Week 1 Task 1: Introduction and preparation

Hello I am Mariana and I have 2 boys (1st and 2nd grade) I homeschooled them and I need to find new and creative ways to learn and teach my family and maybe share with some friends. I am really want to teach myself and my children to think out of the box...

Hello - I'm Shannon. I homeschool my children (ages 2, 6, 8, and 11 - some math lovers and some not), and was a scientist and science teacher prior to being mom. I am going to be teaching a Math Circle class at our homeschool co-op starting in January. I always enjoyed math in school, though I chose to pursue sciences. I have recently had a rekindling of my math love. I am taking this class to not only learn how to share math with my and other kids, but I want to learn for my own intellectual enjoyment.

My name is Myra. I am an early childhood educator at an independent school. I have come to love working with young students in mathematics. I originally came to education through literacy and language arts, but have grown to truly enjoy math. As I was getting a re-introduction to early childhood math one of my own children was making it evident that math was a lens he used to make sense of the world. We have been on a mathematical journey together. I look forward to gathering my now 8 year old and some of his friends for this course.

My name is Carrie and I am a homeschooling mom of three children - ages 7, 4, and 1. We like Cuisenaire rods, games, Miquon workbooks, Life of Fred, patterns, and living math books. I'm an engineer, and I thought I was pretty good at math before I started homeschooling. I love that Moebius Noodles material always challenges me to think, rather than simply solve algorithms.

Hi! My name is Rodi. I homeschool my 9-year-old daughter, and did HS my older one thru 8th grade. I have led a math circle for several years. I'm interested here in exploring some topics that I've never explored (I'm a mathy educator vs. a mathematician), and also want to do some math circles that are girls only, so I've invited some of Joanna's friends over for some math.

My name is Sarah and I homeschool my 7 year old son and 9 year old daughter and partially my 5 year old daughter. I am taking this class because my 9 year old used to love Math then she got bored. Now it has turned into an ongoing battle. I am looking for ways to spice things up.

My name is Iskra and I homeschool boys ages 8, 6 and almost 3. I am considering teaching a class at our co-op next year for fun math contest preparation for kids ages 9 to 11. I really want the kids to love it and want to tackle deep/complex problems with curiosity, excitement and determination. I also want them to be successful at MOEMS and other contests. I am hoping this course will help me figure out how to design a course for the kids at the co-op that will meet all the above mentioned goals.

Hello everyone. My name is Irene, i have two daughters, 5 and 6 years old. Recently, they are homeschooling, i teach them mostly through Waldorf pedagogy, i am also training in this Anthroposophy. I want to learn more about math, open up to approaches, and so help my kids with their development. Thanks a lot to the amazing women¡

My web site is being relocated, when it is ready will share with you all.

Hi everyone! My name is Aimee and I homeschool my two boys ages 10 and 11 years old. We are teaming up with another homeschool mom who has a 10 year old boy as well. I have tried to make math fun and relevant (and stay away from worksheets and tears) while working on inspiring them to want to learn more. I am looking forward to getting some ideas and being able to share with everyone.

My name is Axelle and I have a 7 year old who has been drilled with multiplication tables since 3rd grade started in August. His teacher gave me access to his classroom next week to work on non-traditional math tasks with the students. Looking forward to it!

Hi! My name is Nichole and I'm a homeschooling mom of 2, ages 7 and 11. As a former math phobic student, I am very interested in learning to teach math to my kids in a way that is beautiful, interesting, and relevant. I am also interested in starting a math circle at our homeschool co op and looking for both guidance and ideas as to where to begin.

Hello, I'm a homeschooling mom to 4 kiddos. I host a young math circle with my 4 and 6 year old children and would like to start an older group with my 8yo and 10 yo. I find it much easier to plan hands-on activities for the littles and let them explore. Not so much for the older two. They're pretty mathy and are members of our local homeschool math team. I feel like we've got the curriculum covered but not so much the "fun" of math any more. Reading math stories and making math art helps but it's not quite enough. I'm hoping to find some ideas here that I can both incorporate at home and possibly bring into our math team meetings.

Hi my name is Lisa or user name Goya55. I am a homeschooling educator of a 12 year old with autism but some amazing geometrical spatial intelligence abilities.. This our third year of homeschooling. We do a hybrid of many methods. Montessori, Waldorf, project based, heavy on the STEAMs curriculum. I teach to my child's interest and am always looking for more ways and better tools to engage and stimulate his brain to be a life long learner who is self directed and a problem solver. I am currently focused on marketable skill sets and gaging mastery of what he is learning. Project based learning is difficult to gage all that my child has learned. So I think class will give me more ideas and open my mind to the question I ask all the time! What is learning? I have some Facebook groups I belong too. Montessori and Waldorf homeschoolers and a special needs group. Given my son's social limits due to autism we do not really work with others to well. I network on line, he works best alone. I also do Google + communities. I look forward to meeting new educators and learning more! Thanks for this opportunity and creating a portal of learning! I am thrilled to be here!

Hello - I'm Victoria. I hope to learn different ways to engage my kids in learning math. I also hope to acquire skills in helping to facilitate teaching math for kids in a group setting. I have an 8 year old girl and a 6 year old boy that I homeschool, I also teach a homeschool co-op class that has a math games portion for 30 minutes once a week for ages 9-12. I have flirted with the idea of starting/joing a math circle for them but either there is not one nearby, or it just isn;t the time to start one myself. Although I am attempting to start a chess club as that is the current love of my son.

On line, I have a very neglected blog that is at http://outdoorfamilyadventures.blogspot.com

Kat...homeschooling mom of twins (3rd grade-ish). Looking for ideas to keep up with my girls' math interests!

My name is Sarah Gray. I have 5 children ages 4-11. Some of my children love worksheet math and memorizing addition facts. Others need to have alternative math problems. I'm coming to this class to give myself a math education and hope to share that with my children.