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Playful Math 181: The Symmetry Carnival

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Playful Math Carnival 181

If you’re looking for entertainment to while away the winter (or summer, for those of us up north!) — or if you’re just curious about how learning math could possibly be fun — you’ll definitely want to check out the latest edition of the Playful Math Carnival.

It’s a collection of awesome blog posts curated by Johanna Buijs and published on the Nature Study Australia website:

The whole point of the carnival is to show that math doesn’t have to be tedious or repetitive. Through a bunch of fun and engaging posts, we celebrate math that’s playful, creative, and totally relevant to everyday life.

Because what could be more relevant than having fun while we learn?

Continue reading Playful Math 181: The Symmetry Carnival

Playing to Learn

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
quotation from Dan Finkel

“Play and rigor support each other.

    “When students are invited to play with math, they learn more deeply, more robustly, and remember more consistently.

      “Play is promoted as something that can engage kids and give them a more positive attitude about school, but it’s easy to assume that it’s not useful for learning, when in reality the opposite is true:

        “The student who is playing tends to be the student who is learning most deeply.”

        —Dan Finkel, Math for Love newsletter

        Mental Math: Three Basic Principles

        Posted on by Denise Gaskins
        Doing mental math on the couch

        “We know that algorithms are amazing human achievements, but they are not good teaching tools because mimicking step-by-step procedures can actually trap students into using less sophisticated reasoning than the problems are intended to develop.”

        — Pam Harris, Math Is Figure-Out-Able Podcast

        Whether you work with a math curriculum or take a less-traditional route to learning, do not be satisfied with mere pencil-and-paper competence. Instead, work on building your children’s mental math skills, because mental calculation forces a child to understand arithmetic at a much deeper level than is required by traditional pencil-and-paper methods.

        Continue reading Mental Math: Three Basic Principles

        Musings: Mental Math Is the Key to Algebra

        Posted on by Denise Gaskins
        Painting by Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky, public domain

        “If you stay with meaningful mental arithmetic longer, you will find that your child, if she is average, can do problems much more advanced than the level listed for her grade. You will find that she likes arithmetic more.

          “And when she does get to abstractions, she will understand them better.

            “She will not need two or three years of work in primary grades to learn how to write out something like a subtraction problem with two-digit numbers. She can learn that in a few moments of time, if you just wait.”

            —Ruth Beechick, An Easy Start in Arithmetic

            Continue reading Musings: Mental Math Is the Key to Algebra

            Musings: Mathematical Beauty

            Posted on by Denise Gaskins
            photo of child making footprints on the beach

            Memories…

            We were eclectic homeschoolers back in the Dark Ages before there was an internet. Our primary curriculum was the public library.

            As we went along, I noticed how many of our homeschooling friends felt uncomfortable with math, and even hated or feared the subject.

            Math anxiety runs rampant in Western culture. By one researcher’s estimate, more than 90% of adults experience some level of math anxiety — that is, discomfort, avoidance, and even emotional pain when faced with a math calculation.

            So I became a sort of “math evangelist” in the homeschooling community, spreading the news that we can find beauty and fun even in math.

            Continue reading Musings: Mathematical Beauty

            Playful Math Carnival 180 via Math Hombre

            Posted on by Denise Gaskins
            carnival party banner

            If you’re into math education — or just curious about how learning math could possibly be fun — you’ll definitely want to check out the latest edition of the Playful Math Carnival.

            It’s a collection of awesome blog posts curated by John Golden and published on the Math Hombre website:

            The whole point of the carnival is to show that math doesn’t have to be tedious or repetitive. Through a bunch of fun and engaging posts, we celebrate math that’s playful, creative, and totally relevant to everyday life.

            Because what could be more relevant than having fun while we learn?

            In this edition, you’ll find everything from math puzzles and games to humor and much more — even an interesting math art game.

            So if you want to mix up your math teaching and make it more enjoyable for your students (and for yourself), definitely check out the Playful Math Carnival. Happy reading!

            Go Visit the Carnival

            Continue reading Playful Math Carnival 180 via Math Hombre

            Algebra Puzzle from Lewis Carroll

            Posted on by Denise Gaskins
            The Beaver's Lesson by Henry Holiday, illustration for The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll, public domain

            On a friend’s blog, I found this delightful letter written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson to a young man named Wilton Cox.

            The pseudonym Lewis Carroll comes from an alteration of the Latinized name Carolus (for Charles) and the replacement of Lutwidge with Lewis.

            Continue reading Algebra Puzzle from Lewis Carroll