My Kingdom on the Wall!
This week wrapped up our live session of Kingdom on the Wall! What fun! We had an amazing, international group! I think I learned more physics in two days than I had before! I’m not the only one that felt that way either! The magic glass of water spurred some fun activities for my children, but what I loved seeing happen the most was the balancing activity.
I set the supplies on the table and left, planning to come back in a bit. My children grabbed the supplies and started playing around before I returned. (You don’t see the 9 year old who loved helping!) It didn’t take them long to outwit gravity!
We started out trying to balance on the lens cleaner bottle, but got the salad dressing for a larger base. He immediately plopped the lens cleaner on top and loved that he could put things anywhere and it would stay balanced!
His finished tower (for now!)
He wanted to pull a goofy face, but he was proud of putting that final paper on top and getting it to balance. It was like outwitting it!
Wait look! I can just stack those plates with bottles between them and balance whatever I want! Doesn’t take them long to figure out some basic principles of balance, mass, and torque does it?
Want to try some yourself?
Irina Malkin’s book, Kingdom on the Wall is coming out soon. You can help crowdfund it. Email reach.out@naturalmath.com to learn how.
Posted in Make
Summer Camps for Kids!
- Are you looking for a fun adventure for a child in your life?
- Are you hoping to keep up the math skills during the summer?
- Have you wished that your kids could play math with other like minded kids?
- Do you love the idea of a camp, but hate the daily driving?
Good news!
NaturalMath.com is offering three new, online summer camps for kids!
Check them out!
Posted in Make, Make & Grow
Kingdom on the Wall, Multiplication is Calculus, Math Inspirations: Newsletter March 23, 2016
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Kingdom on the Wall: a new Physics+Math+Art adventure for your children!
HIGHLIGHTS of what your children and you get from our new workshop: all Kingdom on the Wall recordings; advanced topics in algebra and geometry made accessible; cross-discipline experience in physics+math+art; live meetings with leaders and participants from all over the world.
- What: A two-day online workshop on physics+math explorations for your and your children ages 3 to 12. Topics include center of gravity, symmetry and ratios in algebra, spatial transformations in optics and geometry, and more.
- Why: Learn how to help your children play with rich, beautiful, and deep math and physics concepts.
- Who: 25 parents, teachers, math circle leaders, and their children, with Dr. Irina Malkin Ondik and Shelley Nash as organizers.
- When: Live meetings April 7 and 12 at 1:00 PM EDT (New York) = 7:00 PM CEST (Paris).
Multiplication is calculus? And my five-year-old can do it?
One of our most popular online courses is Multiplication Explorers. It is artistic, creative, and a little bit wild. Next week, we are offering a LIVE intro into the large self-paced collection of activities, videos, and discussions.
HIGHLIGHTS of what your children and you get with this workshop: all past and future Multiplication Explorers recordings; bridges to topics in calculus and algebra; understanding, appreciation, and smart memory skills for multiplication.
- What: An intensive two-day online workshop on multiplication for parents and teachers with children ages 3 and up, PLUS access to the online course materials and forum.
- Why: Learn how to help your children play with rich and beautiful math.
- Who: 25 parents, teachers, math circle leaders, and their children, with Marina Kopylova and Sally Bishop as organizers.
- When: Live meetings March 28 and 30 at noon-1:30 PM EST (New York).
Go to the course page for sample Math Sparks and more info.
P.S. When you ask children to show their creation, they lift it up – as if looking at the world through mathematics:
This beautiful photo is from the Little Chalk blog.
Free and open Math Future event
Come help the Natural Math crew interview leaders of projects that make mathematical futures happen. Meet other people who care about math ed, listen to a short presentation from the guest speaker, and ask questions about the future of teaching and learning mathematics – happening now!
On Friday March 25, we will talk with Emily Dyke of Math Inspirations. The right math experience is challenging, purposeful, and fun, while meeting your unique, individual goals. Math Inspirations exists to teach students and parents to take ownership of their math experience and empower them with a system that makes their efforts fruitful.
Join us live, or check out recordings of other Math Future events since 2009.
Dr. Maria Droujkova and the Natural Math crew
Questions? Email reach.out@naturalmath.com or ask in comments to this page.
Posted in Make & Grow, Newsletter
Multiplication Explorers LIVE March 28-20, bloggers at play, book bundle sale: Newsletter March 19, 2016
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Multiplication Explorers LIVE March 28-30
We are running a live, highly interactive online workshop for 25 parents, math circle leaders, and teachers, with children ages 2 and up, on March 28-30, with live meetings at noon-1:30 PM EST.
Multiplication Explorers LIVE will help you grow your math intuition, share the joy and beauty of mathematical activities related to multiplication, and develop your confidence in leading activities with your family, math circle, or class.
Do you remember how you felt studying the multiplication tables? For so many people we meet, the dislike and fear of math can be traced all the way back to their struggles to understand (and not just memorize) multiplication. Can we change this pattern so our children feel curiosity, joy, and affinity – rather than fear, anxiety, and alienation? Can multiplication be more about smart play, rich mathematical thinking, and usefulness everywhere in life?
Multiplication Explorers materials explore holistic approaches to learning multiplication. We invite you to boldly go beyond the familiar representations of multiplication such as skip counting and repeated addition, to work and play with many meaningful, beautiful, and fun models. This live workshop will get you started with adventures across the universe of multiplication.
Math is what you make of it: play along with these bloggers and their children
Natural Math is all about going on your own adventures, and using ideas in your own ways. Want your story featured here? Contact us!
Sara and her four girls at Happiness Is Here blog play with mirror book activities from Moebius Noodles, and share many gorgeous photos as they explore symmetry, angles, multiplication, and spatial transformations.
Sara writes: I love this rainbow flower by Miss 7. An accidental discovery. When she was going to pack up the rainbow flower she moved the mirrors back and noticed she’d created something different. She then played around with the angles for a while creating different variations with the same parts. They now do this after every creation.
Even Miss 2 had a go. She enjoyed gently throwing some pieces and watching all the reflected pieces fall in synchronicity.
Jen Mendez at PERMIE KIDs posted a 25-minute podcast story inspired by activities from the book Socks Are Like Pants, Cats Are Like Dogs. She expands on an early algebra activity called This Is Like That, where you seek variables that link different things, like cats and dogs. Jen connects the activity to a philosophical idea she’s been exploring.
Jen writes: All in Relation can feel like a big, abstract idea, especially when talking about it philosophically, so how can we help children start to look at themselves, others and the world through this lens? One of the fundamental premises of All in Relation as an ethic is understanding how seeming unrelated things have a relationship. This book [Socks Are Like Pants] inspires families and groups to play, solve, talk, and make math-together. The book is filled with a diverse collection of math games, puzzles, and activities exploring the mathematics of choosing, identifying and sorting. Ready for some hands-on, minds-on learning activities that will inspire deeper connections? Play math today and let inspiration grow!
Book bundle sale is now for ebooks too
The latest Natural Math book for parents, math circle leaders, and teachers is called Bright, Brave, Open Minds: Engaging Young Children in Math Inquiry. To celebrate, we offer a limited-time sale on our book bundles. Several of you asked if we have an ebook bundle in addition to paperbacks, so here it is! You save $29 on the paperback bundle and $16 on ebook bundle.
Dr. Maria Droujkova and the Natural Math crew
Questions? Email reach.out@naturalmath.com or ask in comments to this page.
Posted in Make & Grow, Newsletter
