It’s Monday, and time for Math Resources. When I was Homeschooling Charlie full time I always dedicated Monday’s to Math. Charlie struggles so much with math I knew he needed more time for the lessons I would assign Charlie.
This morning I would like to invite you to check out the websites below and if you have used any of the sites would you let me know what you liked or disliked about the resources and why.
Helping Your Child Learn Math
Age Range: 5-10 (Grades K-5, with parental supervision) At this archived site, you’ll find a free math activity bookdesigned for parents to use with their children to help them learn important math concepts in a fun and engaging way.
Provided by the U.S. Department of Education, there are no bells and whistles here, just easy-to-do math activities, sorted by grade range from K-5, that are formatted for user-friendliness.
When you get to the site, you’ll land on the “Title Page” of the online book. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Next” buttons on each page to read the Foreword, Introduction, and to access the Activities that include:
- Math in the Home – Discover fun ways to use things you find around the house to learn measurement, fractions, counting, addition, subtraction, graphing, geometrical concepts, telling time and much more.
- Math at the Grocery Store – Practice measurement, estimation, weighing, counting, and figuring price per unit versus price per pound while helping your children learn estimation skills – all while doing the grocery shopping!
- Math on the Go – Do fun math activities as you travel from place to place using numbers found on license plates, buildings, buses, taxis, houses, and gas stations.
- Math for the Fun of It – As the book explains, there are fascinating mathematical possibilities in the world around you. Look for math in nature – in the symmetry in leaves and various shapes and patterns of blooming flowers. You’ll find lots of other fun suggestions as well.
The book wraps up with some pointers for parents on helping children achieve in mathematics along with suggestions for helping children with school assignments, and resources for further learning.
By the way, if you get tired of clicking the “Next” buttons – you can access the entire table of contents with links to specific sections of the book here.
The activities in this online book are perfect for homeschooling families and can be used in any way that makes sense to you and your children. You can also print it out and use it offline as well!
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The Positive Engagement Project – Mathematics
Age Range: 5-11 (Grades K-6, with parental supervision)
This website created and maintained by The Positive Engagement Project has so much to offer! Their mission is to get students positively engaged in active learning, while getting ourselves and others positively engaged with schools and communities.
Today we are focusing on Math, but once you’ve looked at this valuable resource, go to the “Free Downloads” link and see the vast array of quality learning games and strategies that they’ve put together for English Language Arts, Science, Engagement Strategies, Test Review/Strategies, and Character Education.
When you get to the site, you’ll see it is full of wonderful math selections. Check out the file called Acing Math: (One Deck at a Time!). Download it to find that it’s actually a 69-page book (pdf)! The website explains that this is a collection of math games ranging from kindergarten to the upper elementary grades, using only an ordinary deck of playing cards. There are games covering addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percents, decimals, patterns, positive and negative integers, as well as many others – over 60 different games with directions and illustrations! Each game tells you how many players are needed, an age range, the materials needed, which math skills are learned playing this game, and very specific instructions to play.
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Age Range: 8-16 (Grades 3-10, with parental supervision) The good folks at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) developed this website that offers “Scratch,” a new programming language designed to help young people “create their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art” – and then share them on the web.
As kids (8 and up) use Scratch, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, think creatively, analyze systematically, gain a deeper understanding of the process of design, and use technology to develop learning skills for the 21st century.
Scratch is available FREE online and/or can be downloaded for Mac OS and Windows at the website.
When you get to the site, choose a tutorial or start with the Getting Started tutorial. The categories are:
- Animation
- Art
- Music
- Games
- Stories
Follow along and then try for yourself! There are also activity guides, and coding cards to download.
This is a great way to engage in math while having fun!
Also, ScratchJr is available – a simplified version of Scratch designed for ages 5 to 7.
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| Nick’s Mathematical Puzzles Age Range: 11-18 (Grades 6-12, with parental supervision) At this website you’ll find a collection of more than 150 Math Puzzles that cover algebra, geometry, probability, number theory, trigonometry, calculus, and logic. They have been selected “for the deceptive simplicity of their statement, or the elegance of their solution.” While they will challenge your cleverness, the site founder Nick Hobson (who has a math degree and works in computer software) says, they “usually only require pre-college math.” When you get to the site you will see an introduction. Above it is a menu bar that provides access to 160 puzzles. View the “Index” to see the names of the puzzles archived here. Click on any one, and a new page opens with the puzzle. You’ll see 1-4 stars next to each puzzle title that designates the level of difficulty, with four being the most difficult. As mentioned at the website, “Explaining how an answer is arrived at is more important than the answer itself. To this end, hints, answers, and fully worked solutions are provided, together with links to related mathematical topics. Further references are provided with many of the solutions. The puzzles are intended to be fun, with an educational element.” Age Range: 11-18 (Grades 6-12, with parental supervision) At this website you’ll find a collection of more than 150 math puzzles that cover algebra, geometry, probability, number theory, trigonometry, calculus, and logic. They have been selected “for the deceptive simplicity of their statement, or the elegance of their solution.” While they will challenge your cleverness, the site founder Nick Hobson (who has a math degree and works in computer software) says, they “usually only require pre-college math.” |
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Villainy, Inc. Age Range: 10-14 (Grades 5-9, with parental supervision) Use your math skills to save the world from the evil Dr. Wick! (Younger students may find this game motivational and fun, if there is someone nearby to explain how to do the problems.) When you get to this website you’ll see the evil villain, Dr. Wick. who is plotting to take over the world. You are a secret agent and your assignment is to foil his plan by using your math skills in each of two missions. (Turn on your speakers to hear the villainous conspiracy as it unfolds; captions also appear at the bottom of the screen.) Before embarking on the interactive missions, you must read the biographies of five secret agents and select two to accompany you. You might have to rely on them for hints from time to time, so choose carefully! Here are just a few of the things you will practice: Figure out what you will need to do in order to solve a problem.Use a calculator to multiply and divide large numbers.Figure out the area of a rectangle.Basic operations of fractions, decimals, and percents (add, subtract, multiply, divide).Round to the nearest whole number.Find the mean of a few numbers.Label a graph, plot points, and interpret the graph.Fortunately, you can get cryptic hints along the way, and most of the time you can redo each problem as many times as it takes to get the correct answer. For a complete list of the skills covered, complete text of the script, a vocabulary list, supplementary worksheets, and even a teacher’s manual, see the section for teachers. And for even more helpful tips you can use at home, see the section for families! |
Kids Math Games
Age Range: 5-13 (Grades K-8, with parental supervision) We stumbled upon this ad-supported website that offers a wide variety of free, online, interactive math games, printable worksheets and quizzes, video tutorials and more!
This colorful site is user-friendly and engaging. Most kids will be enticed to try a game or two, or three, or more.
When you get to the site, you’ll see a brief introduction and the featured math topics that include:
- Numbers – Fun challenges related to numbers, patterns, fractions, decimals, etc.
- Geometry – Learn about shapes, grids, weights, angles, rotation, and more.
- Facts – Read interesting math facts and trivia.
- Videos – Watch educational clips that teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and more.
- Printable Worksheets – Includes addition, multiplication, fractions, etc.
- Pictures – See math photos, images, and diagrams.
- Printable Quizzes – Test your knowledge of division, decimals, money, basic algebra and more!
You’ll also find logic games, math riddles, board games, and math puzzles. This is a terrific resource that will enhance learning math. Bookmark it, to return often.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
