Why I Love the Math Journaling Adventures Series

My Math Journaling Adventures Series is now available on Kickstarter.

I love these books!

Writing is one of the best ways to learn math deeply, because wrestling our thoughts into words forces us to figure out what we really believe.

It’s the natural, no-stress way to build our children’s understanding and confidence.

Hit the button to visit the campaign and order your books:

Math Journaling Adventures Kickstarter ❯

Why Is Math So Hard?

School and society teach us to view mathematics as a race. You run as fast as you can from one topic to the next. You cram facts and procedures into your head, follow the teacher’s instructions, score high on tests, and then you win. Or if you don’t, you’re a loser.

Is it surprising that so many children grow up thinking they’re no good at math?

Let’s reject the idea of math as a race with winners and losers.

Instead, let’s explore the wide, wild world of numbers, shapes, and patterns — more ideas, more relationships, more concepts than our kids would ever have time to study. And everywhere we look, there’s something cool to discover.

Hope for All Students

It doesn’t matter whether your students are homeschooled or in a classroom, distance learning or in person. Everyone can enjoy the experience of playing around with math.

Math adventurers believe in Truth. We refuse to accept something just because the teacher or textbook says it. We want to see the connections between math concepts and to understand why things work.

Math adventurers care about Justice. We resist society’s push for speed and conformity. We reject the cultural narrative that math has only One Right Answer.

Math adventurers celebrate Creative Reasoning. We delight in finding new ways to look at math topics. We want to think deeply about ideas, and we are confident in our ability to figure things out.

A Math Adventurer in Action

Let me give you an example. Notice how this math prompt meets the student at her own level (justice) and helps her grow in understanding (truth). And the challenge of creating new answers can be tremendous fun.

With the same prompt, an older student might have begun by seeing 5 as 100 ÷ 20, or the cube root of 125, or 5 cos 2π, and then let their imagination run.

Math adventurers love making our own math. We know learning doesn’t belong only in school. Learning happens whenever a curious mind meets a new idea.

As we write about our discoveries, we build deeper layers of understanding. The process of wrestling our ideas into words forces us to pin down nebulous thoughts and decide what we really believe. Writing helps us develop a richer mathematical mindset.

How Do These Relate to Your Other Books?

I love how writing pushes students to think more creatively and build fluency. So these Math Journaling Adventures logbooks are designed to make it easier than ever for busy families and over-stressed teachers to fit journaling into any schedule.

These books are the perfect hands-on companion to my book 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal. In fact, you could think of that book as the “teacher’s manual” for this series.

The logbooks replace my Math Journal Task Cards by making playful math as easy as open-and-go.

📙 Logbook Alpha includes all 52 prompts in Math Journal Task Cards Book 1, plus 40 more (and any extras we add as stretch goals).

📘 Logbook Delta includes all 52 prompts in Math Journal Task Cards Book 2, plus 40 more (and any extras we add as stretch goals).

Each book has enough activities to keep your children exploring and writing math all year.

Even better: Pick up an extra copy for yourself and play alongside your kids!

Math Journaling Adventures Kickstarter ❯