to sign up for this course?

    • MariaD says:

      As of now, you can sign up for Inspired by Calculus (and Multiplication Explorers, but you are already taking it).

  2. Mona Hennigar says:

    Is Multiplication Explorers still open to new people to “use on your own”? Or do you plan on running it again? My daughter and I took the course in the winter and I really like the way it presents multiplication from a conceptual perspective, that it has so much interesting material, and that it can be used for kids of various ages. I’d like to refer it to some homeschooling families but want to be sure what to tell them to expect. Thanks for creating such wonderful resources!

    • MariaD says:

      Mona,

      Thank you for your kind words. So happy this worked well for you and that you want to recommend it to friends!

      We are redesigning the way we run courses. The big MOOC (massive open online courses) model isn’t bad for making content available – if you like the content, and I am glad that you did! But when people join a live course, I think it would be even better to have a much more interactive experience. So we’ll probably have short, sweet live math circles where small groups meet and exchange ideas. These will come with access to more static or self-paced set of materials, like you see in the self-paced Multiplication Explorers.

      Long story short, I would say go ahead and invite your friends to sign up for the self-paced version of Multiplication Explorers. It will only help them when we run these math circles to go with it, should they decide to join.

  3. surabhi says:

    The ‘Playing with Blocks’ COURSE- will the webinar recordings be available for later viewing?

    Thanks

  4. Kathi Heern says:

    I have a challenged math learner who is homeschooled. She has completed Teaching Textbooks Level 7 & took a placement test that says she needs to go back to the course she completed. The next step with this curriculum is pre-algebra. I came across your site and have some questions on what courses would work for pre-algebra. Ko’s Journey doesn’t say how many lessons are involved or if it would work for a semester of work. Empires says it’s a year long program, but do you recommend Ko’s prior to Empires? Or how would you recommend using the programs if it were for homeschool? Thanks for your help.

    • Shelley says:

      Ko’s is about 12 lessons and it focuses on the critical concepts of ratios, proportions, percents, and slope. If you need to go slowly it could be a semester, but most likely it could be completed well in a month at home. There are reflections assignments, that help your student to truly understand the math they are using in the story. Empires is 7th grade and more of a pre-algebra type of work. Ko’s does not have to be done before Empires, it’s really a matter of how comfortable you’d say your child is with the concepts that Ko’s will teach. If you sign up for Ko’s and find it’s not what you need you can switch to Empires instead. Empires touches on all the common core standards for 7th grade math, Ko’s is a supplement to a 6th grade math program. If you can tell from the placement test that your daughter is struggling with the concepts in Ko’s then I’d buy it first. If not, she may be fine to do Empires instead. I hope that helps!

  5. Karen says:

    Any guidance on skills needed before trying out the Transformers class? My son is homeschooled. I don’t want to get him started and end up with him getting frustrated.

    • MariaD says:

      Hi Karen,

      This course assumes understanding of elementary operations (addition, subtraction, division, multiplication) with two-digit numbers. Your son doesn’t need to do that fast or have times tables memorized. It’s also okay to do the course together and help the child. You don’t need any formal algebra or geometry to start.

  6. serene ee says:

    Inspire by calculus is suitable for which age range?

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