How to do a simple multisensory subtraction drill

 None of us want our child to struggle with math facts. We hope that skills like subtraction will come easily to them, or plan to drill at home to help give them an advantage in the classroom.

 

If your child doesn’t learn through traditional means, it can be disappointing, and a little scary.  You might scan the app store hoping to find a clever solution, or order some flash cards to drill with. What is really going to help them?

Ultimate Guide to Teaching Multiplication Facts

What’s the best way to help your student learn the multiplication tables? You might be a teacher who is puzzling over those three students who didn’t get it with the rest of the class. Or, you might be a parent who never trained as a teacher and now needs to make sure that your child is taking this critical step in math.

Alex Chambers on Unsplash

Math facts can be boring, but it’s also a little scary if you have one of those children who struggles to memorize what comes so easily to everyone else. When you have a smart student in front of you who is still struggling, it can make you feel inadequate, even if you were successful at multiplication yourself.

Thankfully, there are proven ways that help students make this important math milestone.

Fun Multiplication by 8 Spider craft to go with Charlotte's Web

Math spider craft  for multiplication by 8. Co-ordinates with Charlotte's Web, and is perfect for second or third grade. Common Core aligned.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.1 Interpret products of whole numbers,

"Your pet spider bit me!" My sister was really upset. Although I didn't officially keep spiders as pets while we were growing up, I was always friendly with them. I figured that anything that killed insects was a friend, and they really fascinated me. 

How to set up a patriotic math craft for elementary kids

My dad would always take is out to the flag pole on all the national holidays like Memorial Day or Independence Day. He let us help raise the star spangled banner then we recited the pledge of allegiance. As we prepared for July 4 this year, we spent some time talking about the flag and what it means. I came up with this patriotic craft for my daughter who just completed kindergarten, and we talked about what the stars I the field of blue represent. It just so happens that it was perfect math practice as well.

Do It Yourself Counting Practice for Toddlers

Do you put the egg shells back in the carton or throw them away directly? We always threw them away when I was growing up, so that is what I do. My husband likes to put the back in the carton. I guess there isn't any harm in it. Although, I did write a note on the last few cartons, asking him to keep them clean. I really wanted to work on some counting with our two-year-old, and egg cartons would make the perfect container to use on her toy shelf. 

Fun Spring Equation Writing Practice

We're enjoying spring break with a little camp out in the yard tonight. Next week it's back to school though, so I have a spring themed math equation practice for your kindergartner. If your kindergartners are like mine, they are in need of some number writing practice, but more interested in doing "real" equations. If so, I have the perfect math activity for your kindergartner.

Beautiful Multiplication Pine Cone Craft

Multiplication practice from a nature art approach. Use pine cones to make math fun.

At 1:00 pm, a young student stares out the window, oblivious to the math lesson: at 4:00 pm, that same student stares at a pine cone she found on the walk home. Her eyes follow every crevice, and as her fingers trace the rough sticky surface, as she breaths it's fresh aroma.

Christmas Ornament Subtraction Craft

These DIY ornaments turn out so pretty that children might like to do them at home for fun or as gifts. However, you could easily use them for subtraction practice. They even satisfy the algebraic component called for in Common Core. Who says you can't have Christmas fun and do math at the same time?

Bead Snowflake Addition and Subtraction Practice

The dishes were piled high, creating a mess that matched the rest of the house, and I needed to eat the lunch I had missed with the rest of the family, but some how I found myself offering to pull out the math craft I'd been promising my daughter.

I explained that we needed to make four snowflakes, and her eyes lit up. "You make two and I'll make two." So we did.

Adding Doubles Christmas Tree Math Puzzle for Kindergarten

As my first fall in the classroom drew to a close, it dawned on me that I wasn't going to make it through my curriculum.  With mandated exit tests looming (as in, fail the test, and you don't graduate), I knew I needed to at least get the planned content in front of my students.  I also knew that they expected to have a party the last day before Christmas break. In a move of desperation, I wrote an entire unit's worth of material into a Christmas theme and taught the whole thing the last day before break.  They moaned and groaned, but most of them decided to play along, and when we reviewed months later they remembered our reindeer games!

How to Encourage Critical Thinking with Fun Size Statistics

We all know that critical thinking skills are extremely important in the modern world.  Math is more than just being able to move the numbers around.  In order for the math to be useful, you have to be able to understand the meaning behind the numbers.  This summer I wanted to give my children a project that was a little more interesting than our normal habit of using candy to drill arithmetic.  This project is an introduction to the concept of statistics.  The only prerequisite is being able to count, and it would be a great way to help students practice the analytical skills that they will need for their science investigations. 

How to Use Paper Snow Flakes to Learn Math

Paper snow flakes are a classic project that kids love. They're also a great way to learn a little math.

On a bright January day, perfect to look at, but too cold to stay outside for long, I needed something to do with my bright energetic children.Paper snow flakes were one of my favorite crafts as a child, and I thought that just maybe they would enjoy making some as well.
To introduce this activity to my kids, I folded the paper in half just once and cut two shapes, I got two shapes.Then, I folded to the paper in half twice and two cut shapes.We found four when we unfolded the paper. I continued adding more and more folds, cutting two shapes each time, and they were excited to see that there were more and more shapes.

Multiplying by 2, again and again.

 I asked my children they could find the pattern, and they said "no", but they were grabbing for the paper and the scissors to make their own!

They were grabbing for the paper and scissors

 How to make your basic paper snowflakes 

 If you would like to try this activity, you will just need a stack of tissue paper cut into squares and a pair of scissors.

All you need!

Fold the paper into triangles. You can fold as many times as you like as long as you keep the same center point.

Mark the center carefully

Cut patterns into the sides of the triangles, then unfold the tissue to see your finished product!

Opening the snowflake!

 How to demonstrate the math in snowflakes 

 Real snow flakes have six sides. To get this effect, fold the initial square in half to make a triangle,
then fold that triangle into thirds

Real snow flakes have six sides.

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You could say that this snowflake demonstrates f = (n/2)(xy) where n is the number of cut outs, and x and y represent the number of sections the paper was folded into.  x = 2 when it was folded in half.  y = 3 when it was folded in thirds.  The total number of shapes is f = (2/2) (2*3), which is 6.  

 Six shapes in the snowflake

This pattern corresponds to f= x^y where x is the number of shapes cut, and y is the number of folds.

For elementary students, I recommend that you do just what I did.Show them the pattern, encourage them to guess what it might be, then let them enjoy the project.If you are working with older students you might assign making snowflakes that follow a certain function, or you could let them make some snowflakes, and translate them into math.


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The wonderful thing is that they are automatically doing math to figure out how to get the designs they want.  Add in the added brain connections from doing hands on learning, and you have a great STEAM project that they'll be excited to share with their own kids one day.

Beaded snowflakes

More Math Crafts

Beaded Snowflake addition practice

Beautiful multiplication pine cone craft
Chaos theory for kids

Find out about seasonal projects each month! 

Each month I send an e-mail with seasonal projects like this one to my subscribers. Sign up now to receive next month's newsletter.

More Indoor Activities for Older Kids 

Today, I am excited to be joining a project hosted by Erica at What We Do All Day.  She is a true professional mom, and I love reading her blog to get ideas for my own kids.  Several fantastic blogs are joining in today to bring you indoor activities that you can do with your older kids.  If you are like us, and never know when you will be stuck indoors due to bad weather, you will want to be sure to pin these ideas for later!

Indoor Activities for Tweens come from What We Do All Day

Working With Yarn - 10 Ways to Create come from Betsy's Photography

  Wooden Bangles for Animal Lovers from Adventure in a Box

Inside Activities Promoting Growth Mindset from Planet Smarty Pants

Indoor Pom Pom Races from Lemon Lime Adventures 

Simple Duck Tape Bracelets from the Gingerbread House

How to Prepare Your Preschooler to Excel in Algebra and Beyond

We all want our children to excel at things that matter.  If you read this blog, you probably believe that math matters.  So, what are you doing to help your preschooler succeed in math over the long term?  Drilling arithmetic? Subscribing to the best possible set of worksheets?  

If your child is exceptional at the skills you drill with flash cards and find on worksheets, he might be able to add or even divide three digit numbers perfectly someday.  Do you know how much that skill is worth?  About $1 per year.  

Go down to your local dollar store, pick up any calculator, and it can add, subtract, multiply, and divide huge numbers, and will probably last for a year.

I want better skills than that for my children, and I am sure you want the same for yours.

How can you give your child the skills to succeed in algebra, calculus, and beyond? 

How to prepare preschoolers to excel in algebra and beyond

I will tell you one thing I have done for my preschoolers to prepare them to excel in math. Pattern work.  Lots and lots of hands-on pattern work.  I did pattern work with them, because I read education literature and advice from experienced pre-k teachers.  They all prescribe pattern work. 

Last week, it dawned on me why excellent preschool teachers do pattern work. I bet some of them do not even know. 

"Hey, Mom, It's a pattern!"  I had just finished reading Eric Carle's classic, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" when my preschooler made this observation.  She continued, "One, two, three..", pointing to the foods the caterpillar eats.

"Yes, " I agreed, "How much do they increase each time?"  She thought for a moment.  

"One."

"So, it is a 'plus one' pattern?"

"It is," she answered, and her eyes glowed with the pleasure of knowing something valuable.

That is exactly what I want for my children.  It is what I always wanted for my students.  Witnessing that look in your child's eye is what I want for you, my readers.

No dollar store calculator could find that pattern. A computer might be able to recognize such a simple pattern, but only if it is programmed to look for it. The human mind can identify patterns it has never seen.  That's valuable.  That's fun.

Do you know how to write a "plus 1" pattern in math?  There are several ways.  y = x + 1 is one that you may recognize from algebra class.  When the time comes to study algebra, I think my daughter will be ready, because she is already familiar with the basic concept. Advanced math, such as algebra, depends on the ability to work with patterns. Preschoolers can practice that skill now.

Have I convinced you to try some pattern work with your preschoolers? There are many fun ways to work with patterns.  I hope to share some of them in the coming months. 

 Here is just one hands on  project to get you started. 

You will need string and some beads.  

(If your child is still putting things in his mouth, opt for beads too large to swallow. Use your judgment for appropriateness and surprivise your child.)

  Let your child pick his two favorite colors, and make a necklace by alternating them on the string. Later you can move on to more complicated patterns.  If you are like me, you will be surprised how much your preschooler enjoys this simple task.

Invest your time in doing hands on pattern activities like this, and one day you may be surprised at how your child has excelled in algebra, or calculus, or research, or business, or medicine, or some field yet to be invented.

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New Year Party Challenge and How to Make a Binary Abacus

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones! Here is a New Year's coding challenge in case you would like to use it for your New Year's Eve Party.  You may want to put together an easy binary abacus to have on hand to help your guests solve the riddle.

New Year Coding Challenge

The challenge is simple: Write out the new year in Binary. Computers are going to be processing the new year in a number composed of just one's and zero's. Computers are composed of tiny circuits which are either on or off.  On circuits equal a "1."  Off circuits equal a "0".  Those two digits compose the most basic computer language called "Binary".   

Just like our normal ten digit system, the first number in binary is 1.  However, since binary only uses the digits "1" and "0", the second number is "10" with one in the second place, instead of "2".  

Sound confusing?  Don't worry.  Just put together this easy binary abacus and you will be able to explain how binary works so well that even your elementary student will understand. 

How to make a binary abacus

Materials for making a Binary Abacus:

Card board box (left over from Christmas?)

Sharp object to poke a hole.  I used a skewer.

String

Pony Beads

Marker to write on the box.

Index cards

Tape

To get started, poke holes to thread the string about an inch apart, along the top of the box.

Knot the string on the inside of the box so that it does not pull through to the front of the box.

Place one bead on the first string on the right, and knot the string so that it stays put. (I used green.)  On the second string from the right, place two beads.  Move to the left, placing twice as many beads on each successive string.

Once you have the strings attached with the beads threaded, use your marker to add zeroes under each string.  

At this point you have a binary abacus that would work well for explaining how the binary works. Unless you string more beads than I did, it will not quite calculate the new year, however.

My last string had sixty-four beads. That is about as many as most of us will be able to remember and count.

When I moved around the corner, I took a short cut, and wrote the number of beads the string should have on an index card and taped it to the string.  Now we are ready to calculate the New Year in Binary!

How to Use the Binary Abacus to Calculate the New Year

To figure out what "normal" number is represented by the abacus, count the number of beads showing.  In the picture below, there are three total beads showing, so this is the number "3".  The binary number is represented by ones in each place where a string is hanging down.  So, the binary number in the picture below is "11".

Unused strings should be placed inside the box.  Those place values are represented by "0".  My son was pretty interested in learning how to do a computer language.   It dawned on him that this was also a math exercise though too.  Adding up the number of beads was a good review for him, and the place value practice was a great warm up for math he will cover soon.

Can you figure out what number is represented in this picture?  How would you write it in binary?

That's right!  There are ten beads, so the "normal" number is 10.  By looking at which positions have strings hanging down, we can see that the binary number is 1010. Wherever a string is hanging down, we put a "1".  In the empty places we put a "0".  Just like normal math, you can ignore all the extra zeros on the left.

You can see that my daughter was busy figuring out her age in binary.  The number showing in the picture is seven, written as 111 in binary. Another fun challenge would be counting to twenty.

Which brings us back to our original challenge: write the new year in binary!

There are several ways you can attack this problem.  I recommend starting with the number 1024, and figuring out what combination of other numbers you need to add to it to come out with 2015.  Add 512, then 251.  Keep going until you know which strings are needed.  Nothing but simple addition and trial and error.

You may want to check out this interesting page about math to learn more about binary.

Happy New Year!

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How to Learn Shapes while Enjoying the Holidays: Guest Posting at ALLterNATIVElearning

The Christmas holidays are here and there are so many wonderful things to do with our little ones!  You should not waste your time “accomplishing preschool” when you could be enjoying the beauty and the stories of the season.  Really, you shouldn’t. 

That does not mean your preschooler needs to stop learning.  You can easily study all kinds of things, including shapes, while thoroughly enjoying Christmas.  

Read my tips for learning about shapes while celebrating to the fullest  at ALLterNATIVElearning.

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How to Teach Geometry through Play

We love building toys at our house.  (These particular toy were received as gifts.  No compensation was received for this post, but an affiliate link may be added.) It was no surprise that my daughter chose to play Tinker Toys on a recent morning, and it was the perfect opportunity to talk about shapes.  I wish you could see how excited she was!  Here is how you can teach geometry through play.

Play with quality building toys 

Make sure quality building toys are available to your preschoolers, and take time to sit down and play with them.  It will be good for you to go back and spend some time creating something interesting.  Your interest in working with the toys gives credibility to the child's work and opens the door for you to have future conversations.

Notice the Shapes your Child Chooses to Make

On this particular morning the Pony Artist was into triangles, so we learned about triangles.  Child led learning is always fun, and surprisingly productive.  Since she had chosen the triangles, she was ready to discuss them in detail.

Notice the Characteristics of the Shapes

Point out the attributes of the triangles by saying something like, "Look, all the sides on this triangle are the same length!"  Or ask a question like, "Do you think those sides are the same or different?"

Do you see which triangle is different in the picture below?

Noticing that the triangles on the right have the same proportions even though they are different from each other set the child up for understanding that they are "similar" later.  Noticing that angle sizes and side lengths are related is useful too.  Concentrate on the exercise of noticing things.  You may find yourself pulling out facts you thought you had forgotten, and that is great!  Do not feel like you need to produce a middle school level class though.  

Encourage Combinations of Shapes

Say something like, "What happens if...?"  Try out one combination, then let the child try out whatever combinations interest her.  The understanding of how two triangles make a square goes much deeper when it is discovered on its own than when it is forced.  

Point out sets of shapes.  

My daughter made the two shapes below, so I suggested that we put them all together.  I asked what is the same about all of these?  What is different?  I was interested the contrast between a line, a plane and a solid.  She noticed how the the squares and circles related to one another. 

Remember, it all starts with play.  Go find some great building toys and set them where your child will find them.  Better yet, take five minutes, and sit down and play with them yourself.

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