Multiplication course and bananapples: Newsletter March 31

Posted on March 31, 2014 by

MariaD — No Comments ↓ Tagged with: newsletter

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I am Moby Snoodles, and this is my newsletter. Send me your questions, comments, and stories of math adventures at moby@moebiusnoodles.com

Math Spark: Bananapple!

When you start with a whole object and take it apart, your action can be a metaphor for differentiation. Find many different ways to slice the fruits and veggies you find: a perfect snack time activity! Then reassemble new crazy fruits out of slices. This can be a metaphor for integration.

For more detail, read the story from our local Math Circle.

Have a math spark from your family or group? Email us so we can share your adventures on the blog!

April-May open online course MULTIPLICATION: join 390+ participants!

I can’t wait to start the course. Hundreds of adventurous parents, math circle leaders, and teachers will invite their kids to share adventures inspired by algebra and calculus, art and storytelling, pretend-play and computer modeling.

Click to learn more and join the course.

Here is a picture from one of Week 2 activities about fractals, powers, and place values:

Why do people take the course? I read all the registration notes. I feel deeply touched every time I see the most frequent, simplest note: “For my child.” Here are some representative quotes:

Glynn, USA: To continue to help me develop a math mind, so I can continue to help my kids do the same.
Meg, Australia: We are homeschoolers. My 8 year old is very disengaged after spending two years in school. I am hoping to try something different to get him interested in exploring his world and I am hoping to learn more about following his lead.
Serena, Australia: Homeschool with a nearly 5 yr and a 2 yr and a 9 month old. We love the Moebius Noodles book!
Nike, England: As a volunteer teacher in an after school centre.Jessica, Canada: I am a K-3 Teacher and I am hoping to use this program to inspire my teaching.
Lisa, USA: Homeschooling 12 year old with autism who has issues remembering his multiplication tables.
Ellen, Belgium: With my grandchildren.
Farrell, Canada: To help interest and educate my grandchildren in the joys of mathematics.
Karen, USA: Fun with my grandkids.
Jana, USA: I’m a classroom teacher in Adult Education/GED prep. I am particularly looking for materials to incorporate art in algebra! I have the PDF version of Moebius Noodles.
Nancy, USA: I’m looking forward to using the math activities with advanced students in PreK-grade 2.
Lezah, USA: I intend to see if I can implement any of the activities with my precocious 4 year old.
Roberta, Canada: I have a 3 year old daughter and am looking for ways to teach her in a more natural and playful way than I was taught when I was a kid. She’s already learning so much through play!
Gaelen, USA: Use it to get ideas for engineering things I do with little kids. Yadira, USA: I teach science and engineering classes to kids and thought this might be helpful.
Kacey, USA: As a play therapist.
Surabhi, Canada: I have a 3.5 year old boy I plan to unschool. I am looking for ways for him to explore his beautiful world and existence of math everywhere.
B, USA: Just curious.
Gilberto, Portugal: Private tutoring.
Maureen, USA: I want to learn about math with my four-year-old son. He’s doing some multiplication at his Montessori preschool. I’d like to support at home but feel intimidated.
Schuyler, Canada: I plan to use this to help me teach multiplication to my mixed-grade primary class.
Katherine, USA: I have a math crazy 10 yo who loves math but still struggles memorizing her multiplication tables due to dyslexia. Thought I’d just try this out to see if it interests her and helps.
Shannon, Canada: I plan to show it to my staff and fellow math teachers in our district during our monthly Math Inquiry project.
Deb, USA: With my 10th grade who struggles with math (dyscalculia).
Lian, Hong Kong: Supplement for my 3 y/o.
Sara, USA: Help me get over my math anxiety so I can help my school-age kids.
Manish, India: To teach math fun way to my children.
Kate, USA: Planning to use this with my family and a math circle for 9-10 year olds.

News and reviews

Laura Grace Weldon did a detailed interview about Natural Math for GeekMom. One of my favorite questions: “On NaturalMath.com, you write about a community of people sharing naturally math-rich and meaningful activities for children from babyhood on. We’d love to hear about math circles and what you mean by math communities.”

The Italian journal D: la Repubblica published an interview about our work by Di Stefania Mendetti. Quote: “Alcune fra le opzioni più famose, ricorda Droujkova, sono Made in Italy, come il metodo montessoriano, sviluppato per individuare e correggere autonomamente gli errori e quello della Scuola di Reggio, che avvicina i bambini alla matematica attraverso progetti aperti.” English translation: “Some of the most popular alternative education systems, recalls Droujkova, come from Italy, such as the Montessori method, including self-correcting independent tasks, and that of the School of Reggio, which brings children to mathematics through open projects.”

A Turkish math and science site posted a translation of The Atlantic interview, by Merve Özçelik, with great illustrations such as origami snowflakes: