opportunity to speak to several parents regarding learning to read for kids
On November 08, 2009 in Education
At a recent home schoolers gathering, I had the opportunity to speak to several dads regarding ways to imagine “Outside the Books”, when it comes to our homeschooling. I was not suggesting never using textbooks or varying programs, but more accurately, helping them understand that there are plenty of paths to “demonstrate what you know”. It is also critical for us to help our youngsters comprehend that genuine learning occurs all of the time, not solely while they are filling out worksheets or sitting at our school table.
1 system we have added a spot of pizzazz to our homeschooling over the years is through a weekly mathematics Lab day. On 1 calendar day I plan for us to leave the maths curriculum on the shelf and do particular hands-on education by means of games, crafts, for example. Maths Lab days are also great for using maths software you have sitting around, although will probably never get around to using. Or what about those maths games you have purchased, but usually stay on the bookshelf picking up dust?
Just what categories of things can you do on Math Lab Day? I am glad you asked!
Babies
* Counting games with candy, Legos, or anything else you might have scattered around.
* “War” with a regular deck of cards or make your own deck with numbers to one hundred and perhaps a “wild card” or 2 to make things more exciting.
* If you have them, Snap Cubes ( a well-liked manipulative ) are really good to play with, making “trains” of different color patterns. You start the pattern, and your kid adds on to the train following the pattern. Then let them start a pattern and you finish it.
* Any board game that requires dice and counting.
* Use standard and non-standard items to determine things round the house. “Hey, Mom, did you know the moggy is fifty paper clips long?”
* Kitchen - baking includes using heaps of real life fractions - while you’re at it,how about sharing the “fruits” of your math lesson with a neighbor!
* Play store
Elementary thru Middle college
* math with Literature! We like Sir Cumference, A Place for 0, Equal Schmequal, and other titles in the math adventure series.
* Our favorite math games are S’math and Knock Out! From Muggin’s maths - we just bought their new fragment games, too.
* Board games, including Monopoly, PayDay!, Sequence and more.
* Card games like UNO and War. A favorite is to use flashcards with maths facts as our “war” deck.
* Videos : Multiplication Rock, cash Rock
* Play store and plenty of the other activities from the above list
* If you have got any of the handheld, electronic maths toys, Lab Day is a good time to make certain they’re put to use
* computer games - money Town, mathematics Blaster, and so on.
* Buy activities from “Family Math”, “Math for Smarty Pants” or “Games for Learning Math.”
* Plan an imaginary trip and use a map to figure how many miles you will travel.
* For children interested by the Stock Market, you can use Lab Day every week to trace and check on 2 stocks, plotting their progress on a graph.
One new concept that we’ve implemented, not only for Lab Day, but as a way to add some more real life application to our maths lessons is the “Mommy Bank”. I gave every one of my kids a blank check or savings registry book. Their allowance is “direct deposited” into their Mommy deposit account. They have to add the amount each week. They also deposit money received for their birthday, wierd roles, etc . When they select something, I pay for it and we subtract it from their account in the Mommy Bank. Of course, older youngsters often wish to keep their money with them, but this works well when they’re younger or for those kids who are not yet ready to carry around cash.
The above lists are only a couple of the stuff we have done on math Lab Day over the years. Writing this article has reminded me that my own homeschooling has fallen into a bit of a groove. Sounds like tomorrow needs to be an “Outside the Book” sort of day! Buy learn to read for kids software here.
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