1001 Math Circles, our new Facebook group: Newsletter December 18, 2015

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Holidays make us think of better way to reach out to others. At Natural Math, that means math circles! What are they? Math circles are groups of people who help one another do mathematics the way they want and choose. A math circle can be as small as a family, or as large as a conference. Different circles partake in art and craft projects, puzzles, debates, modeling… Anything and everything that means doing math for love!
Are you interested in doing mathematics with your family and friends? Have you ever wanted to run a math group, but didn’t know how to start? Are you a new group leader, feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure if what you are doing is really working? Have you been organizing math circles for a while and would like fresh inspiration?
We have started a new friendly informal group on Facebook, called 1001 Math Circles. We share our hopes and dreams, discuss little things that happen in families and groups, and help one another with Natural Math ideas.
Join your peers. Meet new friends and people you know. Start talking about your worries and dreams about children and mathematics!
Sun Snail Integration

 

 

 

Dr. Maria Droujkova and the Natural Math crew

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Posted in Make & Grow, Newsletter

A math circle journey, book news, and ways to play: Newsletter December 10, 2015

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Shelley Nash’s Blog Series: A Math Circle Journey

Meet Shelley Nash, mother of seven, math circle leader, and now Natural Math blogger! In her stories, you will find ideas to try at home or in your group, friendly advice for when things go wrong, and little anecdotes about children to warm your heart.

Love of Learning Math is about a group of young children exploring topics from the Moebius Noodles book such as function machines and mirror books. Download Shelley’s slides if you want to offer these topics to your children, but don’t know where to start.

function machine

Shelley also writes about her middle school and high school groups. Here are all the posts in the new series. Shelley would love to see a comment from you. Which activity seems interesting? Is anything unclear? Do you also blog about math circles? Scroll down to the end of the post and drop Shelley a line!

Book News: Socks Are Like Pants Layouts

Our latest book on early algebra, successfully crowdfunded this summer, is almost ready for printing and should be out in January! We are finishing last little details of the playful and bright layout. Click pictures for bigger versions, and try these activities with your children:

 

You can see more info about the book and pre-order it on the site.

Ways to Play with Math

Matific, a site with quick math apps with cute original art, had a blog post about advanced math for young children. A quote:

“Maria Droujkova, a curriculum developer and math education consultant, says the current model of mathematical education focuses on teaching simple ideas the hard way rather than teaching complex ideas the easy way.”

Much like Natural Math, the site advocates plenty of play in learning mathematics. How do you play with math? Here is a brief starter list:

  • Building with blocks or Lego
  • Origami
  • Snowflake cutouts
  • Computer games
  • Board and card games
  • Drama, music and art

Have a question or comment? Reply to this newsletter, and let us can talk!

Dr. Maria Droujkova and the Natural Math crew

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Posted in Make, Newsletter

High School Math Circle

Hi it’s Shelley again! I started an online math circle for kids about 8th-12th grade back in September. It has been a learning challenge!. My hope is to share what we did, what worked and what didn’t work so well each week. So as you drop in you’ll be seeing my diary of sorts. I hope it helps others!

We have been using from James Tanton’s introduction to Arithmetic Gateway to All. Since I haven’t posted before, I’ll catch up in this post and then report in weekly as much as I can.

We’ve studied Prime Numbers, Factors, Intersection Math, Catalan Numbers, Number Theory, Triangular Numbers, Square Numbers, Squarangular Numbers and more in just three chapters!

Read more…

 

 

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Posted in A Math Circle Journey

A Math Circle Journey: Follow the Story of Online Math Circles

“My brother wants to talk to you after class is over.”

“Okay, that would be fine, “ I said. “What’s up Tanner?” I asked as he bumped his sister out of the webcam view.

With a huge grin on his face he said, “I just figured out the formula for 963×2048 in Intersection math!”

I was surprised and thrilled. We’d been working on this problem for 3 weeks of our online math circle. We meet weekly as a group of scholars ages 12-18 and myself, and we struggle together (sometime a lot!) to understand and solve  James Tanton’s amazing math challenges.

This particular problem had been annoying all of us for weeks. We could almost taste the formula! We knew we were close, but we were stumped. With one hint from James Tanton himself and some help from Maria Droujkova, I was set to discover the pattern once and for all.

Alas, as a mom to seven kids, I haven’t had as much time as my students. My student had seen a connection from an earlier problem in the chapter and devised a formula that seems to be working!

This experience in my online class or math circle has been deeply satisfying. We have come together as a group of equally motivated learners. My students know I don’t have the answers, so they have quit relying solely on me for solutions. We are struggling and stretching and growing. Our math minds are growing. I see it in my students and myself in those nearly indiscernible ways.

Hi, I’m Shelley Nash and a year ago, I would never have expected to be sharing this kind of math learning with my students and children. I was introduced to natural math about a year ago and began working with Maria Drjoukova on the course Inspired by Calculus. I had many insights and inspirations about myself from that experience. (You can read about them here.)

I really gained a strong desire to help children feel successful at math. It seems that culturally we give a lot of status to those that are “good at” math In order to help my kids and others feel like they could make their own math and find their own interests and strengths in this diverse field, I started doing math circle work online.

Doing hands on, conceptual math online is challenging and rewarding! I still get to see many “aha” moments. I get to hear my students tell me that they are making their own math now. It can be frustrating too because I can’t help with manipulatives; they can turn off their webcam; or they can mute me!

So in an effort to improve as a math circle leader, to learn from other leaders, to encourage other leaders, and to inspire online math circles I’ll be sharing my activities with you. I’ll be honest about what worked and what didn’t, and whether it worked online or only in a physical circle.

Here are my first two posts: Love of Learning Math Circle (ages 8-11), and Middle School Math Circle (ages 12-14). Please comment on the activities, share similar activities or ideas for improvement! I’d love to hear from you.

So how did you get started with math circles? Have you ever led one online?

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Posted in A Math Circle Journey