Curious Nelli

Stories, Games and Fun Focused Math Curriculum

The goal of the Curious Nelli book series is to share the joy of mathematics and ignite a spark of curiosity within both you and your child. You and your child will share the experience of wonder, excitement, curiosity, creativity, understanding, and yes, even the joy of math together. I have seen time and time again children enjoy making sense of their world through counting, games, patterns, shapes, adding, subtracting, and more. I know you can enjoy discovering math together too!

Each book in the Curious Nelli series shares the discovery of mathematical concepts through the voice of Nelli, who grows up with the series, games, puzzles and fun activities.The guidelines from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) for each grade are used as a tool for organizing the books, but not to limit the depth and scope of learning as children explore the topics and concepts.

Expect to read the book aloud to your child(ren) and play the games, puzzles and activities together. Most games, puzzles and activities are well suited for multiple age children to play together.

I encourage you to modify and change games and activities to tailor each book to fit your unique child. Children are encouraged to answer questions orally as desired. If competitive games don’t suit your child, modify or focus on less competitive games and activities. For mixed-age players, modify games to make them more fair and equitable for all players. This can be done by giving younger children more cards in a card game, for example. Fair does not always mean equal.

Most of all, enjoy! Math is all fun puzzles and games to me!

~Anne Haney, Author