Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Honest. Quirky. Real. Practical tips, candid reviews, and stereotype-smashing humor for homeschooling families.

Honest. Quirky. Real. Practical tips, candid reviews, and stereotype-smashing humor for homeschooling families.

5 Ways to Make Math Practice Fun

By Tara Mitchell

Written by Tara Mitchell of Embark on the Journey.

Do your kids dread practicing their math facts? Do they grumble when you break out the flash cards or the math workbooks?

Try putting the teaching materials aside every now and again. There are many non-traditional ways our kids can practice counting, adding, subtracting and such.

By incorporating movement, games, and even candy, we can keep the drudgery of learning math facts at bay. Who knows, your kids may even begin to look forward to math practice if you try these fun ideas.

1. Play games.

There are so many board games and card games that you can play to help your kids practice beginning math skills. Uno and Go Fish are great for number and/or color recognition. Candyland and Chutes & Ladders will have your children practicing their counting skills.

Older kids can enjoy a rousing game of War while practicing greater than and less than. Many games can be adapted to practice addition, subtraction, or multiplication, as well.

2. Teach with candy.

Whether you’ve got leftover candy from the holidays or you’re looking for a fun new way to teach a lesson, you can’t go wrong when you incorporate candy into your daily math lessons.

Use M&Ms or Skittles as counters while practicing addition and subtraction. They’re great for making groups to show multiplication and division, as well.

Hershey bars are great for showing fractions. Marshmallows and gumdrops, when paired with toothpicks, can be used to build shapes, both 2D and 3D.

3. Toss those facts around.

Blow up a beach ball and use a permanent marker to write numbers all over it. Now, you can play a game of catch with your child. For preschoolers and kindergarteners, play “What Comes Before/After.” Toss the ball to your child, and have them name the number that comes before and/or after the number their thumb is touching.

As your kids get older, you can continue playing the game while practicing basic math facts. Call out a number, 2 for example. Have your child add, subtract, or multiply that number with the number their thumb touches as they catch the ball.

There are so many ways to adapt this game as your child’s knowledge base grows. The possibilities are endless.

4. Take it outside.

Grab some sidewalk chalk and head outside for math. Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk, and fill it with math problems or numbers.

Use rocks or twigs for counters as you practice addition and subtraction facts or even just counting.

Draw numbers with chalk. Call out a math problem, and let your child squirt the correct answer with a water gun.

5. Have a scavenger hunt.

Scavenger hunts are great indoors or out. Call out instructions for your preschoolers to find three items. Or, have them find two round objects. Can they find a red object or something that is a square? This is a great way to reinforce colors, numbers, and shapes with your youngest learners.

Sometimes, just getting up and moving is enough to make working on math facts fun instead of a chore.

How do you break up the monotony and make math fun for your kids?

 

FREE Interactive Geometry Vocabulary Book

By Guest Author

Written by Rachel of You’ve Got This.

Vocabulary. We often think it applies to social studies and science, but some math units have a boatload of vocabulary. If kids don’t quite grasp this vocabulary, they won’t be successful. That’s where hands-on activities like this geometry vocabulary book come in handy.

FREE Interactive Geometry Vocabulary Book

My oldest has just reached his geometry unit and is encountering words that he has never heard. Seriously, perpendicular lines isn’t a word I often use when talking to my children.

To encourage success in this unit, I created two activities to help him learn and understand geometry vocabulary words such as line, ray, line segments, parallel lines, and perpendicular lines. We are starting with a fun, interactive dictionary and then moving onto a geometry bingo activity.

Setting Up the Interactive Geometry Vocabulary Book

This activity has two options with different level of prep-work.

Option #1: Very Little Prep Work (the kiddos do all the work)

  1. Print off the free geometry vocabulary interactive book.
  2. Provide scissors and a stapler for your child or students
  3. During math time, have them cut out the book and staple it together.
  4. Have them cut out the pictures and vocabulary words.

Option #2: More Prep Work For the Parent

  1. Print off the book
  2. Cut out the cover and pages and staple them together
  3. Either cut out the pictures and vocabulary words or let the children do that depending on the amount of time you want to spend.

How to Use the Geometry Vocabulary Activity

We did this interactive geometry vocabulary book before we did anything else, so my little guy had absolutely no clue what the words meant. We started by looking up the words in the interactive dictionary. We would read the definition, play with the lines, and then move back to the book.

Once he knew the definition, we would take the vocabulary word and find the definition in his book. Then, he glued the word in the word in the blanks.

Geometry Activities for Kids

Next, he would find the picture that matched the vocabulary word and definition and glue it in its spot.

Geometry Activities for Kids

Finally, he used a ruler to draw his own version.

Geometry Activities for Kids

Not only did he have fun learning the words, but now he has a great resource that will help as we play our bingo game and complete the assignments from his math book.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

What’s your favorite way to introduce new vocabulary to your children?

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I Want to Homeschool, but I’m Terrible at Math

By Kris Bales

I am a bit math phobic. Even as a forty-something-year-old adult, I hate keeping score when playing games. When it comes time to tally the score, I can practically feel all the other players breathing down my neck, waiting to see who scored the most points. I can feel my mind going blank and the answers to simple addition flowing right out of my head.

I really can do basic math, but early experiences left a lasting impression that conjures up anxious feelings where the subject is concerned.

I Want to Homeschool, but I'm Terrible at Math

I picked math because it has something of a universal bad rap (poor math), but it could be any subject that makes you feel inadequate to homeschool your children. Maybe you’re terrible at grammar, aren’t a strong reader, or you hate science.

How to Homeschool Subjects that Make You Feel Inadequate

There are plenty of ways to successfully homeschool in spite of your weaknesses, whether they are real or perceived. Whatever makes you say, “I want to homeschool, but I’m terrible at…, there is a solution.

Scripted Teacher’s Manuals

Many homeschool curriculum publishers offer a fully-scripted teacher’s manual. It tells you exactly what to say to explain the concept. We’ve used scripted math, spelling, and reading curriculum. Even the Story of the World (history) activity guides tell you what questions to ask and the gist of the answer you’re looking for.

It’s likely that you won’t even need to rely entirely on the script. Often, the scripted portion provides the key to helping you understand the concept so that you can explain it to your children.

Computer- or Video-based Curriculum

Look for computer-based curriculum for those subjects that make you break out in a cold sweat. Teaching Textbooks has been my saving grace for many years when it comes to teaching math.

Many writing programs, such as WriteShop, offer video-based instruction options. You might also check out resources such as Monarch (try it free for 30 days using code MON30WUH). You don’t have to use the entire program. You may want to use only the subjects that you struggle to teach effectively.

Although we haven’t used it, Kahn Academy comes very highly recommended among homeschoolers. We really like the Crash Course series. Sometimes they do have coarse or rude humor, so it’s better for older kids. They have Crash Course Kids for younger students, but I haven’t tried it since my kids are older.

Online Classes

If you’re new to homeschooling, you may not realize that there are a variety of live, online classes for homeschoolers. My kids have taken several classes through CurrClick. Apologia offers a variety of live online classes. We’ve recently discovered My Fun Science, and we’re really excited about it. Megan is planning to take their life skills class next fall and possibly biology.

I Want to Homeschool, but I'm Terrible at Math

Tutors

You don’t have to do it all yourself. Consider hiring a tutor. Some good resources to check out include:

  • Teacher friends and homeschool parents who may offer tutoring or know someone who does.
  • College students – Check with local colleges to see if they have a learning lab open to anyone other than students or if they have students who offer tutoring.
  • Your students’ peers – Some teens are great at math (or whatever subject you’re struggling to teach), and because they’ve done it more recently than you, they may be able to explain concepts better than you can. I tutored my cousin in grammar when I was a teen.

Co-ops

Co-ops are known for offering some of those hard-to-teach subjects like math, science, or grammar. Ask around to see what your area has to offer. In addition to several co-ops, our area offers classes for homeschoolers. Parents pay the tuition for as many classes as their student would like to take. Classes include academic offerings as well as fine arts, such as art, music, and drama.

Google Is Your Friend

Say this to yourself, “Google is my friend.” Repeat it. If you type in “how do you…” or some version thereof, Google is usually willing to oblige. Try it.

How do you find the hypotenuse of a triangle?

How do you find the square root of pi?

Should I use affect or effect?

Over the years, I’ve bookmarked some handy resources. Grammar Girl is an excellent resource for grammar questions. I like Algebra Help for, well, you know, algebra help. Math Bits is handy if you can’t, for the life of you, remember how to use a graphing calculator.

Perhaps the biggest consolation I’ve found is that the courses that seemed difficult in high school make more sense now. I may still break out in a cold sweat when I have to tally the Scrabble score, but when it’s just me, one-on-one with my kids, I find that the teacher’s manual, my quickly-fading memory, and the occasional shout-out to Google usually combine to do the trick. I have successfully managed to help my teens understand high school level math so far.

Those of you who conquered your fears, what subject made you sweat when you first started homeschooling? What tips would you offer an unsure, new homeschooling parent? What are some of your favorite resources?

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Hands-on Division Practice with Free Sorting Activity

By Guest Author

Written by Rachel of You’ve Got This.

Singing! Skip-Counting! Games! We’ve been doing it all year, and now it is time to put it into practice. We are jumping into a short multiplication review, and then a long, focused study on division.

All that prep work to make sure my little guy knows his facts has all been in preparation for this unit. And I can’t wait to get started with some fun activities.

This free pirate sort is just one of the many fun activities we will be doing!

Prep-Work

  • Print the hands-on division activity on card stock paper (You can laminate them for extra durability.)
  • Cut out pirate mats, coins, and problems
  • Sort into division problems that have remainders and those that don’t

Hands-On Divison Practice (Problems without Remainders)

Day One:

Beginning a math lesson with a book is an excellent way to engage your children and get them ready to do a little math. Before you begin the division lesson, I highly suggest starting with the book The Doorbell Rang. It is a short, fun book that has children sharing cookies with their friends. It is a perfect way to get your kiddos excited about sharing gold coins with pirates.

After reading, pull out the pirate mats, cut out coins, and some of the problems. Begin by showing your young ones a division problem, and talking about its parts.

For example, you may say:

  • This number is the dividend. It is the number being divided up. It tells us how many gold coins we need to gather to complete the problem.
  • This number is the divisor. It tells us how many equal groups we are going to put the coins into. When we look at this number, we will know how many pirate mats we need to get out.

Now comes the fun part, the hands-on division practice! Give your children the mats, coins, and problems and let them give it a try. Encourage them to use the vocabulary as they sort.

Day Two:

On day two it is time to introduce remainders. Grab the book “A Remainder of One” and read this delightful story with your little ones. As you read, see if they can figure out the dividend and the divisor. And of course, begin introducing the word remainder.

Now jump into the problems with remainders. Each time your kids figure out how many do not fit into equal groups have them tell you that they have a remainder of ____!

After day two, it is time to expand on division and give them some more opportunities to explore. You could try these fun division problems, or teach them how to model division with arrays. The options are endless.

Enjoy this time of exploring and expanding your child’s thinking!

Download your free hands-on division activity printable. 

What are some of your favorite ways to help your children learn and practice new concepts?

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How to Review Addition Facts – and Have Fun Doing It! (An Ocean Raiders Review)

By Kris Bales

I wonder if poor math ever gets its feelings hurt. I mean, when you ask kids their favorite subject, math usually isn’t the answer. (And when it is, people have a tendency to act as if math fans are weird.) When the question is, “What’s your least favorite subject?” that’s when poor math usually gets some recognition.

Although it’s not my favorite, I don’t know why math gets such a bad rap. I mean, it’s one of only a few subjects that has a definite right or wrong answer. It’s logical, at least, even if sometimes difficult to work through.

I wonder if kids don’t get a bad taste for math when trying to learn the basic operations. I mean, let’s face it, the best way to memorize those facts is through practice, practice, practice. Even though, as an adult, it seems sort of fun to rise to the challenge of beating your best time in a timed math drill, drills and flashcards aren’t the epitome of excitement.

When my kids were little, I was always looking for ways to make math fact practice more fun. Now, there is a game that does just that – Ocean Raiders!

How to Review Addition Facts - and Have Fun Doing It! (An Ocean Raiders Review)

What is Ocean Raiders?

Ocean Raiders is an exciting board game that allows kids to practice basic math skills while having fun. Y’all probably know that I’m a huge fan of learning through games. When my kids were young, I often repurposed familiar board games for learning activities. It was a bit tricky with math, though. I was limited in what we could cover with a standard, six-sided die, which often led to relying on flash cards even with the games.

Ocean Raiders review

Ocean Raiders uses a colorful playing board and a ten-sided die to allow kids ages 4 –7 (approximately) to practice one and two digit addition facts.

The game includes:

  • 1 board game
  • 4 playing pieces
  • 1 ten-sided die
  • 4 personal-sized dry erase boards and pens
  • 1 rule book
  • 1 wall poster

I don’t think I’ve had a single person open the playing board and not comment that it is reminiscent of Chutes and Ladders. The playing surface does resemble the classic game, but it’s played quite differently.

Numbers 1- 49 are scattered randomly throughout the board, eliminating the predictability of the game. Kids roll the die and add the rolled number to their current spot on the board to figure out where to go next. The dry erase boards are included in case students need to write the numbers down to find the answer.

What do kids think of Ocean Raiders?

My kids are way beyond the intended target age range and often something that sounds fun to adults isn’t fun to kids at all. So, I enlisted the help of a friend who has two young boys. I wanted to know what kids thought of Ocean Raiders.

addition facts review

Here’s what Samantha had to say:

Sometimes math can be monotonous, and it is nice to have an activity that can reinforce basic math skills. Ocean Raiders has been a popular game in my house!

My kids, like most, are always up for a game, and the fact that this one required math was not a problem at all. The first day we had it, my boys were excited to see the game set up and ready for play, and they spent a good part of the morning playing. My younger daughter, who is 11, also joined in. Although Ocean Raiders is listed for younger children, it was still helpful and fun to have an older sibling play along. 

games for math practice

The game lists tips for counting and also includes dry erase boards to assist. Although my boys did not use either, it could be helpful for some children.

Overall, the game was well received, and it has stayed out on the table the last week, the kids playing every day. The boys can even play and practice without adult supervision, which can be a plus for a busy family. I think the game is one that is worth including in a homeschool curriculum.

How do you play Ocean Raiders?

Ocean Raiders comes with an easy-to-follow instruction booklet. Most families will find it fairly self-explanatory once you start playing. However, this video can help if there’s any confusion or you’re more of a “show me how to play” kind of person. (That’s me. I’m not a fan of reading directions.)

The instructions also include some variation ideas for kids who need a bit more challenge and the makers of the game invite users to email them for even more ideas.

Plus, a few weeks after ordering the game, I got an email with two pdf attachments. One was the most current rule book. The folks at Logic Roots say they’re always looking for ways to improve gameplay, so they want to make sure users have those updates.

How to Review Addition Facts - and Have Fun Doing It! (An Ocean Raiders Review)

The second was an ebook with four more math activities, along with their solutions and techniques. The makers of Ocean Raiders have a passion for getting kids excited about math and making math practice as fun and engaging as possible.

Ocean Raiders will make an exciting addition to your homeschool curriculum, and it’s a great educational gift idea! Visit Amazon to order Ocean Raiders and other educational games from Logic Roots.

How can I connect with Logic Roots?

If you’re looking for educational math games, check out the Logic Roots Amazon store where you’ll find a variety of games covering skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions.

You can also follow Logic Roots on social media via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.