Living Math, What?!

Most math that comes to mind at the mentioned of the word is the computation drills endured daily in school.  I did well in math, memorizing the "rules" and working the problem, but never really understanding the "why" behind the computation.  Once I began homeschooling, I knew I wanted math to be applicable to daily life for my children. The big challenge for me was HOW.

Lots of research and time, brought me to unschooling mom2mom. Cooking, gardening, archery, shopping, timing, hiking, iPad games, and board/card games were things we were already doing that involved living math.  Excited that we could expand on that I looked forward to more enjoyable moments.  

In a second of weakness, I purchased Teaching Textbooks for the kids since they requested "computer math program."  Within 2 months, both were very tired of the computation and repetitive drill.  I can't say I blame them.  The robotic voice and simple explanations left a lot to be desired.  I know so many moms who love this program that I was sure we were doing it wrong when even my "people pleasing" daughter was ditching the lessons.  But once my son explained, he enjoyed our math when it happened in real-life, I got the message loud and clear.  

Another point of weakness fell upon me, when reading post from a homeschooling mom struggling to get her son to memorize his multiplication facts.  Yikes!  I was sure my children had not memorized the multiplication table or understood the point of the table.  Fortunately, God knew me all to well.  The same day while reading Learning All the Time, by John Holt, I came across the information on multiplication.  He suggested posting a 10 X 10 grid with numbers 1 to 10 along the top and down the side somewhere convenient.  Doing so, I told the kids there was no rush to fill in the grid.  Naturally, within a day they had each filled in their individual grid.  Most exciting was the conversation overheard on the patterns observed and ways to determine the desired answer.  Immediately, each child requested a new grid larger than the first.  This one has taken a little longer but continues to expand their understanding of multiplication and workings of numbers.  

Living math is labor intensive as you must be active and involve, but my kids will tell you they love math!  That is success in a culture that can crush excitement in math.