The Museum of Mathematics—Great Resource

The Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in New York City is the only museum in the United States dedicated strictly to mathematics. The exhibits and programs at MoMath are designed to stimulate inquiry, spark curiosity, and reveal the wonders of mathematics. Whether or not you are able to visit this fantastic museum, you can take advantage of some of its offerings.

Math Mondays is a partnership between MoMath and the magazine, Make: Online. The weekly column includes fun, experiential, puzzling topics in mathematics. Many of these are actual puzzles one can construct. This column will keep students involved with complex and innovative creations that will stretch their minds.

MoMath also has an online store that sells a variety of mathematical games, books, DVDs, toys, and puzzles that are worth considering.

Encouraging Mathematical Thinking

Parents, do you want to encourage your young people to think mathematically? Here are some ways to accomplish that.

Preschoolers

Nurturing Mathematically Talented Preschoolers—While it can be difficult to find programs for three- to five-year-old mathematically precocious children, there are things that you can do at home to encourage and feed their talents. Click on the link above and find suggestions that include

• Specific building materials, including LEGOs, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, K’nex, Magna-Tiles, tangrams, and blocks of all shapes and sizes. Ideas are also provided for using these building sets.
• Ways to use mathematical logic in everyday conversations
• Ideas for working with fractions

There is no need for formal lessons. All of the suggestions provided are applied through play activities.

Elementary School Students

10 Practically Fun Math Games and Activities for Your Preteen—While the title of this article suggests that young people be close in age to teenagers, many of these activities are appropriate for much younger children. Author JC Ryan lists eight indoor activities and two outdoor activities that parents may not automatically think of as building math skills.

Kindergarten through High School

Have You Seen These 8 High Quality, Free Maths Websites?—Activities here cater to an enormous range of abilities and offer math related subjects from basic counting through calculus, current economic theory, and puzzles.

Paper Folding for Gifted Visual Spatial Learners

The art of paper folding plays right into the strengths of gifted visual spatial learners. Once a student becomes comfortable with basic folds, she can go on to design her own models.

Here are some websites to help young people learn and improve paper-folding techniques.

• A Paper Folding Project—Directions for creating a paper sculpture.
• Fractal Paper folding—Instructions for making fractal cards.
• Origami Diagrams for Download—Contains simple to complex directions.

Some people even specialize in certain types of paper folding, such as Paper Airplanes, which includes six different designs.

Ways to Share and Collaborate

It’s always helpful to find others with the same interests.

• If your student would like to join a group of origami folders, you can find contact information at Origami USA. International groups are also listed at this site. In addition, information is provided on forming your own group of paper folders.
• Mailing Lists and Social Networks—See what others are doing with the art of paper folding. Share your own work. Connect with fellow folders.

Paper Folding Artists

If burgeoning paper folders want to see some of the possibilities of this craft, view the work of professional artists who have become masters. Here are just a few:

• Simon Schubert 
• Giang Dinh 
• Paul Jackson 
• Eric Joisel 
• Brian Chan 

Is Your Bright Child a Visual-Spatial Learner?

Sit that kid down in front of a computer and she can do anything. She doesn’t need instructions to figure it all out. She not only plays computer games, but she creates them. She also blends video and music together effortlessly. She likes to take things apart, but there is no guarantee that she will put them back together in the same way. Building with Legos was always one of her favorite activities when she was younger. Now, she likes to create her own inventions and loves the cartoonist, Rube Goldberg. Drawing comes naturally to her, and she is constantly producing her own cartoons and comic strips.

Young people who have a strong visual-spatial ability visualize and retain images in their minds and then mentally manipulate those images. Kids who have this ability may be very smart but, because they learn in a style that is different from the usual sequential and verbal style of the classroom, they may not be a good match for the typical school.

Don’t lose heart if your visual-spatial child struggles academically; instead, support his or her strengths at home and through enrichment classes. At the same time, there are techniques you can use to help your student adapt to school. For some of these suggestions, check out the Visual-Spatial Resource. You also can find a series of articles for both parents and teachers on a variety of topics related to visual-spatial ability at Visual-Spatial Learners  . In addition, much more information can be found about visual-spatial learners at Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page  .

So, take heart. Your visual-spatial child has talents that will serve him well. He may not learn in the same way that many other kids learn, and he may need help with compensation techniques at school, but because of his strong visual-spatial ability, he will excel in areas in which others have difficulty.