Home school Curriculum, Tips, FAQ and Information



Thinking Outside The Books - Homeschool Math Lab Days


Instantly Download Royalty Free Sound Effects And Improve Your Multimedia Productions And Marketing Presentations.
Do U skaDoogle?
At a recent home school custom, I had the chance to speak to a lot of moms about ways to think "Outside the Books", when it comes to our home schooling. I wasn't advocating never using textbooks or changing programs, but rather, helping them see that there are many ways to "show what you know". It is also important for us to assist our kids see that real learning happens all the time, not just when they are filling out worksheets or sitting at our school table.

One way we have added a little spice to our home schooling over the years is with a weekly Math Lab day. On one day a week I plan for us to leave the math curriculum on the shelf and do some hands-on learning with games, crafts, etc. Math Lab days are also great for using math software you have sitting around, but may never get around to making use of. Or how about those math games you have purchased, but generally remain on the shelf collecting dust?

Just what types of things can you do on Math Lab Day? I'm glad you asked!
Young children

* Counting games with candy, Legos, or anything else you might have lying around.
* "War" with a regular deck of cards or make your own deck with numbers to 100 and maybe a "wild card" or two to make things more fascinating.
* If you have them, Snap Cubes (a popular manipulative) are great to play with, making "trains" of different color patterns. You start the pattern, and your child adds on to the train following the pattern. Then let them start a pattern and you finish it.
* Any board game that demands dice and counting.
* Use standard and non-standard items to measure things around the house. "Hey, Mom, do you realize the cat is 50 paper clips long?"
* Kitchen - baking involves making use of lots of real life fractions - while you are at it,how about sharing the "fruits" of your math lesson with a neighbor!
* Play store

Elementary thru Middle School

* Math with Literature! We love Sir Cumference, A Place for Zero, Equal Schmequal, and other titles in the math adventure series.
* Our preferred math games are S'math and Knock Out! from Muggin's Math - we just purchased their new fraction games, too.
* Board games, including Monopoly, PayDay!, Sequence and more.
* Card games like UNO and War. A preferred is to use flashcards with math facts as our "war" deck.
* Videos: Multiplication Rock, Money Rock
* Play store and many of the other activities from the above list
* If you have any of the handheld, electronic math toys, Lab Day is a great time to make sure they are put to use
* Computer games - Money Town, Math Blaster, etc.
* Use activities from "Family Math", "Math for Smarty Pants" or "Games for Studying Math."
* Plan an imaginary trip and use a map to figure how many miles you’ll travel.
* For children thinking about the Stock Market, you can use Lab Day each week to track and check on a couple of stocks, plotting their progress on a graph.
* Visit one of the enjoyable, free math game sites online like the Math Arcade at funbrain.com. There are lots more free web sites for online studying in my book, Using the Internet In Your Homeschool.

One other idea that we've implemented, not just for Lab Day, but as a way to add some more real life application to our math lessons is the "Mommy Bank". I gave each of my kids a blank check or savings registry book. Their allowance is "direct deposited" into their Mommy Bank account. They must add the amount each week. They also deposit money received for their birthday, odd jobs, etc. When they purchase something, I pay for it and we deduct it from their account in the Mommy Bank. Of course, older kids frequently prefer to keep their money with them, but this works well when they are younger or for those children who aren't yet ready to carry around cash.

The above lists are just several of the things we have done on Math Lab Day through the years. Writing this article has reminded me that my own homeschooling has fallen into a little a rut. Sounds like tomorrow needs to be an "Outside the Book" kind of day!



by Retro Marketing
Make Money Online!

Browse Our Information Mall
Parenting & Families
Education
Genealogy
General
Marriage
Parenting
Pregnancy & Childbirth
Special Needs
Divorce
Do U skaDoogle?!

Other Interesting Articles

Building Reading Abilities In Your Child

A lot of teaching your child to read is first instilling in your child a desire to read. It is so very very important for the child to know that reading activities and studying to read is fun. Early on, for instance, if you haven’t yet, set aside an area of your home where your child can have their very own reading area and little person library. This will get most all your reading activities off to an excellent start. Having their own special place for reading activities will encourage the child to spend time rea... [Read more]

Essential Aspects Of Home Schooling

Several 26% of parents in each of the American states consider home schooling for their children over normal school classes. This is because of the advantages both the parents and the children get as a social being. Home education provides them the chance to be free of old school days with pressure and daily assignments. Due the old set up, a lot of members of the family have become isolated from each other allowing them just a few precious instances with their loved ... [Read more]

Homeschooling – Can You Really Do This?

As you know, school house instructors get ready for their career path through many hours of course work, methodology classes, and student teaching before they begin teaching school. So how in the world could a parent without such training and preparations expect to be able to successfully home school their chil... [Read more]

Home Schooling Or Not?

Much of what I thought about home education was wrong. The conventional wisdom about this rapidly growing dimension of American schooling is too straightforward, too stereotyped and too s... [Read more]

 Watch Videos on "Family"