Moebius Noodles is a free book and community we are building for parents and educators of children birth to five.

Please contribute, and ask friends!

In this post: Why, Secret Rewards, FAQs, Supporters, Links.

More information and overview: Moebius Noodles 1; Yelena MacManaman’s blog.

Why?

  1. You get math activities that go deeper than just counting and shapes.
  2. Opportunity to have an excellent community develop materials specifically for your family or your class
  3. Free materials to use, share, change, distribute.
  4. Children worldwide will have have free access. Translation volunteers are signing up!
  5. Proof of concept that not only big corporations, but grassroots groups can sustain curriculum development
  6. Confidence and support teaching math using your own talents, in your own ways
  7. Support for using what you already have around the house for cool math games

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Secret Rewards

Pledge $5 or more – Point. You will be recognized as an official SUPPORTER on our site, PLUS you will receive a limited-edition hand-numbered Moebius Noodles thank-you card with your very own Fibonacci number.

Pledge $13 or more – Interval. You will be recognized as an official MATH MAKER on our site, receive a Moebius Noodles card, PLUS a PDF copy of the book, PLUS participant access to our online support community.

Pledge $34 or more – Square. All of the above, PLUS one souvenir page of notes taken down during our brainstorming and planning sessions, PLUS a printed copy of the book.

Pledge $89 or more – Cube. All of the above, PLUS you can put a two-line dedication by one of the games or stories in the book, with your family name(s) and a brief message to the world.

Pledge $233 or more – Tesseract. You will be recognized as an official PATRON OF MATH MAKERS on our site, PLUS receive one PDF copy and two printed copies of the book, PLUS a secret message with your or your child’s name will be an example in one of the games, PLUS you will get behind-the-scenes access to our work to observe, in detail, the process of making the book.

Pledge $610 or more – Infinite-Dimensional Space Master. Everything included in the Tesseract level, PLUS you will have the power to influence the contents, look and feel of the book, PLUS the authors will design a custom math activity around your child’s interests, name it after your child and include it in the book.

Frequently Asked Questions

As the campaign is growing, here are the questions we get.

  • How do I get involved beyond donating money and spreading the word?
    • You can contribute games to the site and future books. You can ask questions once we launch the site, and help members by answering questions. Translator volunteers are needed, too. Contributing any media, especially short stories with photos, and videos of playing the games, will help a whole lot. Feedback, questions and comments on the materials will be appreciated.
  • Where can I see examples of games?
  • Where do your Secret Reward numbers (5, 13, 34, 89, 233, 610) come from?
    • They are Fibonacci numbers, with skips.
  • Who have contributed so far, and why?
    • You can see the money contributor pages at the TippingBucket site. Some of the things people said to the site’s prompt “I give because…”
      …I wish something like this had been around when I was crying my way through math classes.
      …I believe in the authors and contributors to this book. I have personally seen the games work.
      …It helps families enjoy their time together while growing their Math noodles!
      …I think this is a fabulous resource and can’t wait to see it happen.
      …This is the future of mathematics education, so we might as well make it a good one.
    • You can see people who spread the word in the next section. It is very gratifying to hear so many math educators and parents calling this project, and my work in general, brilliant, innovative, necessary, fun, meaningful. It makes me believe the project will be a success!
  • Do you want me to make a video, poster or story for your project?
    • I will love you long time if you do!
  • What other materials do you have?

Supporters

Moebius Noodles Fundraiser Badge

There are literally hundreds of people spreading the word! I am compiling a comprehensive list, which I will post separately. The ways people support this project makes me hopeful for the future of mathematics education. Here is a sample.

Denise at “Let’s Play Math” blog:

For the last few years, Maria Droujkova has been teaching parents to do advanced, fun math with young children. I had the chance to lurk on a discussion group this summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now she is taking the next step — and you are invited to join in the fun!

Sue VanHattum at “Math Mama Writes” blog:

Maria Droujkova has done some wonderful work creating math projects for young children. I’ve seen early drafts of the Moebius Noodles book, and it’s exciting.

Mike Thayer at “Hyperbolic Guitars” blog:

There are precious few such resources out there for this age group, and this looks like a promising one. If you are interested, learn more at http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/moebius-noodles-fundraiser/, and thank you!

Colleen King at Math Playground site:

Math Playground had over 100,000 visitors yesterday. Posted the square badge on the home page.

Patrick Vennebush at “Math Jokes 4 Mathy Folk” blog:

As a parent who loves to play math games and talk about numbers and shapes with my twin 4-year-old sons (see my previous post), I believe this effort is laudable. I support the project, and I would like to ask for your support, too.

Carol Cross at “Teaching Your Middle Schooler” blog:

My friend Maria of Natural Math has some great ideas about how to raise children so that they love, rather than fear and resist, math.  Through Maria’s eyes, math is a language or an art form through which to view, understand, and communicate about life.

Steve Thomas at “Mr. Steve’s Exploratorium” blog:

I don’t know what a project like this would look like or how to create it, but I can’t think of a better person to do it than Maria Droujkova. She is a wonderful, creative, research driven teacher who develops and tests these activities on real children.  I have supported Maria and her project, and I hope you will too, please click here to read more and support her work.

Project Links in One Place

The fundraiser site: http://tippingbucket.org/projects/moebius-noodles
Today’s updates on the campaign, with links to blogs supporting us: http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/moebius-noodles-the-waves/
A short description of the project: http://beebopparade.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-is-moebius-noodles.html
More info, including the secret rewards (printed books, custom games and so on): http://www.naturalmath.com/blog/moebius-noodles-fundraiser/
The latest pilot – a P2PU class where you can see some of the materials: http://moebiusnoodles.posterous.com
A short video from MathFour.com, one of the supporters of Moebius Noodles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFRmwGCpldg

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