Fun ways to teach maths at home

Maths, or just math to those readers across the pond, just the word is associated in my mind with tedious, boring work. I despised maths as a child, as I suspect many of you did as well. But as an adult I recognise the vital importance of maths in every day life. I also would class maths as one of the most important things a child needs to learn - but does it have to be so dull? There is little escaping that some aspects of maths may be dull. We do use workbooks like most families, with Kumon being our favourites. But Maths can be fun too. I think the trick is to use a limited amount of rote style learning to reinforce basic knowledge and skills, and to find as many ways as possible to use maths in everyday life, play games involving math and just have fun. My sons are only aged 2 and 6, so this article will be primarily for younger children, although some aspects can be adapted. Here are a few of our maths activities:

NURSERY - PRESCHOOL

At this age I don't really feel any formal teaching is required. My sons both learned to count using real objects, such as toy cars ( an item we have in great abundance). We started out counting the cars, then comparing piles to see which had more, thus teaching greater than equal, and less than. We used cars to teach simple addition and subtraction, or sometimes sweets. Counting, measuring, sorting and even puzzles will lay the groundwork for future learning in maths. We also kept a wide variety of counting books.

Cooking

Cooking is an ideal way to learn fractions. Children quickly learn to measure out the requirement amounts and can see that two half cups will make one whole cup etc.. To add a bit to it, I might ask my son to measure 1 cup using only a smaller measurement, such as 1/4 cup. After wards, the finished product can often be divided into fractions to share with the family. The same principles can be used measuring sand, water, or anything else. It is hands on and visible, so much easier than just learning from paper.

Board Games

Board games make a fun way to teach early counting skills. Many games require a banker so this will involve some addition and subtraction as the child finds the correct amount of money. We like to make our own games as well. Such as a Hot Wheels Themed Snakes and Ladders game that helped my son learn to count to 100, and our own favourite Baku- opoly a combination of Bakugan and Mononopoly. This involves minor multiplication, addition and subtraction, and comparison of numbers, all while having fun. The great thing about making your own games is that you can use whatever interests the child most, and work in whatever skills you find appropriate.

My son has been taken up with the Bakugan craze - small over priced plastic balls that open up to reveal the creatures G- force. The child plays by rolling the card onto a gate card, adding the appropriate number from the gate card to the Bakugans G- force number, and then adding or subtracting numbers based on instructions from ability cards played. The player with the highest number wins. I can't say I like Bakugan, but my son does, and it is important to share in children's own interests. But I can't help but realise, this is a great way for him to practise maths, and all the while he thinks he is playing.

We also own a couple of games specifically for maths, Sum Swamps which has basic addition and subtraction and I would suggest for ages 3-6, and Magic Cauldron Maths, also basic addition and subtraction, just a little bit more advanced, I would recommend form ages 4-7. A set of Flash cards can easily be made into a game by using them to play war - highest correct answer wins.

Real Life Maths

Whenever possible, I lie to draw attention to maths in ordinary life. My son receives 50p pocket money each week, plus extra money for various chores if he wishes. I encourage him to count this out and compare with prices of things he is saving for. When out shopping I encourage him to notice which package gives the best price. Back to his favourite toys, one toy may cost £5.49, but a pack of 3 costs £12.49. By adding £5.49 3x he can see that buying the toys individually costs more. This interest hims, he never knows he is learning at the time.

Measuring

I found when reading books about things such as dinosaurs, even I had a hard time visualising how large they really were. We have great fun getting out the measuring tapes and measuring how long apatosaurus really was, or how big a plane is. We measure small things too. I find measuring weighing, comparing sizes and sorting all great practice for maths as well as making some other subjects much more clear. You can measure with silly things too. How many frying pans tall are you? How many frog jumps long is your front garden?

Telling Time

We found this difficult at first but I found a small trick that really helped. I will tell my son to watch the clock for a certain time - when his favourite show comes on - or that if he comes and gets me at exactly a certain time - we will then play a game of his choice.

Memorising Facts

Rote memorisation has to be one of the most boring aspects of maths, but we do need to learn the facts off by heart eventually. We use computer games a lot for memorising the facts, but active games can be helpful too. I found that asking out simple equations while my son jumped in time on the trampoline helped prevent boredom. or instead of speaking the answer, they can jump the right number of times. The same could be done with a jump rope. Another fun game is dodgeball/ slash catch. You tell the child before hand that they must dodge the ball for one type of answer and catch for another. For instance if the equals less than 10 catch the ball, it it is more than ten, dodge it.

Computer Games

I have found computer games to be an ideal way of keeping much of the rote learning that must be done with maths fun. Some games carefully break down the steps and show a child how to work the problem, like Jumpstart 2nd grade original which has the best demonstration of borrowing and carrying in addition and subtraction I have ever seen. Others encourage a child to very quickly compute, and eventually memorise all the facts needed as they must quickly answer maths questions while doing things like dodging rays from enemy space craft.

I have found the games from Knowledge Adventure all to be excellent resources for the home ed family. I consider my purchase of a lifetime subscription to their Jump Start World, which comes with free membership to their Mathblaster site the best educational investment I have ever made.

I would aslo recommend:

Mathblaster CD-rom games or download

Jump Ahead Year 2 original (UK) or Jumpstart 2nd grade orignal (USA).

Jump Ahead Year 1 is excellent as well but has compatibility issues with many modern computers.

Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten - 2nd Grade ( I have not tried 3rd grade + but would expect the same quality)

My book recommendations for Home ed maths would be:

Walt Disney's 101 Dalmations, a Counting Book for children who are not counting to 100 yet.

Kumon Maths - these may be a bit more expensive than other workbooks, but they also have a lot more pages, so come out a better buy in the long run. They are also an excellent resource, very well designed, and easy to use. Each page will be strictly maths, no fancy illustrations of dragons or princesses, so the whole book is quite useful.