Playing With Math: Stories From Math Circles, Homeschoolers, and Passionate Teachers
Originally posted June 20, 2014
Sue VanHattum’s blog Math Mama Writes was one of the first math blogs I followed. Sue, along with Shireen, Dan, Kate, and Sam, was part of a small group of early voices who showed me — through their passionate, reflective writing — that an online community of math educators existed, and that it was okay (and even encouraged) to share what we were doing in our classrooms.
When I started this blog, Sue was one of the first people to leave comments — not just one, but several. We even talked on the phone once, and she told me how her son got his name. I remember reading a post and feeling connected to the author’s story, and just before I went to leave a comment, I’d see Sue had already been there. Over and over, this happened. We were reading the same things, and the same things were touching us in similar ways.
Then, within a year, Sue asked if I wanted to include one of my posts in a book she was putting together.
So it’s with a full heart that I help launch Sue’s new book:
Playing With Math: Stories from Math Circles, Homeschoolers, and Passionate Teachers
This book brings together the voices of over thirty authors who share their love of math and how they bring it into their homes, classrooms, and communities. Each chapter ends with a puzzle, game, or activity to inspire you and your kids to play with math too.
To know Sue is to know that she loves math, teaching, learning, and writing — so this book, this labor of deep love, had to happen.
Playing With Math is a collection of love stories — because that’s what it is when people share something they’re obsessed with. We’re the ones playing with math at the dinner table, doodling on napkins at coffee shops, pestering our own kids or our neighbor’s kids, throwing math into family picnics, even pulling in in-laws we barely tolerate.
Today is the launch of our crowd-funding campaign to help cover the production costs. We’re hoping our wonderful community of teachers, parents, and math lovers — people I deeply admire — will chip in. You can contribute anything from $1 to $1 billion. But if you give $25, the book will be sent to you as soon as it’s printed.
Thank you so much.