Math is one of my personal favorite subjects lately. I’m becoming a math geek as I’ve been very interested in the theory and application of mathematics and have been surprised as I learn, how much of it I am applying to life. As with everything, I try to pass down the love of learning to my kids which happens naturally when I am immersed in it myself.
We’ve been studying mathematics for free online at www.khanacadamy.org. My kids enjoy the simpler instructional videos and tests and I love that there is a ton of content on there. It doesn’t hurt that you get points either! Now, I can spend more time online purposefully learning than checking social media and I like that a lot! Another math site we’ve been using is www.xtramath.org. It is a free useful tool focusing on memorizing math facts, akin to a game, but only taking a few minutes a day.
In our small living space right now, we have all of our homeschooling supplies and teaching tools put away. But this year I did want to make a number line that is always out. Since I can see it from everywhere in our apartment, I decided it had to be a little bit pretty too. I printed the letters on scrapbook paper and sewed the papers together with twine. I’m pleased at how it turned out.
We plan to do a quite a few fun lessons with it eventually. The younger ones like to use it just for counting. Drew is using it to “see” multiplication better. I want to plot and mark prime numbers, square numbers, cube numbers, triangular numbers, and more. Below zero, as we are looking at fractions and negative numbers, I will put up a paper that says this: “There’s less than nothing down there, all the way to negative infinity. There’s also bits and pieces, getting smaller and smaller to the infinitesimal.” And above one hundred: “To Infinity and beyond. There is no limit as there is no end.”
There is a lot of wonder and rhythm and reason in math. I like discovering, pondering, and sharing it.