In my new book, Charlotte Mason’s Living Math, I encourage families to explore the world of math by asking big, open-ended questions.
[Now available exclusively in my Playful Math Store! Ebook only at the moment, but print editions are coming soon.]
Here’s an example of such a question, an excerpt from my earlier book, 70+ Things To Do with a Hundred Chart: Number, Shape, and Logic Activities from Preschool to Middle School.
Have fun exploring math with your kids!
Isn’t it fun when children surprise us with their understanding?
All my children have figured out ways to do things in math that I would never have expected, and I’ve learned quite a bit from listening to their explanations.
But what if the child’s creative method makes it hard for them to learn what our textbook wants to teach?
Writing to Learn Math: People learn math by playing with ideas. A math journal can be like a science lab book.
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.
This game pushes students to think more deeply about the meaning of place value.
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: place value, addition.
Players: any number.
Equipment: six-sided die, pencil and paper for keeping score.
This game challenges students to think strategically about the meaning of decimal numbers and place value.
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: decimals, place value, numerical order.
Players: any number.
Equipment: one deck of math cards, whiteboard and markers for each player, or pencils and blank paper.
One of my favorite things as a teacher was to gather a group of children to play math together.
Call it a math club or math circle, the name didn’t matter, but the activity was always fun. We did non-schooly games and projects, and the kids enjoyed both the camaraderie and the experience of thinking hard in a stress-free setting.
If you’d like to pull together a math club/circle of your own, here are some tips.
Today’s puzzle involves an unusual teacher trying to collect students to participate in a group activity…
Puzzles can be fun ways to idle away a stormy afternoon. Or they can be doorways into the world of math, invitations to explore.
And puzzles are great for teaching, too!
Here is a puzzle from a master of mathematical ingenuity…
This game tests each player’s risk tolerance as they roll dice to rack up points.
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!
This game tests each player’s risk tolerance as they roll dice to rack up points.
Math Concepts: addition, probability of dice rolls, strategic thinking.
Players: two or more.
Equipment: two 6-sided dice, pen and paper for keeping score.
Recently, I stumbled on an old blog post featuring Singapore Math problems, and it brought back memories.
Back when my children were young, the original Primary Math series from Singapore was one of my favorite math curricula. I tweaked our school program constantly, so none of my kids had the same education, but three of them spent a good part of their elementary years in those books.
And I followed the Math in Singapore 2007 blog for its single season of publication. The blog has gone the way of many others, preserved only in the Internet Archive.
In the post I re-discovered, Patsy Wang-Iverson was reporting on a week-long seminar organized by Celine Koh, who offered the following problems (adapted from school exams and study books) for teacher discussion.
How many can you solve?
This challenging game stretches everyone’s working memory and offers children the delightful possibility of stumping an adult.
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: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, integers, fractions, factoring, powers and roots, prime numbers, and other number properties.
Players: two or more (a cooperative game).
Equipment: none.
Continue reading Math Game Monday: The Number That Must Not Be Named
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 