How To Teach Math Without Worksheets
Three years ago as a new home school mom I had no idea I would end up with a child that would die a little inside each time she had to do a worksheet. So I had to come up with some alternatives. Here is the quick list
- RightStart Math
- Card Games
- Math Apps
- Books / Stories
- Household Projects
- Grocery shopping
RightStart Math
This is our main math curriculum we use. RightStart really works for my child because it uses very few worksheet. Each lesson has at most 1 worksheet and some have none. The practice comes in with the special games written right into the curriculum. I use this curriculum as a spine or guide on what she should work on when using the other resources listed. But if your not looking to change your whole curriculum the special games from RightStart are all in one book called RighStart Card Games that you can buy separately. Its Packed full of games that work on different math concepts at different levels.
Card Games
This one speaks for itself and we all know I love some educational card games. There are tons of lists on specific card games to play , depending on what math concept you are focusing on.
Math Apps
My favorite math app right now is Quick Math. Its straight to the point, adds a timer for a little challenge and has 3 levels each of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I’m sure there is a ton of different apps and games but this one is quick and gets it done without the child being on a device too long.
Books /Stories
Who knew there were books for math that arent workbooks! Not me! There is the series Life of Fred that is basically a story that follows the same character and works math into it all the way up to high school level. Its an Amazing concept. If your not ready for this commitment there are other options. Simply head to your library’s junior non-fiction area. Find the math section and there are tons of stories that work all different levels of math into the art of story telling.
Household Projects
I have introduced math concepts to my child way past her official “school level” while doing projects. When we were making a gate we explained to her about measuring correctly, adding fractions, converting fractions to decimals, and more. This can be applied to basically any other project.
Grocery Shopping
This is where we do the most impromptu math. Adding prices, looking at per unit prices, calculating taxes, finding the better deal. Some of it is mental math and sometimes I give her a little notebook and let her sit in the basket (yes she is too big for the basket but oh well) and let her work it out on the notepad. The options are really endless here and its real life experience which is priceless.
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