Monday
Apr302012
Are You Guilty of Math Torture?
Monday, April 30, 2012 at 5:00AM
After the 10 Days of Teaching Music, I've been missing blogging about the other subjects in our homeschool. I do hope, however, that you listen to some great music this week and decide to incorporate SQUILT time! ( Do you need a refresher course and the printable? )
After three years of homeschooling (yes, it took me that long) I've learned to CHILL OUT about math. Yes, you read that correctly. CHILL OUT.
I know math is a big concern for homeschool moms... my most popular post ever was about Unifix Cubes and math!
{ For a good two years I subjected my precious children to MATH TORTURE! }
I have one child who is very good at math and another who is average. I was the mother that would make her child do ALL of the workbook problems, and we would keep plowing through the book NO MATTER WHAT. Yes, I heard the advice from seasoned homeschool moms about math, but I didn't really LISTEN.
{ Thankfully my children have now escaped math torture. }
For what it's worth, these are the things I've learned about math instruction in our homeschool - and maybe these observations will apply to your homeschool as well.
- There is no need to complete all of the problems in a math lesson. Really, if my child is great at subtraction and can complete 8-10 problems correctly, why do they need to do more? Blank problems no longer bother me.
- It's perfectly fine to go at our own pace. The earth will not spin off its axis if we stop and spend a few extra days on a concept that is just covered for one day, or vice versa. Recently, I've found that we need to STOP on the concept of long division. Lots and lots of practice with this concept has helped my daughter tremendously. I found some free printable worksheets that have made it varied and colorful.
(By this same token, since one of my children is very good at math I don't make him stick to the book a whole lot.... if he's understanding more difficult concepts then I let him tackle them. He started multiplication in Kindergarten and totally understood it. In fact, he teaches me daily about how to better approach solving math problems.)
- It's perfectly fine to go at our own pace. The earth will not spin off its axis if we stop and spend a few extra days on a concept that is just covered for one day, or vice versa. Recently, I've found that we need to STOP on the concept of long division. Lots and lots of practice with this concept has helped my daughter tremendously. I found some free printable worksheets that have made it varied and colorful.
(By this same token, since one of my children is very good at math I don't make him stick to the book a whole lot.... if he's understanding more difficult concepts then I let him tackle them. He started multiplication in Kindergarten and totally understood it. In fact, he teaches me daily about how to better approach solving math problems.)
- Incorporating Living Math books is a NECESSITY. Some of our favorites include the Sir Cumference Living Math Series. Another great resource Living Math. My friend Jimmie also has a list of living math resources on her blog.
- Seek Out Real World Math Applications Whenever Possible. My husband and daughter have been volunteering at the concessions stand at the baseball fields ~ talk about a great way to put your math knowledge into action! This is the kind of math that REALLY COUNTS, too. I'm also putting my children in charge of baking and cooking certain things to help them with their fractions and measurement conversions. Last year we set up a candy store to work on making change - they kids had so much fun!
- We play a lot of math games! There are so many games you can play with a deck of cards. We also love Yahtzee, and one of our most recent favorites is Fractazmic! for converting fractions.
- In the younger grades, if my children have a firm grasp of money, time, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions they will be equipped for math in the middle grades. I am focusing on a lot of the basics and real world math... and if that means not getting to some things in our math program, that's ok. I like a math program to guide us, but it's not the end all - be all.
Now, the big question is.... are YOU guilty of math torture? Do you feel like confessing? Leave me a comment if you do (I promise there is no judgment here!) ... or if you have a great math resource to share let me know that, too.
- Seek Out Real World Math Applications Whenever Possible. My husband and daughter have been volunteering at the concessions stand at the baseball fields ~ talk about a great way to put your math knowledge into action! This is the kind of math that REALLY COUNTS, too. I'm also putting my children in charge of baking and cooking certain things to help them with their fractions and measurement conversions. Last year we set up a candy store to work on making change - they kids had so much fun!
- We play a lot of math games! There are so many games you can play with a deck of cards. We also love Yahtzee, and one of our most recent favorites is Fractazmic! for converting fractions.
- In the younger grades, if my children have a firm grasp of money, time, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions they will be equipped for math in the middle grades. I am focusing on a lot of the basics and real world math... and if that means not getting to some things in our math program, that's ok. I like a math program to guide us, but it's not the end all - be all.
Now, the big question is.... are YOU guilty of math torture? Do you feel like confessing? Leave me a comment if you do (I promise there is no judgment here!) ... or if you have a great math resource to share let me know that, too.
- We play a lot of math games! There are so many games you can play with a deck of cards. We also love Yahtzee, and one of our most recent favorites is Fractazmic! for converting fractions.
- In the younger grades, if my children have a firm grasp of money, time, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions they will be equipped for math in the middle grades. I am focusing on a lot of the basics and real world math... and if that means not getting to some things in our math program, that's ok. I like a math program to guide us, but it's not the end all - be all.
Now, the big question is.... are YOU guilty of math torture? Do you feel like confessing? Leave me a comment if you do (I promise there is no judgment here!) ... or if you have a great math resource to share let me know that, too.
Reader Comments (10)
Mary, thanks so much for this post.
In my "other life," I am an ed consultant, and I can tell you that the problems that high school students have in geometry and algebra are not about geometry and algebra, but in these areas: fractions, decimals, basic addition/subtraction/multiplication and division, and measurement.
I, too, was a perpetrator of "math torture." Thank you for the reminder to chill out!
Peace and love ... Kim
Math torture--I think I've been guilty a few times, although I must give a plug to Right Start math and say it makes math torture less likely because if the conversational, hands on, lack of "drill and kill" approach it takes. The RS games are WONDERFUL.
You will find even greater joy when you get rid of the workbooks altogether and have your kids make up their own problems...as many as they want to. I threw out all my workbooks and have never, ever regretted it.
I did the same Torturous stuff at first, Mary. Now I am more concerned with making sure they know how to do something and then moving on...whether it takes less time, more time or whatever...
No math torture here, but this post did make me smile! I hated math as a kid...now I'm on a mission to make sure my children see math as practical, useful, natural, and even fun- especially fun!!
We enjoy math here because I'm determined to make it as *easy* and practical as possible. We use manipulatives of all sorts from legos to vehicles to counters to coins...to make it visual for him. I wish I had the same done to me when I was younger! LOL!
There ARE days when I consider torture of math...but I usually manage to restrain myself! Wink!
oh, yes, I have been guilty of math torture! no more, praise the Lord!! We haven't done math in over 3 months now. In a workbook. We do Math every day without the kids realizing. like you, we play games, the children help me cook and bake, we play games on the net, we play ixl. com just for fun, we build thing together and more.
sometimes my heart wants to worry and then I stop. I have decided NOT to torture my children with math. I try to stick to my promises! :)
check out my learning log coming out tomorrow.
Amen sister! I have never made Keilee do every single problem. I am with you, if she understands the concept, why do 30 problems?
I have always been interested in Living Math but so many of the books I try to find at our library they don't have. Love this post Mary
Ah yes, I was guilty of math torture in my first year of homeschooling. This year I chilled out a bit and realized that if my oldest clearly understands the concept, he does not need to do EVERY. SINGLE. PAGE. of the workbook exercises!
Great post! This is one of the reasons that we switched from Saxon math. Having to do 30-45 problems a day plus a lesson was completely wearing my DH out! The important thing is that they understand the concept and can build on that so they can succeed in college. Thanks for the reminder!