5 Creative Way to Teach The Metric System

Both children have been learning about metrics in their math books.    

As with everything at this age, I'm not aiming for creating  experts in the subject, but a broad understanding of the concept, and - more importantly - a love of math!  

 We've come up with (quite accidentally, really) fun ways to reinforce what they are learning about the metric system.  I want them to understand the units of liters, grams, and meter and how to convert them accordingly.    

1.  Measure LEGO creations

Use the tape measure to see how many centimeters a LEGO creation is... once my youngest finds that measurement, I have my daughter convert that to millimeters, meters, and so on.   

Compare the lengths of different LEGO pieces. 

How many centimeters tall is the tallest LEGO tower you can build? 

2.  Notice metric measurements in everyday life 

Who knew that a trip to Bath and Body Works would spark a discussion of the Metric System? (GMan was quite excited that he got some "Dragon Blood"!)  Hand sanitizer is measured in milliliters - how many liters is that?     We also saw a sign at the pool about how far a swim across the Mediterranean Sea would be... we talked about kilometers.  

3.  Bake!   

I know, very cliche, but baking has really helped with liquid measurements.  I love the glass measuring cups with milliliters on one side and ounces on the other.   We have fallen in love with these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  The website also allows you to convert all of the measurements to metric.  We thought that was interesting.  

4.  Read  Math Story Books 

Our favorite is Millions to Measure.   The Metric System (New True Books) also gave us a fantastic overview of The Metric System and why it is important for us to know BOTH systems of measurement.  

    

5.  Don't isolate math to "math time" 

I've challenged the children to pick out examples of the metric system everywhere we go.  It's a kind of game now -- and I love this because they are applying their learning to LIFE!   

And.... how cool is this?  My daughter just learned to crochet.   She has been making a very long chain.  We're measuring how many METERS she can crochet.    

Have your children learned about The Metric System?  What was your favorite resource for teaching?  

Are You Guilty of Math Torture?

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.) 

• 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.   

Fun With Fractions

Both children have been working with fractions.  GMan has been learning the very basics (numerator, denominator, shading in the fractional parts).  Miss B has been comparing fractions, working with mixed numbers and improper fractions, and reducing fractions.   

Rather than stay in the math book (which gives my children the BASIC understanding), I decided to seek out Living Books and interesting activities to make our study of fractions more FUN and APPLICABLE.  

 
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In addition to these resources I've just been trying to make the children aware of how we use fractions in everyday life... and isn't this the best thing about homeschooling?  Our children are living EVERYDAY LIFE with us and we have the opportunity to use every singe teachable moment!!

1.  The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book - a very basic fraction book, but it's enough to get the children inspired and listening!   I actually did some activities beyond the book, too.

2.  The Phantom Tollbooth - we actually read this a few weeks ago and when they were talking about fractions I could see the smiles on my children's faces... if you're studying fractions this is a great read-aloud that will show your children how fractions work in real life.  

3.  Go, Fractions!  - I love this reader book, and my little guy did, too. 

4.  Apple Fractions - by the same author of the Hershey Bar Fractions book - I thought this book was slightly better. 

5.  Fractazmic!  We reviewed this card game a few months ago and it's coming in handy now! 

6.  Homeschool Share Chocolate Unit Study - this incorporates A LOT of math activities, and a great minibook about fractions, too.  

7.  Baking cookies - our favorite recipe we made was Nestle's Tollhouse Cookies.  

8.  Hands-On Fractions - a Squidoo Lens by Jimmie, of Jimmies Collage - TONS of great ideas here, with fraction bar printables and notebooking thoughts. 

9.  We incorporated fractions with a literature fair project for GMan - he read The Chocolate Touch and used that book as a basis for a project all about chocolate (which then led to fractions as well) -- I don't think he'll be forgetting this any time soon!  

10.  MathArt Projects & Activities - We received this book for Christmas and next week will make some fraction flags from it... looks like a very good resource.