Math Game Monday: Dinosaur Race

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Learn a new math game every week, for free

This game helps preschool children develop counting and number sense.

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!

Dinosaur Race

Math Concepts: number symbols, counting beyond ten, number line.

Players: any number.

Equipment: subitizing cards, number line racetrack, small plastic dinosaur or other toy for each player.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Dinosaur Race

Thinking Thursday: Comparison Puzzles

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

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.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Comparison Puzzles

Math Game Monday: Prism Power

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Learn a new math game every week, for free

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!

Prism Power

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.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Prism Power

Thinking Thursday: Math Debate

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

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.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Math Debate

Thinking Thursday: Ancient Numbers

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

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.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Ancient Numbers

Math Prompt: True-False-True

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
girl writing in a notebook, sitting on couch with her corgi

Book, Charlotte Mason's Living MathOne 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.

Check Out the Kickstarter

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.

Continue reading Math Prompt: True-False-True

Coming Soon: Charlotte Mason’s Living Math

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Charlotte Mason's Living Math Kickstarter

Coming Soon! In March, I’ll be launching my newest book, Charlotte Mason’s Living Math: How to Apply the Principles of Education to Help Children Develop Mathematical Reasoning.

And the Kickstarter prelaunch page is now live. That means you can sign up to get an email from Kickstarter as soon as the campaign launches:

Visit the Prelaunch Page ❯

(If you back the campaign on launch day, that encourages the Kickstarter folks to share it with more people.)

Continue reading Coming Soon: Charlotte Mason’s Living Math

Mental Math: Advanced Division

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Father and daughter working mental math

The farther we go in math, the more division disappears. It ceases to exist as a separate concept.

Instead, we learn to see division as:

  • an inverse multiplication
  • a fraction (ratio)
  • a proportional relationship

Each of these perspectives offers us a new way to think about and make sense of our calculations.

Continue reading Mental Math: Advanced Division

Mental Math: Advanced Multiplication, Part 2

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Father and son celebrate a mental math answer

The methods in last week’s Advanced Multiplication post only work for certain numbers, but we have another, more powerful multiplication tool: We can always use a ratio table to make sense of any multiplication.

Ratios are the beginning of proportional thinking. We can systematically alter the numbers in a ratio to reach any quantity required by our problem.

Students begin working with ratios in story problems that help them visualize and make sense of a proportional relationship.

Continue reading Mental Math: Advanced Multiplication, Part 2