"Open Middle": Has anyone used this (if so, how?)

[tm919]

My daughter goes to public school. Her teacher suggested we do the problems from this website - http://www.openmiddle.com/ - in lieu of the regular math homework. But to me most of these problems work best with a group of kids where they all arrive at the answer differently, then discuss. I'm not sure how to use this at home.

 

Has anyone used this, or something similar? Should I just have my daughter try to work it through using DIFFERENT strategies herself and then compare? Or should I pretend I'm a fellow student so we can discuss? The problem with the latter is I could never make it work for me in book discussions... she always just waited until I broke down and said something, then latched onto it.

 

She's a hair away from 7 and in first grade, if that helps.

[letsplaymath]

Is this something she has to turn in, or is the teacher just wanting her to have some experience with math outside the classroom? If the latter, you might try using other open-question resources like Estimation 180 or "Would You Rather?"

• Estimation 180
• Would You Rather? (Math)
• More online resources

[tm919]

 

Is this something she has to turn in, or is the teacher just wanting her to have some experience with math outside the classroom? If the latter, you might try using other open-question resources like Estimation 180 or "Would You Rather?"

• Estimation 180
• Would You Rather? (Math)
• More online resources

 

Oooooh, thanks so much! She doesn't need to hand it in, the teacher just thinks that the endless drill-type homework is a stupid use of time for her, and would rather she spend time on more thinking-type activities. 

 

We'll probably TRY to do an open middle problem each week (even if it's not awesome for the 1 child format), then move on to some of what you've posted (which looks much better).