Podcast: Using Math Journals and Games

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
mother and daughter math journaling

I have a new podcast interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it!

Check out Cindy Rollins’s The New Mason Jar on your favorite podcast app, or listen on the website:

Go to the podcast ❱

Here’s an excerpt…

Writing to Learn

Just as a nature journal records our children’s explorations and discoveries in nature, so a math journal tracks our children’s explorations in the world of mathematics.

    In a math journal, children record their experiences with numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes — not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

      The process of writing forces children to pin down their thoughts, to transform nebulous concepts into firm ideas, to struggle with vagueness and build understanding.

        As William Zinsser says in his book Writing to Learn: “Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know, and what we don’t know.”

          Through journaling, children develop a richer mathematical mindset. They begin to see connections and grow confident in their ability to think through new problems.

          We had a great discussion! Listen to the whole thing:

          Go to the podcast ❱

           
          * * *

          Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Check out all my books, printable activities, and cool mathy merch at Denise Gaskins’ Playful Math Store. Or join my free email newsletter.

          This blog is reader-supported. If you’d like to help fund the blog on an on-going basis, then please join me on Patreon for mathy inspiration, tips, and an ever-growing archive of printable activities.

          “Podcast: Using Math Journals and Games” copyright © 2025 by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of the post copyright © AntonLozovoy / Depositphotos.

          Podcast: The Beauty of Math in the Charlotte Mason Paradigm

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          painting by Dennis Miller Bunker, public domain

          I have a new podcast interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it!

          Check out Cindy Rollins’s The New Mason Jar (Season 7, Episode 93) on your favorite podcast app, or listen on the website:

          Go to the podcast ❱

          Here’s a couple of excerpts…

          Continue reading Podcast: The Beauty of Math in the Charlotte Mason Paradigm

          Podcast: From Right Answers to Adventure

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          Notice and Wonder podcast logo with quote by Denise Gaskins

          If you find a free hour this week, you may enjoy listening to my latest Notice & Wonder podcast discussion with Sonya and Della about the power of playful math:

          We share plenty of tips, stories, and practical advice for bringing a sense of curiosity and exploration into your math lessons.

          Plus, the Best Math Game Ever!

          I love this podcast, because it always feels like sitting down to chat over coffee with good friends who love kids and love teaching.

          Taking our focus off answer-getting can be hard for the adult, because that right answer gives us security that we know what we’re doing. It’s hard to give ourselves the freedom of saying, “I’m going to go into this lesson, and I have no idea where it’s going to go. I have this puzzle, I have this problem, but I don’t know where it will lead.’’

            That’s a scary situation to be in as the adult who’s used to being in control of everything.

              But we’re exploring this landscape of math. There are a lot of cool things to discover, and we’ll find something. We may not find the answer, but we’ll find something interesting, if we just explore it.

              — Denise Gaskins,
              “From Right Answers to Adventure”

               
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              If you enjoy listening to podcasts, check out my other interviews here.

              Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Check out all my books, printable activities, and cool mathy merch at Denise Gaskins’ Playful Math Store.

              This blog is reader-supported. If you’d like to help fund the blog on an on-going basis, then please join me on Patreon for mathy inspiration, tips, and an ever-growing archive of printable activities.

              If you liked this post, and want to show your one-time appreciation, the place to do that is PayPal: paypal.me/DeniseGaskinsMath. If you go that route, please include your email address in the notes section, so I can say thank you.

              “Podcast: From Right Answers to Adventure” copyright © 2024 by Denise Gaskins. Podcast logo copyright © 2024 Sonya Post.

              New Podcast: Notice and Wonder

              Posted on by Denise Gaskins
              Quotation from Notice and Wonder podcast

              When I was a novice homeschooler, our local Moms’ Night Out provided mentoring and kept me sane. We’d leave the children home with their dads and meet up at a local restaurant for a cup of coffee, a slice of pecan pie, and a robust discussion of educational philosophy.

              This spring, my friend Sonya Post launched a new podcast called “Notice & Wonder” — and it captures that same feeling perfectly.

              Sonya explains: “What is Notice, Wonder, Discover? It’s the development of cognitive skills, without which you have never learned anything in your life. We are developing the underlying skills that will make anyone more proficient at learning anything.”

              I’ve had the privilege to join Sonya for three episodes of the podcast so far, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversations.

              Here’s a taste…

              Continue reading New Podcast: Notice and Wonder

              Podcast: How to Transform Math Lessons without Changing your Curriculum

              Posted on by Denise Gaskins
              Homeschooling math together - photo

              I have a new podcast interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it!

              Check out Pam Barnhill’s 10 Minutes to a Better Homeschool on your favorite podcast app, or listen on the website:

              Go to the podcast ❱

              Here’s a couple of excerpts…

              Continue reading Podcast: How to Transform Math Lessons without Changing your Curriculum

              Podcast: Cultivating Math Curiosity and Reasoning in Kids

              Posted on by Denise Gaskins

              I have a new podcast interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it!

              Check out Learning Is Disruptable on your favorite podcast app, or listen on the website:

              Go to the podcast ❱

              Here’s an excerpt…

              “I think the most important thing that we need to change…we need to radically change what our idea is of what it means to learn math.

                “Our biggest failure, both in the classroom and in homeschool settings, is that we’ve given our children a totally wrong idea of what math is all about.

                Continue reading Podcast: Cultivating Math Curiosity and Reasoning in Kids

                Parents: Math Is Figure-Out-Able

                Posted on by Denise Gaskins

                I love listening to podcasts during my morning walk with the dogs. One of my favorites over the past year has been Pam Harris and Kim Montague’s Math is Figure-Out-Able podcast.

                Figure-out-able. What a great word!

                Figure-out-able sums up what I mean when I tell parents that math is “applied common sense.” Kids can use the things they know to figure out things they don’t yet know.

                And figuring things out like that is fun, like a mental game where we play with the ideas of numbers, shapes, and patterns.

                Usually, the podcast targets teachers, and the hosts try to show how they can help students learn to mathematize — to think mathematically. Over the past few weeks, however, Pam and Kim have been talking directly to parents about how to help their children learn math.

                Continue reading Parents: Math Is Figure-Out-Able

                Podcast: Real Math and Family Fun

                Posted on by Denise Gaskins

                Christy Thomas interviewed me for her Keep Calm and Mother On podcast. We had a wonderful chat. I think you’ll enjoy it:

                Real Math and Family Fun with Denise Gaskins

                “School math sometimes is more stress-inducing. Real math is more freeing and more joyful, and just more interesting.

                  “Real mathematics is basically applied common sense.

                    “Real mathematics is noticing patterns, seeing connections, figuring things out.

                      “These are all things that you can do. You do them in other areas of your life. Real mathematics draws on those same abilities and focuses those abilities on numbers, shapes, and patterns.

                        “Real mathematics is about solving puzzles. It’s about creative reasoning. These are the things you want your child to understand.”

                        —Denise Gaskins, Real Math and Family Fun

                        Go Listen to the Interview

                         
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                        I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Christy. If you run a math, education, or homeschooling podcast, and you’d like to have me on sometime, I’d love to hear from you!

                        Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Check out all my books, printable activities, and cool mathy merch at Denise Gaskins’ Playful Math Store.

                        This blog is reader-supported. If you’d like to help fund the blog on an on-going basis, then please join me on Patreon for mathy inspiration, tips, and an ever-growing archive of printable activities. If you liked this post, and want to show your one-time appreciation, the place to do that is PayPal: paypal.me/DeniseGaskinsMath. If you go that route, please include your email address in the notes section, so I can say thank you.

                        “Podcast: Real Math and Family Fun” copyright © 2021 by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of the post copyright © Bruno Nascimento via Unsplash.com.

                        Podcast: Math as a Nature Walk

                        Posted on by Denise Gaskins

                        Pam Barnhill interviewed me for the Your Morning Basket podcast. We had a great talk. I think you’ll enjoy it:

                        YMB #94 Math in Morning Time: A Conversation with Denise Gaskins

                        “Let me give you this new vision. I want you to think of math as a nature walk.

                          “There’s this whole world of interesting things. More things, more concepts, more ideas than you and your children would ever have time to explore. And everywhere you look, there’s something cool to discover.

                            “If you explore this world with your children, you’re not behind. Wherever you are, you’re not behind because there is no behind. There’s only, “We’re going this direction.” Or, “Let’s move that way.” Or, “Hey, look what I found over here!”

                              “And as long as your children are thinking and wondering, and making sense of the math they find, they’re going to learn. They’re going to grow.

                                “So what you want to do is, you want to embrace this adventure of loving God with all your mind and approach math with an attitude of playful exploration.

                                  “And you know, you’ll be surprised how much fun thinking hard can be.”

                                  —Denise Gaskins, Math in Morning Time

                                  Go Listen to the Interview

                                   
                                  * * *

                                  I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Pam. If you run a math, education, or homeschooling podcast, and you’d like to have me on sometime, I’d love to hear from you!

                                  Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Check out all my books, printable activities, and cool mathy merch at Denise Gaskins’ Playful Math Store. Or join my email newsletter.

                                  This blog is reader-supported. If you’d like to help fund the blog on an on-going basis, then please join me on Patreon for mathy inspiration, tips, and an ever-growing archive of printable activities.

                                  “Podcast: Math as a Nature Walk” copyright © 2021 by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of the post copyright © Jessica Rockowitz via Unsplash.com.