#MathArtChallenge

Ok, it's Thursday, and by now you're probably realizing: Homeschool will not, and cannot, feel exactly like school-school.

And that's ok! Seriously. If your child is doing some reading, writing, and engaging with meaningful mathematical ideas, you're doing a great job. Most homeschool parents spend months preparing for the new school year. You got 48 hours.

So today's recommendation won't be "academic" but it will be extremely mathematical. It's from one of my favorite people on Math Twitter, Annie Perkins.

Annie is a teacher and mathematical artist in Minnesota, and she has taken up a new project while we are under quarantine: #MathArtChallenge

What is #MathArtChallenge?

This one is simple: Every day, Annie will post a new mathematical art prompt on her Instagram account and Twitter account. Your child can do some artwork inspired by that prompt. And if you share it with Annie, she might even post your artwork to her followers!

The prompts vary in difficulty, but even young kids can usually attempt some version of art inspired by her suggestion.

Take Tuesday's prompt for example: Draw a single line that can cross itself as many times as you want, but don't pick up your pencil. Make sure you connect the end of your doodle back to the start. Then, take two colors and shade in your doodle, making sure that no adjacent regions are the same color.

Can you do it? You ought to be able to. So why is that? Is there a mathematical reason?

That's what I love about these prompts: They are accessible to even my pre-school daughter, but the math behind them is deep and interesting. And no, I'm not going to tell you why the two-color thing always works. Play around with it yourself! Or better yet, ask your kids to.

Anyway, check out Annie's great Instagram account and share your child's best work with the hashtag #mathartchallenge. You should also follow her personal account, where she shares some of the absolutely fantastic 2-d and 3-d math art that she has created.

Any while you're at it, check out my new Instagram account as well! I decided to make something where I share quick, slice-of-life videos to demonstrate how I have math conversations with my kids. In addition to this newsletter, I'll be updating Instagram frequently with activity ideas and snippets of math chats I have with my kids. I'm two days in and loving it, so come hang out!