Writing to Learn Math: Measurement is our way of connecting numbers to the things we find in the world, in daily life.
Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?
Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.
I’ve written before about supplementing your children’s experience of math by playing games and reading good books.
But as I’m working on my new book, I wanted to add another valuable supplement that we often overlook. So here’s a preview excerpt from Charlotte Mason’s Living Math…
This game encourages players to reason about the relationships between length dimensions and volume in a 3-D shape.
Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children. And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s play some math!
Math Concepts: rectangular volume, cubic units.
Players: two or more.
Equipment: printed gameboard or plain paper, pencils or markers, one six-sided die, 40–50 cubic blocks per player.
Writing to Learn Math: You can spark creative thought by removing any need to worry about spelling or punctuation rules.
Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?
Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.
Writing to Learn Math: Research prompts help students view math as a human endeavor.
Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?
Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.
One of the stretch goals for my Charlotte Mason’s Living Math Kickstarter campaign is to add a math journaling prompt to the end of each chapter. So, I’ve been playing around with ideas to get readers writing.
Since the book’s all about how to build mathematical reasoning, I’m looking for ways to prompt creative thinking and flexibility in math calculations.
I found some fun ideas in Guy Gattegno and Martin Hoffman’s Handbook of Activities for the Teaching of Mathematics (which you can download here), including the following riff off a puzzle created by Lewis Carroll.
Once upon a time, when my kids and I were young…
Later the same year, not too long after our discussion of the Bill Gates proportions, I stumbled on some more data. I discovered that the median American family’s net worth was $93,100 in 2004, most of that being home equity.
This gave me another chance to play around with proportions. And since I was preparing a workshop for our regional homeschooling conference, I wrote a sample problem:
The median American family has a net worth of about $100 thousand. Bill Gates has a net worth of $56 billion. If Average Jane Homeschooler spends $100 in the vendor hall, what would be the equivalent expense for Gates?
In the last post, I explained that a proportion sets two ratios equal to each other, like equivalent fractions. Each ratio must compare similar thing to similar thing in the same order.
In this case, we are interested in the ratio “Expense compared to Net Worth.”
Continue reading Homeschool Memories: Bill Gates Proportions II
Once upon a time…
We were getting ready for the annual homeschool co-op speech contest, and a friend emailed me for help.
“Can you help us figure out how to figure out this problem?
“This is related to C’s speech. I think we have all the information we need, but I’m not sure:
“The average household income in the United States is $60,000/year. And a man’s annual income is $56 billion.
“Is there a way to figure out what this man’s value of a million dollars would be, compared to the person who earns $60,000/year? In other words, I would like to say—$1,000,000 to us is like 10 cents to Bill Gates.”
We found out later that her son’s numbers weren’t exactly right. He hadn’t understood the difference between income and net worth, so he made Gates sound richer than reality.
But the basic math principles never change, and it’s fun to play with big numbers.
Continue reading Homeschool Memories: Putting Bill Gates in Proportion
There’s a new math journaling prompt this week.
Have your kids tried it yet?
This week’s prompt features one of my explain-your-reasoning to get kids thinking (and writing) about math while avoiding the formality that turns so many students away from geometry proofs. Or you might prefer last week’s prompt, featuring a classic math brainteaser and encouraging students to create their own related puzzles.
Or, if you’re reading this post later and missed those, there’s another great new prompt this week for you to explore.
Check it out:
There’s a new Math Game Monday this week.
Have your kids tried it yet?
This week’s game is one of my favorites for upper-elementary and middle school students, offering plenty of practice doing estimation and mental math with fractions. Or you might prefer last week’s game, featuring a classic two-player logic puzzle that develops strategic reasoning.
Or, if you’re reading this post later and missed those, there’s another great new game this week for you to play.
Check it out:
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 