Search Results for: blog everyday math

Mathitudes

My daughter is unintimidated by math. Why should she be intimidated by it anyway? Math is just numbers, and numbers are everywhere. (Ok, yes, I know that there is a little more than that to math, but not in the primary years). The other day she was watching a video from the library and I was sitting there with her. The video turned out to be about a math contest, and the prevailing message of the entire 30-minute long segment was that math was something for brainy people, not for the general population. I don’t get it. We assume that … Continue reading →

Count on it: Music and Math

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Does your preschooler love to learn about math? Mine does. She’s always counting things, especially the number of vegetable servings left until dessert. She has started to read numbers and loves to figure out where we are on the street by reading house addresses. She is also thinking about number sequences and working on jumping from one number in a sequence to the other without beginning at zero. Case in point: “Mom, how old are you? Thirty-three, dear. Oh, that means that you’ll be forty-five on your next birthday!” Ok, perhaps she doesn’t quite have the numbers-in-sequence thing yet. If … Continue reading →

Math Class and The Importance of Numbers

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Do you hate math class? Do you loathe numbers, fractions, division and multiplication, and/or the elusive “imaginary” number? I’d like to suggest that you learn to love them, or at least get along. One of the most useful skills to have, even in day to day situations, is the ability to think in and utilize numbers to your advantage. If the constant progression of humanity has left us anything at all (and it has) math is one of the most valuable of those skills. You see, numbers are important. I’ve recently been teaching my son to count (kind of) and … Continue reading →

Math is Everywhere! Preschool Math Learning

Math is everywhere. For those of us who grew up a little wary of math, this may be a frightening idea, but it’s not, really. You see, learning math in the environment is different from learning math in school. It’s contextual, and for a preschooler, learning from context is natural. What does preschool math look like? You’re doing it already and you don’t even realize it. Counting is something that we do every day. My daughter sets the table for dinner with a fork, knife, and a spoon for each person. This involves thinking about the number of people in … Continue reading →

Making Math and Science Fun for Kids

If you struggle to get your kids excited about science and math, then you might consider taking to the stars. Turn this spring break into a learning experience by traveling to the Kennedy Space Center, located just 45 minutes east of Orlando. While most families instantly think of Mickey, Shamu and Universal when visiting Florida, the Kennedy Space Center provides kids with out-of-this world fun that they won’t soon forget. You’re not promised views of a launch everyday, but there’s still plenty to see and do at the Kennedy Space Center. There are IMAX movies, including one narrated by Tom … Continue reading →

An Affordable Homeschool Math Curriculum: Life of Fred

I will start by saying that I haven’t used this new math curriculum… yet. I am certainly intrigued. First of all, math curriculum is very expensive. Saxon math, a very popular homeschool math curriculum is probably the cheapest at $40-$75.00. New CD based math is sure to cost more. Teaching Textbooks another popular and newer math curriculum for homeshoolers cost approximately $200.00 per year for the ginormous workbook and CD set. Math U see, another popular math set costs approximately $50.00 for lower grades, but when you get into upper grades, the price doubles. When it comes to choosing a … Continue reading →

Homeschool Curriculum Glossary (Mantle-Math Facts)

Mantle Ministries, founded by Richard Wheeler (of Little Bear fame), is the maker of Christian Based Historical Novels and recordings, both fictional and non-fiction. Accompanying these materials are dolls, frontier mementoes, and other materials that immerse the child into history. Mapping the World by Heart is a geography curriculum. The maker, David Smith’s Mapping.com, also has accompanying books like If the World Were a Village, Atlases, Almanacs, and other reference tools. Mapping the World is a “complete and proven approach to teaching geography” and promises that your child will be able to draw detailed maps from memory. Marvelous Math for … Continue reading →

High School Math Placement

Math is becoming an increasingly essential component of our lives. Higher levels of math are being required for high school diplomas. In addition, higher and higher levels of math are being taught to middle and high school students. Because passing math courses is so important, much consideration must be given to a student’s placement in a math class. My district uses several factors when determining which math course an incoming freshman will take. Part of the decision is based upon the student’s sixth and seventh grade math state assessment scores. Higher scores indicate that the student may be ready for … Continue reading →

For the Love of Math

Recently, someone posed a question in the forums about how to instill a love of math in your child. I have to start out by saying that I’m not sure every kid will love math. I think some families have a certain affection for numbers while others don’t. In my own children what I hope they love is how to learn. On the other hand, I believe the poster was looking for specific resources and ideas that make learning math fun. Here are some of my favorites ideas that win the vote of approval from my own children: Math Manipulatives … Continue reading →

Learning Disabled in Math

Math deficits affect about six percent of the population of school age children in our country. Struggling in math has a definite impact in our household. Our ninth grader struggles with this subject on a regular basis. He has my deepest empathy; I am no math wiz myself. Math skills and the ability to reason in this area are imperative in today’s world. Effects of failing math in school and math illiteracy in adult life can seriously handicap everyday life and most vocational prospects. Although struggling with this disability myself has hindered any stringent tutorial help on the subject, it … Continue reading →