Math Magic

We have a great little book in our house: Money Math Magic by David Ginn. As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to make math more fun and interesting for my nine year old, and for my six year old I'm just trying to keep up with him by providing challenges in math. We did this activity in about 5 minutes, but then I let my oldest practice several times (she wants to show it to her piano teacher at lessons today --- so I think I succeeded with this activity! Yay!)

Have fun with this!

1. Use a piece of paper to write down the number "1089". After you write down the number, ball it up and place it on the floor.

2. Tell your friend to write down any three digit number with different digits(on a second sheet of paper).

3. Tell your friend to reverse the digits.For example, 742 is reversed to 247. Next, tell your friend to subtract the bigger number and the smaller number.

4. Tell your friend to reverse the answer he just got. After that, your friend should add up the last two digits.

Here's what ours looked like:

5. Your friend should come up with a total of 1089. Ask your friend the answer he/she got. When he/she tells you the answer, grab the piece of paper that you had on the floor. Unball the piece of paper and show your friend.

6. Your friend will be amazed!

7. Examples: A. 753 - 357 = 396 B. 396 + 693 = 1089 A. 846 - 648 = 198 B. 198 + 891 = 1089 As you can see, the answer will always be 1089

*No matter what three digit number your friend uses, as long as the digits are ALL DIFFERENT, the answer will always be 1089. However, if the third number has only two digits (the number 495 in my example), your friend must add a zero to its left to make it three digits. If the remainder was, for example, 99, you have to put a zero in front, making it 099.

This post is linked to the Hip Homeschool Hop - hope you find some good ideas hopping around to other homeschoolers' blogs today!

Mastering the Times Tables

Way back in the beginning of the year, I stated it was my goal to make math more FUN. I haven't forgotten that goal. I'm not sure that my nine year old thinks math is "fun", but she doesn't think it's the drudgery it used to be. My six year old can't get enough of math. He has a brain for numbers and is obsessed with time, money - it's great, but it kind of drives his sister crazy!

I'm also discovering I have two very different learners. My son learns by hearing something and this is just about enough for him. My daughter has to have more repetition/drill and also enjoys working with her hands. Homeschooling is awesome because it allows me to tailor math to their specific learning style.

We have almost mastered the times tables through 12. I have a couple of resources and games which have really helped that I'd like to share. If you have something that works for your children, please leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Multiplication Mountain CD by Hap Palmer -- the times tables set to music. When my little guy recalls his multiplication facts he sings them to me. I'm not kidding. All it took was a week of listening to this in the van and he had it. This is obviously the way he learns.

Multiplication Wrap-Ups - we used these for addition and subtraction. My daughter likes these because she loves to work with her hands. This is obviously the way she learns.

Egg carton game for math facts -- I got this idea from a Mathtacular video that came with some Sonlight curriculum. The whole video is great and has lots of ideas that are easy to implement. Here's how you play: get an empty egg carton and number the compartments with the numbers 1-12 with a Sharpie. Put two beans or counters (we used marbles) in the carton and SHAKE!

Open the carton and whatever two numbers your counters rest in determines your math fact. For example -- counters land in 11 and 10, my kids say "11 times 10 is 110". You can use this for addition and subtraction, too. They REALLY liked this game.

Coloring 100s charts with whatever multiples you want your child to learn - print some 100s charts from this site and have your child color accordingly. It seems that 7s and 12s are tough for us, so I've had the kids color in the multiples of those so they can see the patterns. For example, your child would color 7,14,21,28,35, etc.... all the way up to 84 on their 100s chart and then see if there is a pattern that emerges.

Drill, drill, drill!
I know there is a school of thought that says don't worry about drilling, but I am in charge of my kids' education and I know they will know it if I drill them and drill them daily. Mean momma, right?

That's it for multiplication? Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear from you!

I am participating in a blog hop today over at ABC & 123 Learning Cooperative. Looks like there are some great ideas, so check them out! And, as always, I'm linking to the wonderful Hip Homeschool Hop!

Do You Have a Child Who Adores Math?

I have a five year old who is obsessed with math - his brain just seems to function in a way where he views everything mathematically. My brain doesn't operate this way, but he's starting to rub off on me. He is also rubbing off on my nine year old - we are doing lots more mental math, math games, fun drills, and real world math activities. My son is also taking a course at co-op called "Math Through Literature" - what a blessing this class has been for him! The teacher has taken a special interest in GMan and is helping me to understand his mathematical brain.

Right now both of my children use Horizons math. They both do well with Horizons, so I'm not switching - as long as they are learning the concepts, moving along at a good pace, and doing their work without complaining, I feel like we should stick with it. My son just finished the Kindergarten Horizons math books; I feel like he could probably breeze past the first grade into second grade books, but I don't want to miss any concepts along the way. To make a long story short, we are waiting for our new books to come in the mail, so today I pulled lots of different math activities for him to do which I'd like to share with you. My daughter is working on her current Horizons 3 workbook, but she also enjoys the change of pace with different math activities as well. Maybe you can use these resources, too!

• Online Tangrams - both of my children are talking about shapes, and we found the Cyberchase PBS kids website today that has fun tangrams. I liked them because you can get hints if you need them and there are a lot of fun things to make.
  
• Mighty Minds Tangrams - I found these at TJ Maxx, but they sell them online as well. I love this set of tangrams, and you can buy additional cards when you finish the initial set.
  
• Sheppard Software Math Games - a free site with many fun drills. I played "Fruit Shoot" earlier today with my kids and we competed to see who could get the highest score!
• Arcademic Skill Builders drills for Wii - check out my post about this - truly an awesome find!
• Mancala - play this simple counting game with all ages of children. I like the strategizing involved! We have found an online version of the game, too. Here is a link to making your own Mancala game, too!
• Garbage - a fun card game which uses ordinal numbers. My children love to play this, and so do most adults! Some people call it "Trash" as well.
  
• Math Fact Cafe - some kids like math worksheets, some don't - my kids like them when I offer a small reward for completing them, or when we set a goal of mastering a certain concept by a certain date. You can generate your own sheets here, and I like how simple it is to make them.
• The Number Ladder Game - I did a post about this last summer- it is a HUGE hit, so check it out!

If you have a favorite math resource, could you leave me a comment? I'd love to add to our collection!
Blogger Templates