naturally Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 We are using CLE and I would like to stick with it (in level 200, going into 300). But DS wants more "fun" math. Anything I can supplement with? He liked the samples of BA but I worry it might be too much for him right now. He loves playing on the computer but I hate having him play games without a little direction. I've looked at Teaching Textbooks but it's too expensive for a supplement. :confused: I'm really not sure what I'm looking for or even how I would want to implement it. So maybe no one can really help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reflections Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 First a disclaimer: I have no idea what CLE or BA is. However, for fun math stuff we really like: Zaccaro's books, you can find them on Amazon. Also, Family Math, Math for Smarty Pants and Mathemagic. Oh, and of course, the Life of Fred series! HTH. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiegers Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 We do Saxon Math, but for extra math I have started to get mathy books from the library. They are stories that incorporate math and after reading it together, you can discuss the math and maybe practice it using some of your own examples. Books like: Sir Cumference (there's a whole bunch of them) Spaghetti and meatballs for all How much is a million? The grapes of math Books by Greg Tang and Trudy Harris And there are hundreds of books like that. I did a search in Amazon and my local library. I like doing it this way, because it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, it's not a second full math curriculum and it shows my kids that math have a practical application in real life. It's not just numbers in a book. We also play math games from RightStart math. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturally Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Katherine, CLE is Christian Light Education. BA is Beast Academy. Thanks to you and swiegers for the suggestions. I will be checking into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I have many math supplements and a few main math books, but DD categorized living math books, MEP, and BA as fun. I do have other math supplements that I'm reading through first, so the list may grow. BA seems to be intense in one area, and strangely, easy in another area. It feels like the author wants to give a break to the kids in various sections of the workbooks and then suddenly get them out of the safe zone. The more complicated problems are actually not that different from what I've seen in other books, but just compiled together in an orderly manner and cleverly paired with a comic textbook. Some problems require more thinking, which you would think could deter some kids, but Dd wants to solve them and thinks it's fun if there is challenge, and I think almost all kids are like that. If a child asks every day when the next BA book will be published, I see it as a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reflections Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 We do Saxon Math, but for extra math I have started to get mathy books from the library. They are stories that incorporate math and after reading it together, you can discuss the math and maybe practice it using some of your own examples. Books like: Sir Cumference (there's a whole bunch of them) Spaghetti and meatballs for all How much is a million? The grapes of math Books by Greg Tang and Trudy Harris And there are hundreds of books like that. I did a search in Amazon and my local library. I like doing it this way, because it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, it's not a second full math curriculum and it shows my kids that math have a practical application in real life. It's not just numbers in a book. We also play math games from RightStart math. Hope that helps! :iagree: Thanks, I forgot about those! And Naturally, you're welcome, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 My dd8 calls MEP her "fun math". Extra bonus...it's free! We also add in living math books from the library like a pp mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Life of Fred is "fun math" at our house. The Sir Cumference books were a hit, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 More games like Muggins, 24, Zeus on the Loose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Maybe SumDog Fridays? It's free! That's what I do with my boy. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Check out those Pinterest threads.....lots of fun math ideas linked there! (FWIW, we use Singapore & DD says it's our "funnest" subject. I like the built in games, takes some pressure off mommy to produce fun stuff! :D But we are still in the youngest level, IDK what it's like higher up.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Livingmath.net has a lot of ideas. My son's favorite for a long time was polar bear math (from the library). Also times attacks ( a free computer game) for math facts. We used to just take turns rolling two dice and saying the math problem (2 plus 3 is 5) and tallying who won each round (highest sum) - even my older son found it fun. I picked up some 10 sided dice at a game store to expand it. Obviously you could do that for multiplication also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Our fun math includes: Miquon Life of Fred Ed Zaccaro's Primary Challenge Math and Challenge Math We also like a lot of the books mentioned by PPs and would add Penrose the Mathmatical Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 I'm not looking at "fun" math right now, but...I'm not sure what I want to call it. I was very influenced recently by Samuel Blumenfeld's controversial math section in "How to Tutor". In a recent thread it was stated that we need to make sure all students are allowed to "join the conversation" as well as learn arithmetic. Soooo...okay, now I'm trying to figure out what that looks like. So this week I'm using mostly How to Tutor copywork and extramath.com for arithmetic, and real books for mathematics. It appears that throughout history, arithmetic has sometimes been a separate subject from mathematics. So I'm playing around a bit, to see what it's like to teach them as separate subjects, with different goals and priorities I'm not trying to save all the living math JUST for mathematics, and do want to incorporate it, when it is more EFFECTIVE than textbooks and drill and kill. I'm trying to learn how to use money as an effective all over manipulative, to teach arithmetic in general. I purchased Dealing with Addition, a book on using playing cards for math instruction. Sometimes fun IS the most efficient way and sometimes it's NOT. I want to focus on the elegance and order of arithmetic and make sure the student learns the most necessary skills for daily life, and I think for ME the most efficient way to teach that subject is with textbooks, drill and kill, fingerwork, recitations and copywork. Mathematics on the other hand, I think requires a much more hands on approach. And that maybe textbooks are NOT the most efficient method. But I'm experimenting, and we'll see what I think in a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 LOF and Miquon here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 adding votes for Life of Fred and for MEP -- but MEP's only fun when it's not a spine and is an occasional supplement. NOTHING's fun (from Button's perspective) when it's the spine!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharilynn29 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Education Unboxed and MEP are our fun supplements. I also have numerous living math books. Reading through The Grapes of Math right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbabe Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Maybe SumDog Fridays? It's free! That's what I do with my boy. :) What is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Our fun math includes: Miquon Life of Fred Ed Zaccaro's Primary Challenge Math and Challenge Math We also like a lot of the books mentioned by PPs and would add Penrose the Mathmatical Cat. This, MEP, and Critical Thinking Co. books like Mathematical Reasoning and Balance Benders Math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 For "fun" math we sometimes add new pages to our math notebook journals, or play math file folder games. We make math lapbooks, use a regular deck of cards and play math games. Look around on Pinterest or google, there's a ton of stuff you can find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Apart from many of the books mentioned upthread, I will add Prufrock Press' Primarily Math, Scholastic's Algebra Readiness Made Easy books and topical maths workbooks from Teacher Vision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjpeter Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 We supplement with Beast Academny and Life of Fred for my youngest, and he really enjoys both of them. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lots of boys Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 We play math games on Friday that include: -7 ate 9 -speed -yahtzee -timez attach and anything else the boys think of. I have Dino math tracks hidden in the closet to bring out at some point too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 We use RS math and LOVE it! If you are looking to supplement something fun into your math program, I would recommend the RS Math Games book. It's loaded w/ fun game ideas :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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