What are Dr. Super Math Circles?
My interest in helping young children discover serious mathematics began long before our present Math Circles. In the 1990s, I experimented with teaching mathematics to my young daughter through hands-on, visual activities rather than conventional instruction. These experiments led me to invent mathematical manipulatives and develop books and games based on them, work that continued into the 2000s. The basic idea was simple: children can often understand surprisingly advanced mathematics if they can first see it, touch it, play with it, and discover patterns for themselves.
Years later, I returned to this approach with my grandchildren. I began doing serious but fun mathematical activities with Cyrus and Rooz when they were only about three and four years old. Our more organized Math Circles began when Cyrus and Marc were around eight; later Rooz, Adam, and eventually Ava joined in.
The purpose was never to reproduce the school curriculum or push the children through formulas. I wanted them to experience mathematics as something they could see, explore, question, and discover. We used puzzles, games, diagrams, geometric constructions, manipulatives, experiments, mathematical and scientific videos, and stories about great ideas, discoveries, and the people behind them.
Over the years, the Math Circles have explored Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Linear Algebra, Imaginary and Complex Numbers, Abstract Algebra, Probability, Calculus, and Mechanics, along with many other topics. The important question has never been how old a student is supposed to be before seeing an idea, but whether we can find a visual, intuitive, experimental, or story-based way to make it accessible.
Outstanding mathematical videos, particularly Grant Sanderson’s 3Blue1Brown series, have become an important part of this approach. We do not simply watch them. We pause, ask questions, draw pictures, work examples, and create activities that allow the students to rediscover the mathematics for themselves. Stories about mathematics, science, and the people behind important discoveries add a human dimension to the experience.
More recently, the students’ actual work, together with our notes, worksheets, diagrams, and experiments, has become the raw material for something larger. Working with AI, we are transforming this material into Teacher’s Guides, student activities, solutions, interactive web activities, and online explorations for other students, parents, and teachers.
Our first extensive effort is Adventures in Calculus & Mechanics, combining guided discovery, visual mathematics, stories, videos, experiments, worksheets, and interactive activities. We hope eventually to do the same with other subjects the children have explored.
There is thus a continuous thread from my experiments with my daughter in the 1990s, through the manipulatives, books, and games that grew from them, to the Math Circles with my grandchildren, and now to videos, stories, interactive activities, and AI. What began as an effort to help one young child discover mathematics has grown into a collection of resources showing that young students can explore surprisingly advanced mathematics and science when they are invited to discover rather than simply memorize.