Nine and ten-year-olds are using math to do stuff. They’ll design a brand new pattern the world has never seen, and then devise a scheme to beat you at cards.
![Selfie. From left to right: Me, the 16 year-old, and [locally famous Radio Gal] on a sunny summer evening.](https://talkingmathwithkids.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/probability-radio-gal-1024x768.jpg)
I am currently writing the teacher guide for my next book, How Did You Count? (See a couple of teaser photos at the end of this post!) A section of a chapter of that teacher guide has the heading Seek to Understand and to Be Understood. Those who know my teaching...
I wrote last week about the release of 21st Century Pattern Blocks on a much larger scale than before. This week, I want to share five fun math adventures that begin with these blocks. 1.Scaling Which 21st Century Pattern Blocks can you use (any number of)...
After seeing Hana Murray's lovely study of rectangles made from 21st Century Pattern Blocks, I started playing and noticed that many of them seemed to involve the small green triangles. Pretty soon, I had formed a conjecture. Using copies of these at least two...
I am very excited to let folks know that Dan Finkel of Math for Love has scaled up 21st Century Pattern Blocks production and availability. They've been available here on this site for a few years now. At first I was making them on a maker-space laser cutter, then...
This beautiful book helps us see the world through a child's joyful, creative, mathy eyes.
A summer subscription service—currently on hiatus, but stay tuned!
An important part of training young minds is modeling a healthy skepticism. Today's weather column in the Star Tribune included the following observation: Minnesota is nippy during the winter...but we don't have to stress about tsunamis, volcanoes or...
What was, what might have been, and what could be....all in a conversation about marshmallows.