There is an element of balance in terms of understanding concepts and practicing procedures, which is not always interesting. They build on each other. One of the biggest benefits to switching to a more defined curriculum was that the practice problems were specifically chosen to promote better conceptual understanding and help that cycle of concepts and confidence in procedures keep going. This was something we couldn’t easily do on our own, with the Waldorf approach of practice through doing a couple of questions that the teacher makes up, every day. That said, there will always be areas where you have to try different ways than what a book uses to allow you child to grasp the idea, and for that, it really helps to understand what your method is trying to teach. I completely agree that having an attitude of wonder and interest helps a lot.

We’ve found that history, social studies, and art from a Waldorf approach have worked really well, as well as the block schedule for most topics. The main thing that didn’t, really, was math, partly due to the block schedule, and also because it seemed to leave out all the really cool stuff, focusing on basic arithmetic and nothing else. @katemmI’d love to hear more about what you like about math and want to communicate about math, similar to what @Not_a_Number was asking. I have learned new ways to understand math through helping my kids (and going through their books on my own). I definitely think you can increase your own understanding and enjoyment. I couldn’t see any samples of Wild math, and I don’t really know anything about that one, though I find the idea intriguing. Do you find the lessons in it inspiring to you?

I love this description as well, and I always want my children to be inspired by math! I had a look at the SCM books, and they remind me of the Waldorf approach to math in some ways, such as the emphasis on the physical world, not wanting to move to abstraction too quickly, and a wonder-based approach. My family's experience with Waldorf math with my oldest was that by Gr. 4, she was really bored, and she had decided that she was not really a math person. We have kept a Waldorf approach for many other subjects, and continued Waldorf geometry, but for the rest of the math curriculum we switched to a modern conceptual approach and have used that with the younger two as well, so far. The switch renewed my daughter's interest and confidence in math, and I found that she was able to see a lot more of the beauty and awe with the more comprehensive and creative math curriculum. I think there have been a number of advances in math thinking and teaching since the early 1900's, and that although I respect the innovative thinking of Mason and Steiner, I don't think it benefits children to stick to it too rigidly. Finding a good conceptual curriculum might allow you to achieve more of your goals in math for your children that what the SCM books look likely to do, after looking at Gr. 1 and Gr. 3. This could also give you a chance to experience the beauty of math yourself, which really helps to be able to pass it on, in my opinion.

Thanks for the idea! We like cooperative games.

Sorry was one of the board games my family had when I was a kid, not a favourite. Thanks for telling me about this. Zeus on the loose sounds like a better fit, I think.

I’m not sure, and she said she heard about it somewhere but doesn’t remember where. She has done a little bit with number lines in BA 2A, and her older sister had a unit on integers a few months ago. Pleasant surprise, anyway! 😀 I think the debt model would work, I will try that, thanks! You wouldn’t even have to stack the deck, you could add a step (depending on age/skill) of choosing the largest number and moving it to the left of the other number.

That is exactly what happened, as you would expect. But, I actually found that my youngest can also calculate negative answers to subtraction questions, though we haven’t covered that with her at all. And that it gives practice at comparing negative numbers. You could absolutely stack the deck if you just wanted to do positive subtraction practice.

We tried subtracting in order, and there are a lot that turn out less than 0. We played using negative numbers, but if you didn’t, you would have a lot of less than 0 ties. You could do it by colour, too, with 2 decks. That could be easier for some.

Did you come across kids in your classes that did find the distance/continuous model more intuitive? Some of my kids seemed to find it quite useful, though I couldn’t say it was their primary model. I agree that 6 tens and 3 ones is the definition of 63 in base 10. Nonetheless there’s still another level to the connection to the physical world for me that I don’t think I can explain on a board. 😕

I couldn’t find a link, but this is what we did: Using a full deck of shuffled Tiny Polka Dots cards, we dealt five cards to each player. The rest go in a fishpond spread out pile in the centre. In turn, each player asks for the number that will make 10 with what they want to match, from a specific player. If they get it, they can put it down as a pair and ask again. If the other player doesn’t have the card (any version of it) then the first player gets to Go Fish and draw a card from the pond, and their turn is over. If someone runs out, they can draw 2 new cards from the pond and keep going. Most pairs (highest stack) wins.

I think there are other ways to think of these numbers, though. At work, a number is nearly always a dimension, a speed, a flow rate, and it has a very specific connection to the physical world. Our different ideas about the importance of this probably illustrates the gap between pure and applied math, but kids who like the applied side have to translate all the time between the two.

We did this too and then used the Tiny Polka Dot cards to give different representations of the numbers. Has anyone used the games from Subtraction facts that stick?

Too difficult for us, hardly any numbered streets to be found in our city!

Thanks for the subtraction Break the Bank idea, I will try that! I used your simplified method as well today with just counters for 10s and ones, and that was easier and more fun that the grid from Math for Love, for the kids I played it with. Maybe you could get around the problem with subtraction war by saying you must subtract in the order they are placed in. With younger kids, a question like 3-8 could be “less than zero” where highest result wins, and with older they could get negative numbers.

There are a lot of games, fortunately, that have some amount of math in them. We played Azul today, which has a bit of adding, as well as scoring, and the idea that you get more points if you put the tiles in a rectangle (though Scrabble-style rather than multiplication).

Do you make each number in the grid and then combine them, rather than just adding on paper in a stack?

I tried Nim 12 and don’t Break the Bank this evening. Nim was the one my kids found the most fun, though both worked. I’m not sure that kids would necessarily make the connection from Nim to multiplication, though. Does it take a few times, or do you make the connection explicit? My favourite adding game is cribbage, I played that a lot with my grandparents when I was a kid. Does anyone have subtracting or division games? The division game in BA 3c is pretty good. There is a honeycomb grid with lots of numbers, you draw a playing card (2-9) and divide the number on the grid where your meeple stands by the value on the card. You move the meeple the remainder, trying to be the first to cross the board. There is some strategy in not choosing a route that lands you on 72 or another one with a lot of factors.

This looks like it could be fun, though it is undisguised math practice. For younger kids 3-6, Tiny Polka Dot has a number of different card games in it, which my kids enjoyed, and sometimes would take out on their own.

We do tie breakers where you get to take all the cards in play at that time, but it doesn’t happen often that there is a tie. My kids like war better than math questions on a sheet, and if there were more kids to play it they probably would like it better. I only tried blockout with my middle kid, and he liked it & I definitely think it increased his understanding. We played in cooperative mode. I’ll probably try the same with my youngest soon. I asked her at the dinner table and she does know what multiplication means, after all.

On the GameSmith website they gave it an 8+ rating, so it’s interesting that it works better for younger kids. Thanks!

I think we play it the same, a normal deck with faces (and aces) removed, and then each person turn over two card from their deck, adds it, highest sum takes all. Not realizing that 4x7 is 4 sets of 7 and 7 sets of 4, as an example. We haven’t really talked about or done examples of multiplication with my youngest much yet. I think I’d actually just play Prime Climb (if I buy it) with her on her own, with adding/subtracting. She’d get upset if my other two bumped her off her circle, and they’d want to use all operations. I think my question is whether you think drill without understanding is harmful or just pointless, but really I’m just wondering because I’m not planning to do that. The main risk might be boredom, which would bring us back around to how to make math games fun. We have done blockout, but not blackjack, break the bank or Nim. I’ll look those up. Thanks!

Do you mean gaming bang for your buck, or math practice? It is a problem about math games not necessarily being super fun. My kids see addition war that way too, they will play it with me and they are fine, but they wouldn’t choose it if I didn’t pull it out. Kingdomino has some multiplying practice when scoring. My kids like that one.

Do you think it would set them back if they were not solid with the concept, or just not be much fun or pointless?

I thought this might be a possibility, also with their playing style because some kids are more competitive. I will look this one up since my kids love Greek myths, what ages did it work well for?

I have a 12, 9 and 7 year old, so that should work. Thanks for the instructions! You can use adding, as you thought. My youngest will not like the bumping aspect of it.