The old question of “can I teach my kids mathematics?” that haunts many homeschooling moms never bothered me as much as “am I going to hate teaching mathematics?”
All through the school years and beyond, I loathed math. Since I was a business major in college I had to take a fair amount of math classes – statistics, college algebra, finite mathematics, calculus – and boy did I not enjoy it!
When I first started developing lesson plans for my kids, I realized how little mathematics I actually knew. I was always studying to get an ‘A,’ it never occurred to me to study mathematics to learn something.
A lot of formulas were memorized, geometric diagrams studied, and algebraic expressions learned. I did a lot of exercises of the “do this and this and you get the answer” variety. Everything I memorized flew right out of my head the moment the test was over.
This is a really important concept. Anyone can learn to like math. Good for you for making it fun!
My problem is that I have always loved math, and I actually think it’s really fun to solve a page full of math problems. My kids disagree! So I definitely need your help thinking of creative ways to interest my kids in math!
I will try to setup a fun math station for next playdate. Maybe kids will enjoy doing it together. Thanks for the comment!
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When its time for real math I so dreqs it but thanks for saying anyone can be a good math teacher I’m thinking me and my kids will need a tutor.
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I love math, and my 7yr old doesn’t. She does well. Just doesn’t like it, so we’re finding ways to make it more interesting for her.
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I think it’s important to use real-life examples and relate it to something your child likes, and THEN they’ll be interested!
I agree! Cookies is the best math manipulative I know! Gets them interested every time. Especially when they have to divide them evenly …
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It is really important to help children see that math can be fun. I am also glad you are focusing on more than just regurgitating the right answer. Much of math instruction today is focused on problem solving and understanding relationships with numbers. I wish I had been taught that way as a child. Michele @ http://www.educationdivas.com
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Math is such a difficult subject to learn if you don’t have that math mind. I wish someone would have made it fun while I was in school. Thank goodness for calculators!
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Yes, you HAVE to make it fun! I still cringe at the thought of math!!!
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This is great! My daughter hates math and I have a terrible time teaching her. I will have to follow along and see what I can learn from you.
Growing up I hated math. In Elementary I was horrible in math and I had one teacher who made me want to cry at the thought of math. However, I had an incredible teacher in high school who believed in me and I started to understand math and do well in math. I have a love/hate relationship with math. I am so thankful that I did struggle with math because I now am a great teacher in math. If you never struggled or had a hard time its harder to sympathize with someone who is struggling or know how to teach it effectively. I also took calculus in college and just memorized the formulas. I am so thankful that I did take many math courses in college even if I might not do anything with my college education just because relearning something over is so much easier than learning it for the first time. High school years do not scare me because I know I can help them. We have done Math u see before. 🙂 I like Life of Fred series. We have a extra math program my kiddos work on…IXL. Have you heard of Bedtime Math: A fun excuse to stay up late by Laura Overdeck? I love them..I think you would really like these as well. Thanks for sharing another great post love. :)
Homegrown Adventures – https://apis.google.com/u/0/wm/1/103873409797577877383
https://apis.google.com/u/0/wm/1/+IrinaVakulchik/posts/GN4SVTeTGFc
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My dad kinda forced me to learn multiplication after I had just turned 3. I had zero attention span, so I didn’t know the answer, and got kicked out of the house for what felt like hours. (It was probably more like 15-30 minutes, but it was 10 p.m. and I was 3, haha.) I did learn em’ super quick after that, but I would’ve much preferred your methods!