Comments on: Teaching Math http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/ Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:15:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bec http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/comment-page-1/#comment-243513 Bec Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:48:05 +0000 http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/#comment-243513 I agree that young children arrive at school with a wealth of informal math knowledge. Sadly, too often teachers do not take advantage of this and it is lost. Games are a great way to develop number sense and the web provides some great free resources. One of my favorites is http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com which provides a range of free math teaching resources, math games, and hands-on math activities for K through 5th grade that you can instantly print and all activities are correlated with the Common Core State Standards. I agree that young children arrive at school with a wealth of informal math knowledge. Sadly, too often teachers do not take advantage of this and it is lost. Games are a great way to develop number sense and the web provides some great free resources. One of my favorites is
http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com
which provides a range of free math teaching resources, math games, and hands-on math activities for K through 5th grade that you can instantly print and all activities are correlated with the Common Core State Standards.

]]> By: Barbara http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/comment-page-1/#comment-195761 Barbara Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:48:25 +0000 http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/#comment-195761 Our son "hated" math his last year in a traditional school (grade 2), even hiding his math workbook in an attempt not to have to do the work. When we began homeschooling him, we forgot to order a math curriculum at first. I felt bad about this till I asked a friend, a doctor who homeschooled her four children till college, what math curriculum she would recommend for a 7-year-old, and she said she never started formal math instruction till her kids reached the age of 10. So we didn't "do" math that year or the next--though our son began (or continued) playing around with numbers, such as figuring out in his head how many days it was between Christmas and Valentine's Day and other simple computations like that. He was 9, going on 10, the summer he suddenly asked me if he could "do math" that fall. So we got some workbooks and he did just fine. What had been like pulling teeth when he was 6 and 7 was almost easy when he was 9 and 10. He just hadn't been ready before. Our son “hated” math his last year in a traditional school (grade 2), even hiding his math workbook in an attempt not to have to do the work.

When we began homeschooling him, we forgot to order a math curriculum at first. I felt bad about this till I asked a friend, a doctor who homeschooled her four children till college, what math curriculum she would recommend for a 7-year-old, and she said she never started formal math instruction till her kids reached the age of 10. So we didn’t “do” math that year or the next–though our son began (or continued) playing around with numbers, such as figuring out in his head how many days it was between Christmas and Valentine’s Day and other simple computations like that.

He was 9, going on 10, the summer he suddenly asked me if he could “do math” that fall. So we got some workbooks and he did just fine. What had been like pulling teeth when he was 6 and 7 was almost easy when he was 9 and 10. He just hadn’t been ready before.

]]> By: Carnival of Mathematics # « Let’s play math! http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/comment-page-1/#comment-22917 Carnival of Mathematics # « Let’s play math! Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:02:21 +0000 http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/#comment-22917 [...] The new Carnival of Mathematics is up and running at Modulo Errors. Highlights for me included: Teaching Math One opinion about when to introduce formal arithmetic (workbooky math) to children. What is the [...] [...] The new Carnival of Mathematics is up and running at Modulo Errors. Highlights for me included: Teaching Math One opinion about when to introduce formal arithmetic (workbooky math) to children. What is the [...]

]]> By: Modulo Errors » The Carnival of Mathematics http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/comment-page-1/#comment-22801 Modulo Errors » The Carnival of Mathematics Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:24:04 +0000 http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/#comment-22801 [...] Pursuit’s series on when best to introduce formal arithmetic to children continues with this article, setting out their arguments for providing an informal experience of mathematics before the age of [...] [...] Pursuit’s series on when best to introduce formal arithmetic to children continues with this article, setting out their arguments for providing an informal experience of mathematics before the age of [...]

]]> By: Amy http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/comment-page-1/#comment-19671 Amy Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:06:44 +0000 http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/04/03/teaching-math/#comment-19671 Thank you for the article about teaching math. I have two questions. First, did any of your children request to do formal math before age 10? My husband and I both love math, but I'm not sure if love for and ability in math are traits that are passed down. Second, we live in a state with mandatory standardized tests yearly once the child is seven. We don't have to report the scores to anyone, oddly enough, but we're concerned that if we don't teach our children math formally before age ten, they will perform poorly on the exams and feel like they are being cheated on their education. I have a friend who used a certain well-known homeschool curriculum for science for her sons, and they were clueless on a few topics on the science section of the standardized test they took (because they were not taught in that curriculum.) Thank you for the article about teaching math. I have two questions. First, did any of your children request to do formal math before age 10? My husband and I both love math, but I’m not sure if love for and ability in math are traits that are passed down. Second, we live in a state with mandatory standardized tests yearly once the child is seven. We don’t have to report the scores to anyone, oddly enough, but we’re concerned that if we don’t teach our children math formally before age ten, they will perform poorly on the exams and feel like they are being cheated on their education. I have a friend who used a certain well-known homeschool curriculum for science for her sons, and they were clueless on a few topics on the science section of the standardized test they took (because they were not taught in that curriculum.)

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