Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Subject: Math

One of my biggest challenges in homeschool is MATH!  I had to work really hard in school growing up to make math "click", and even though I did well, taking the SAT & ACT showed that Math is definitely not my strong suit. 

As Reese gets older, we will most likely turn to other sources for teaching advanced math...because, let's face it... I'm going to make a muddled mess of the whole thing. 

But...I can handle 4th grade math :)  And I have found a way to throw in some supplemental activities to challenge Reese & develop his logical thinking skills.

Mindware puts out a fantastic line of activity books (they call them Puzzle Books) that use all sorts of different thinking skills.  I started using them last year & it was one of Reese's favorite parts of our day.  We'd do just 1 puzzle each day as part of our Math & it's fantastic to see how well he is starting to think like a little mathematician.

Last year, we started with Analogy Challenges Level A, Perplexors Basic Level, & Venn Perplexors Level A.  Each one used a different type of logic pattern, but by the end of each book Reese really had a good grasp on how to think through the challenge. 

We will continue this year with Logic Links Level B (this one is really hard for me!), Venn Perplexors Level B, Math Perplexors Level A, & Perplexors Level A.

My hope is that by introducing these types of problems early on, he will easily think that way when it comes up in the future.  By solving just one problem in a book each day, we'll work through the 4 books above by the end of the year. 

If you're looking for a quick, fun little addition to your child's Math studies, you might want to look into the Mindware series of books!

4 comments:

  1. We used the Perplexors book last year and Nicholas loved it. He got so excited as he could see that he was about to solve the puzzle. I loved that it worked his brain in a fun way but also built up his confidence. I haven't looked at some of these other books but I will!

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  2. Thanks for your contribution to this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling. It will post Wednesday morning, July 13th, on my blog, A Life Supreme (www.asupremelife.blogspot.com ). I’d appreciate it if you could advertise the carnival here on your blog. And please consider using one of the COH images found here: http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2008/05/we-have-winners-of-carnival-of.html.

    Blessings,
    Laura

    P.S. Traditionally, only one post per contributor is included in the carnival each week, so I picked my favorite. Your other contribution was excellent, and I encourage you to submit it to this coming week's carnival. Thanks!

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  3. Hi, came across your blog on the Carnival of Homeschooling blog. I am with you Math is not my strong point. I found this year that spellingcity.com has math vocabulary games for kids to play. My son enjoyed these when he would get stuck on certain math words. We would just stop and play a game or two on spellingcity.com and he could go back to his math no problem.

    Lil' Momma
    Living with a hard working husband, 1 toddler, 1 preschooler and 1 middle schooler who are Five in Training for HIM

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  4. Thank you!! I look forward to checking these out!

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