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letsplaymath

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  1. I have an article explaining number bonds on my blog. You might find it helpful. It includes several game ideas to build fluency: https://denisegaskins.com/2007/01/13/number-bonds-better-understanding/
  2. One of the best ways to help kids understand fractions is by comparing them to familiar numbers. I think that is the goal of this problem -- compare the fractions to one whole thing. If you draw a free-hand number line, that is plenty good enough. No need for accurate measurement. Third-graders can't measure that precisely anyway. Does your number line show that 4/6 needs TWO more pieces to get to one whole thing? And 6/7 only needs ONE piece. Now, one piece CAN be bigger than two pieces, if (for instance) the one is a half and the two are tenths. But in THIS case, not only does 6/7 need fewer pieces, it's also true that the pieces are smaller than the sixths. Because when we divide a whole thing into seven pieces, those pieces have to be smaller than if we had only split it into six. So even if we only had 5/7 (like in the image that readinmom linked to above), we would still be closer to one whole thing than when we have 4/6. Therefore, 6/7 is greater than 4/6, and Jay's string (in the original problem) is longer.
  3. I'm not sure which youcubed lesson plans you mean. They have some online courses, which I would assume are fully planned out. They also have some free-standing lessons and worksheets, and I think they organized a few summer session workshops. Perhaps the lessons you found were from a summer session that only went a few weeks?
  4. If you're looking for ways to help your children enjoy learning math, check out this month's playful math education blog carnival. Plenty of seasonal activities and crafts. Plus games, inspiration and more for preschool through high school. Holiday Math and More: Math Teachers at Play #114
  5. If you're looking for ways to help your children enjoy learning math, check out this month's playful math education blog carnival. Plenty of seasonal activities and crafts, plus games, inspiration and more for preschool through high school. Holiday Math and More: Math Teachers at Play #114
  6. Here are some great 5-a-day review collections at a variety of levels. You should be able to find something that fits. CorbettMaths Review Pages
  7. I like clothesline math: https://clotheslinemath.com/ http://www.estimation180.com/clothesline.html
  8. A calculator is a great tool that frees the student's mind to focus on reasoning through the problem. I allow a calculator for any middle school or high school problem where the arithmetic is complicated enough to distract from what the student is supposed to be learning. Sometimes there is a quick mental-math solution. But when that's not true, or when you don't see the quick route right away, then the calculator is fair game. Though I did have one child who preferred to crank through the hand calculations, perhaps because it gave her mind a break from thinking hard...
  9. You could use one of these 5-a-day practice sheets to supplement LoF or any other program. Explore the website for other practice problems and resources.
  10. Sometimes it can help for the child to tell the story out loud first, before trying to write. Or for the parent to take dictation.
  11. Since we never used the workbooks, I can't advise you there. I would set a simple goal to start with, maybe just "write something every day" with weekends optional. You can change the goal as you go along, as you see what level of challenge fits your kids. But even for adults, hitting the blank page every day can be a solid challenge, even without bothering about word count. I agree on not editing the writing at all. The point is to create, and editing tends to dampen creativity. If you get to the point of publishing anything for people outside the family to read, then you would need to edit -- but that's a separate challenge for a later month/year... Binding the pages together to make a book at the end is a great idea! Here's what we did: The kids wrote or drew their illustrations on half-sheets of plain paper. Or they dictated (for younglings) or wrote however they wanted, and then I "typeset" the story on the computer -- at which point I silently made minor spelling or punctuation corrections. You can also print out the typeset pages leaving clear areas for illustrations. They made a front and back cover on card stock, for added strength. Or we used regular paper but covered it with clear contact paper for strength. When they were done, I created a blank book by folding several letter-size sheets of paper in half and using a long-arm stapler or sewing the sheets together. Then I used spray adhesive to attach their pages to the blank foundation. This gave them the freedom to make mistakes without having the glitches show up in the final book because their pages were individual sheets. And because we didn't put the book together until it was done, they had as much flexibility as they needed. There was no set length they had to make fit. And we definitely cut out other language studies while working on this. There's a lot of learning going on in the process of creating a story. It's holistic, which can be frustrating if you're the kind of person who likes to check off items on a list. But it's real learning nonetheless. More book-making ideas here on Pinterest.
  12. My daughters have done NaNoWriMo for years. First with the YWP, so they could set their own goals, then working up to the full challenge as older teens/adults. We never did formal lessons, but we did drop most of our other school work during November to allow plenty of writing time. Lots of fun!
  13. My now-graduated daughter started blogging around 4th grade and we self-published her first book at age 13. I taught a blogging class at our homeschool co-op and posted the lessons online. You might find some of it interesting. Here is the first lesson, on internet safety. Teresa used an internet alias (Princess Kitten) from the time she started blogging. After the books were published, we gradually shifted to using her real name in most situations, so she could start building an audience. A few years ago -- I think it was when she turned 16 -- we bought her domain name, so the blog is under her own name now, after years of being "kittenspurring.wordpress.com." Incidentally, she put her first book up for free on her blog last year, if you or your kids are interested in reading online. Here's the first chapter. But we haven't really pushed the books or done much promotion yet, so she's still relatively private. We'll probably start trying some promotion after we publish book 4, which wraps up her series. We hoped to get that out this year, but right now it's stuck in editing. And with NaNoWriMo ready to start, and college homework besides, I'm not sure how soon she'll get to it. Writing a new story is so much more interesting than tinkering with the old....
  14. This is a very broad question. Without more specifics, we can only guess at what might help. Manipulatives are not magic. At his level, manipulatives might actually make things more confusing. What he needs to do is learn to apply common sense to the math situations. With the combination of problems you mention and his grade level, I'm guessing that he's reached the limit of how many rote rules he can accurately remember and follow. No matter how much you've tried to teach conceptually, he's probably been trying to get by at a surface level, and now the deeper understanding isn't there to support the new lessons. For fractions, you might try going back and re-learning the basics in a different way. James Tanton has an excellent resource that doesn't talk down to kids but forces them to grapple with understanding the math. Work through it together and make sure your son can explain to you why his answers make sense. Then try going back to your normal curriculum, and I think you'll find it easier with the new foundation. For area, perimeter, and volume: Is he trying to remember a bunch of rules for calculating these? Can he keep track of which word goes with which rule? Can he explain what the words mean in a simple, non-mathy way? Something like, "Area is how much flat space the shape covers. Perimeter is how long a fence we'd need to go all the way around the shape. Volume is how much water we could pour in to fill the shape." Can he explain why we use square units for area but not for perimeter? And why cubed units make sense for volume? Has he done a lot of measuring things in the real world? For instance, find the area of a desk or tabletop in Post-It notes. Explore the puzzles at Estimation 180 and at Would You Rather Math. Many of these deal with measurement concepts.
  15. There is one possibility that I don't see mentioned in the posts above. 4th grade math is HARD. The difficulty level, both conceptually and procedurally, takes a big jump in 4th grade. This would have happened with any other curriculum, too, so the fact that she liked the early level of CLE may not matter. She would still be facing hard math in the 4th grade book. With a child who is struggling as you describe, I would not allow her to do ANY independent work in math. Do the workbook together, buddy-style, as I describe in this blog post. It will be much faster and save you both a world of headaches. Don't worry about whether she'll grow up dependent on you. You held her hand when she was learning to walk, and she learned just fine. Now is a time when "holding her hand" is appropriate in math -- but she will become independent in her own time.
  16. I was going to recommend Cuisenaire rods and Gattegno, but I see I'm late to the game. :-) This can work at a wide range of levels, because it truly is learning through play. Each child meets the ideas and absorbs what they are ready for. If you want some guidance in getting started, this lady has a free introductory handbook and a whole series of wonderful blog posts.
  17. I have a few links on my blog that you might find useful. Also, Natural Math has a great series of resource books, and they moderate a Facebook group called 1001 Math Circles where you can get ideas or ask for tips.
  18. Maybe try something completely different? I've become fascinated with using Cuisenaire rods to teach algebraic reasoning from the very beginning. Take a look at this blog post Algebra Before Arithmetic, and if it looks interesting, click the "Gattegno Textbook 1" link in the sidebar and scroll back to the beginning. Or explore some of the many non-textbooky math treasures available online.
  19. Thinking is hard work! My goal was a maximum of 10 minutes per grade level (based on age, not the number written on the book). But even that was too much for one daughter, who had an emotional crash if we went longer than 30 minutes even in middle school. Always better to stop before the tears start flowing... And as others have mentioned, it can make a big difference if you work together. Just sitting beside her is good, but actually sharing the work is even better: Buddy Math.
  20. It's not *playing* online, but I've got a lot of free math games for all ages on my blog: https://denisegaskins.com/2017/01/07/my-favorite-math-games/
  21. As a professional writer, I will say that I still struggle with those things. It's part of the job! How many drafts does she do? It may help to follow a pattern like this: Freewrite on the topic. I prefer to do this with pen and paper, in a journal. Depending on the length of your paper, you may need to do this several times. (Save these freewrites -- you'll be surprised how they come in handy in the future.) Type your freewrite -- or as much of it as seems to apply to the topic of your paper -- into a word processor. Add details and embellishments as you think of them. Split your writing into paragraphs, with blank line spaces between them. Rearrange as needed to group the thoughts that go together. Continue to add details as new things come to mind. Print the file. Cut the pages apart so you have one paragraph per paper. Spread them on the floor and try different arrangements until the ideas seem to flow. Set aside any ideas that don't seem to fit in. Rearrange your word processor file to match the order you decided on. Cut the ideas that didn't fit and paste them into a separate "clippings" file -- you might need them for another paper later. Read through again, adding transition words and phrases to make the ideas flow. Your reader won't always make the same connections your brain makes between topics, so you have to add the connecting words that lead them along the path of your thoughts. Print the file and let Mom (or any willing victim) "beta-read" it. No grading allowed, just comment on whether the ideas make sense and offer suggestions for which areas might need strengthening. Fix the places where your beta-reader lost the train of your thought or said you needed more supporting data. Sometimes the beta reader says you need to go back and repeat steps 1-6. It happens to us all. Fill in more details you think might strengthen your point. Add an introduction and conclusion, if you haven't already. It's almost always easiest to write these after you know what the main part of the paper is going to say. Finally, look for grammar, spelling, or mechanical errors. Those are always the last bit of tidying up to worry about. And if your teacher gave you a specific format to use, make sure your font size, margins, etc. all match what is required. But very few high school students are willing to put in that level of work. Even college students want to write a paper once and be done.
  22. There's a wide selection of math games, including several using cards or dice (cheap!), on my blog: My favorite math games
  23. Did someone tell you that you need to do 160 hours per full-credit subject? Back in the dinosaur days when I started homeschooling, the math went like this: 180 school days/year x 5/6 of an hour per high school class = 150 hours of classroom time per year. Then assume that at least 10 minutes per day on average goes to administrative stuff like attendance, checking homework, waiting on the teacher while he/she talks to other kids, assemblies, and other non-instructional tasks, not to mention sick days. So 150 x 4/5 = 120 hours of actual instruction time. So our ballpark figure for a full-credit class would have been only 120 hours per semester. Or even less, because independent study and one-on-one work tends to be more time-efficient than a classroom -- we tend to complete the instruction and homework in the amount of time a classroom spends on instruction. To squeeze that into one semester, if you don't take sick days, would take less than an hour and a half per day. Physically possible, but take frequent breaks to keep the brain sharp while studying.
  24. Try the games in the "Middle School to Adult" section of this post. And also check out John Golden's Math Hombre Games page.
  25. No, not a problem at all. Of course, you have to skip the review questions that cover topics you haven't covered. But we could proceed with graphs, for instance, or fractions, or volume, or geometry. There are lots of topics that do not require long division. The main thing to remember with any curriculum is that we are the master and it is the servant. We can use it in whatever manner fits our family and best helps our children enjoy learning. And for my family, that meant never letting ourselves get bogged down with repetitive arithmetic.
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