Math Ideas for Elementary Students
After hearing the Bluedorn’s teach about math (read some about it at Trivium Pursuit) in 2002, I was sold on their ideas. Actually, it’s really not their idea, but it’s the way math used to be taught. I love the real-life, everyday type of teaching for the younger kids. We do not use a textbook and don’t plan to until they turn 8-10 years old (at which time I think we’ll start with Math-U-See). Here are my math plans for this year:
Math 2008-09
Mondays- Games
Set Game, Monopoly Jr., Castle Logix, Chess, Checkers, Tangram puzzle/game (Mighty Mind), Number Chase, Battleship, Dominoes, Math card games, Balloon Ride (Family Math p. 30), Secret Number (Ruth Beechick p. 22), Greatest Number (Ruth Beechick p. 22)
Wednesdays- Manipulatives
1. Clock
2. Place Value (50 popsicle sticks, bands around 10s)
3. Measure things around the house, including in the kitchen (See Family Math pp. 83, 91 and 98)
4. 3-D shapes (print, cut out, and put together)
5. Money (See Family Math p. 112)
6. Fractions with “pies” (See Donna Young site)
7. Tangrams (Family Math pp. 41-44)
Fridays- Worksheets and Books
1. Living Book list (get books to read from library, see livingmath.net and this post)
2. 100 chart- skip counting, adding, subtracting, FM, Donna Young site
3. Addition/Subtraction Chart (Ruth Beechick p.21)
4. Workbooks (Robot, Logic with Think a Minutes)
5. Sudoku (computer print-outs)
6. Numberbow game
7. Target Addition (Family Math p. 32)
8. Value of Words (Family Math p. 33)
9. Paying the Price (money- Family Math p. 39)
10. Two-Dimensional NIM (Family Math p. 61)
Have you ever seen the collection of games at http://www.mugginsmath.com? My kids LOVE the games. We just played Muggins at the dentist's office yesterday. They also have a neat program called Polywogs and Polygons that my kids love to do. I don't work for them, but I am saving up to buy more games for birthdays and Christmas.
We use a lot of living math too. 🙂