Clear Creek Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 If you were going to teach the concepts of pre-algebra without a curriculum...just through games and other hands-on things...what would you use? Just to be clear, I would follow it with an actual pre-algebra curriculum. But I have a child that learns best (and really only) through hands-on, experiential methods. She also needs to learn things in math several times over before she really grasps it (she has numerous times repeated grades with different textbooks in order to give her enough exposure to concepts to finally understand them). I don't know of a pre-algebra curriculum that teaches through games and hands-on methods, so I thought if I covered the basic concepts that way while she finished Horizons 6 this fall, once she started pre-algebra it would have some experience and understanding to stick to in her brain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingmom Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Maybe look at Hands On Equations for some hands on stuff Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 You can take a look at: Hands on Equations (manipulative based intro to equations, order of operations, etc.) The Dragonbox apps (absolutely amazing visual representations of solving equations) Videos on Khan academy We are using a curriculum, but I am of course pulling out cuisinaire rods from time to time still- showing why a square is "square" and why a cube is "cubic", etc. But their use is becoming more limited as things become more complex. Check educationunboxed.com for some ideas on upper level math with manipulatives. BUT... one of the things with upper level math is that you move from easily concrete examples to significantly more abstract concepts. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 We are just... meandering our way through preA concepts using a variety of resources that I mostly let dd choose from - jousting armadillos, khan, a grade 7 Australian textbook, life of fred. I also want to go through the algebra lab book I have and possibly some keys to Algebra. Basically we will play through these and probably try aops preA next year (7th) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Pre-algebra is generally just a solidification of math with a bit of algebra and solving equations. Other than the algebraic content - which all basically gets covered again in algebra, just much more quickly - the only thing I can think of that was really and truly new to my kids was square roots. All the other things - exponents, ratios, integers - those had been covered previously and pre-algebra just worked on solidifying that understanding. So I guess what I'm saying is that I think you can possibly just use whatever you've already done and take it a little further and then add in something like Hands on Equations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 There are tons of options for hands-on learning. We used algebra tiles and Algeblocks, cuisenaire rods (yes, even for pre-algebra -- educationunboxed.com has some appropriate videos), Mortensen math kits, dice games. Hands-on things from Teachers Pay Teachers. We made an interactive notebook, etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 I don't use a program for pre-Algebra since I view it as just a solidifying of concepts before Algebra, so I tailor it to what the child needs more help on. Oldest used (bits and pieces of each): Ko's Journey (a computer game) Perfectly Perilous Math Math Doesn't Suck Life of Fred DragonBox (app) Some "board" games on fractions (we had one with pizzas and one with just tiles) a scholastic books called Dazzling Math Line Designs Math Mammoth sections on decimals Middle will use this coming year: Hands on Equations Patty Paper Geometry Beast Academy 5C & 5D Math Doesn't Suck Perfectly Perilous Math Some card games from an ebook I found on my computer from who-knows-when-and-where: Acing Math card games 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 I get a lot of math manipulatives from Lakeshore Learning. Love them! Learning Resources also has lots of hands on stuff. What concepts were you specifically needing? Prealgebra can cover a lot of stuff. Nasco also carries many math things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 (edited) The Nasco math catalogue has a good selection of manipulatives and games that go past usual elementary stuff. https://www.enasco.com/math/ The Cuisenaire rod videos in Education Unboxed have a number of excellent videos on more advanced topics, such as quadratics. http://www.educationunboxed.com/ We like Penrose the math cat and other books from Theoni Pappas, but they do move from topic to topic, so not for everyone. https://www.amazon.com/Theoni-Pappas/e/B001K7YRT2 And we totally love The Joy of x, by Steven Strogatz. Many chapters originally appeared in a NYTimes blog and may still be out there. The author makes complicated concepts clear. Inspirational, imo. https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Guided-Tour-Math-Infinity/dp/0544105850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499178274&sr=1-1&keywords=Joy+of+x ETA Found a link to the Strogatz topics. Check out the post on rock groups as a way of making math concrete. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/series/steven_strogatz_on_the_elements_of_math/index.html OMG, did anyone mention Algebra Touch -- totally incredible app that teaches you haw to manipulate equations. This would be my number one choice. We like the mobile version best. http://www.regularberry.com Math Doodles is another imaginative app, not algebra particularly, but mathematical thinking. Author has other apps as well. http://www.carstensstudios.com/mathdoodles/mathdoodles.htm The book, Let's Play Math, by someone at WTM (I think?) has some wonderful ideas for books and games. Print and kindle available. https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Play-Math-Families-Together/dp/1892083205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499180171&sr=8-1&keywords=let%27s+play+math We also have some iPad coordinate graphing apps, very visual. I better stop posting now, duller tasks await. :-( Edited July 4, 2017 by Alessandra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 There is a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers, All Things Algebra, who has a lot of pre-algebra games. There are many other sellers there with lots of games to reinforce the content. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsplaymath Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Try the games in the "Middle School to Adult" section of this post. And also check out John Golden's Math Hombre Games page. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 Thank you all so much for your recommendations! These are exactly what I was looking for! I know that pre-algebra is supposed to be a review of basic math, but the pre-algebra she will be using has quite a bit of new material in it, and some of the topics that aren't new just haven't stuck yet. Basically she knows numbers and the four operations, fractions/decimals and basic operations with each, finding factors/multiples of a number, and solving very simple equations. She is either very shaky on the rest, or just hasn't encountered it yet. I am treating the bulk of it as new material and teaching/reteaching it through games or hands-on activities as much as possible before she encounters in in her math program so she gets as much exposure to the concepts as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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