Multiplication Explorers online course - join now!
Maria Droujkova
First, what’s so special about multiplication? To begin with, it is universal and therefore unavoidable. We all had to learn it. And our children will have to learn it too, in some shape or form. Here’s something else – the way you will help your children learn multiplication will mirror the way you learned it yourself, unless you take steps to change that. So how did you learn?
Did you spend hours repeating “the facts” with chants, flashcards, and seemingly endless drills? A lot of things have changed since we were children. There must be more effective ways of mastering multiplication! And there must be ways to make it relevant to our lives!
Let’s dig deeper. Do you remember how you felt studying the multiplication tables? For so many people we meet, the dislike and fear of math can be traced all the way back to their struggles to understand (and not just memorize) multiplication. Can we change this pattern so our children, approaching multiplication, feel not fear but curiosity, not anxiety but joy, not alienation but affinity? Can multiplication be more about smart play, rich mathematical thinking and usefulness everywhere in life?
This is what our Multiplication Explorers course is all about. It explores holistic approach to learning multiplication. Memorization based on smart number patterns is a part of it. The course also includes bridges between multiplication and natural world, as well as links to many virtual and imaginary worlds in books, music, technology, art, and games.
We invite you to boldly go beyond the familiar representations of multiplication such as skip counting and repeated addition, to explore many more meaningful, beautiful, and fun models. This course is a launch pad to adventures across the universe of multiplication.
What exactly will you find in the Multiplication Explorers course?
Week by week course flow
The Multiplication Explorers will begin on February 9 and go for 3 weeks (you can pace it slower) – enough time to establish new habits. During these transformative weeks you will receive daily emails with multiplication-based games and activities that you can do with your children. You can do an activity a day or choose a schedule that best fits your family or group. The course has tools for adapting activities to fit your unique needs – see FAQ for details.
Most of the activities have no pre-requisites, plus we give you lots of ideas for adapting them for younger (ages 3-5) and older (12-15 ) children. Which means you do not have to think about how to occupy your youngest while you are playing math with your oldest, or the other way around.
A single activity can take you as little as 10 minutes or as long as a couple of hours, depending on how much your child and you get into it. There are several that are so addictive that we are still playing the games ourselves many years after starting! You will also need 15-30 min to prepare by reading through activity description and, ideally, trying it out yourself. You will not need to buy or make any math manipulatives for any of the activities.
While your participation and gentle guidance are essential at the start of every activity, children can successfully continue their explorations without you (as long as there are plenty of LEGOs, construction paper, markers, and yarn).
Week 1 – Inspired by Calculus – Yes, we are starting big and bold! We will call on some of the most beautiful mathematical ideas, such as fractals, to help model multiplication. We will travel across the physical universe from things unimaginably small to mind-bogglingly large. And we will build and draw models, lots of models.
Week 2 – Inspired by Algebra – Remember that Algebra 1 class? This will be nothing like it, we promise! Because we take algebra to Wonderland, making it accessible and engaging for anyone between the ages of 3 and 103+. We will show you and your child how to explore multiplication with snowflakes and kaleidoscopes. You will design fantasy animals with combinatorics, and seek patterns in anything from doodles to word games.
Week 3 – Times Tables – No silly incantations in our multiplication course! Work smart, seek beauty, and go for patterns. This is the week when you will create your own grand tables, discover hidden and exotic patterns within, and hunt for multiplication in plain sight. Multiplication tricks will be discussed and their inner workings will be revealed. And you will learn about healthy, anxiety-free approaches to memorizing the tables.
The VERY SPECIAL Part
At this point you might be thinking: “This sounds like a really great course! But what’s so special about it?” So here comes the special part.
This is a Name-Your-Price course and you can choose your levels of participation and your type of interaction.
- $30 suggested price; pay $1 or more – Course and Forums – Get the Multiplication Explorers course delivered to your Inbox. You will learn how to do 15 engaging math activities that will help you and your child look at multiplication as something much more fun and fascinating than just repeated addition. Each activity includes many resources and ideas to use as your children grow, and unlimited access to the online community of parents and teachers.
- $45 or more – Course, Forums, and Poster - Receive all of the above, plus our very popularModels of Multiplication poster.
- $55 or more – Course, Forums, Poster, and a Video – Let’s get personal! This option includes all of the above, plus an opportunity to ask us your burning multiplication questions. We will answer them in a short video that will be added to the course video collection.
- $100 or more – Course, Forums, Poster, and 3 Master Classes – This is the most interactive and most personal of the course options. In addition to all the course content, forums and the awesome poster, you will join an online master class (no more than 9 participants per session, 3 weekly sessions, several meeting times to choose). You meet us and other active participants face-to-face as we walk you through multiplication activities and games from the course. We will show you possible adaptations and brainstorm new ones based on your and your child’s needs and interests.
All the activities in the course have been tested by thousands of children and adults of all ages and skill levels. Just a couple of weeks ago we had a terrific mathematical playdate with about fifty children and parents. When we say you and your child will enjoy this course, we speak from experience.
In case you have questions, check out the list of Frequently Asked ones.
We can’t wait to see you in the Multiplication Explorers Course on February 9. Register now!
Dr. Maria Droujkova
Thys van der Veer
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Maria Droujkova
Dr. Maria Droujkova
Sue
Warmly,
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From: drou...@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 08:00:28 -0500
Subject: Re: [Math Future] Multiplication Explorers online course - join now!
To: mathf...@googlegroups.com