2011, my first year of homeschooling and my curriculum choices felt EXCRUTIATING. I was so worried about picking the wrong thing. Lacking confidence and a VISION the curriculum was my master so I HAD TO PICK THE RIGHT ONE.
Now I see curriculum as a tool, MY slave even, which is so freeing!
I delight in finding math in our everyday life! I enjoy learning more about myself as I try and see the world through their eyes and journey with them to a greater wonder of math. I DETEST making them do boring input, output delete type activities. Drudgery. I'm hunting for magic moments.
2 years ago during PE the power of these "learning moments" hit me so starkly. Zoe and Zane had completed dozens and dozens of draw the hour and minute clock problems in their math curriculum. Every week for months. Hello spiral curriculum. And, they were getting it. In a robotic way.
But, then there was this GIANT clock on the wall of this indoor pool at PE. And, they wanted to know what time we were leaving and how many minutes they had LEFT and how many more SLIDES they could get in before our departure. Very important stuff when you are 5. And, I try very hard to make their important stuff an opportunity for a shared adventure of discovery.
Their motivation to figure out the clock was off the charts. They watched the clock and asked a few questions. Responding to those few questions, in that moment, we made more progress than weeks worth of "curriculum". Why? Because the answer to the question MATTERED to them. When a child is curious their attention and focus are completely dialed in. Nothing stops a curious child!
How priceless it is to share in our children's delightful discoveries!
Here are ways I use the world as my classroom and discover math:
1) Halves and Quarters
- I love transforming mundane motherhood activities and making them meaningful! Enter sandwiches! This question preceeds you getting your sandwich most of the time at my house, "Do you want 1/2's or 1/4's? Do you want 4 pieces or 2 pieces.
- Do you want 2 rectangles or 4 rectangles?
- 3 year olds can understand complex math when it is meaningful and modeled with passion
2) PIZZA! Who wants to help me cut the pizza into fractions? Just using the terms you need them to understand puts them in their working vocabulary and develops their number concepts. Going out to most pizzerias they have the sizes with the diameters of pizzas on the wall. Perfect visuals! Which makes a great discussion! Look at the 10", 12", 14" and 16". If they are all cut into 1/8's which pizza would you want an 1/8th of? How much pizza is left after our family finished eating? What fraction is it? This is meaningful math that matters. It becomes a group discovery. Did your little brother have half of an 1/8... what is that fraction? And, sometimes these fractions are HARD for me to figure out which is perfect. I model it is truly stumping me and work with what I know. Kids learn so much when they see a grown up sincerely say, "I don't know". What a gift we give to our children when we model how to handle not knowing. And, what an invitation for them to journey in the discovery!
3) Road trips! We recently went to Florida to visit some friends. It was a 6 hour trip. So at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 point we celebrated. We celebrated the FRACTION and PERCENT!
For preschoolers: "the top of my head is Charlotte the tips of my toes, Florida. We are 1/4 of the way there we are 25% of the way there we are at my SHOLDERS...ish :)
4) Age in things. When I said yes to children I said yes to mess. I am always looking for creative ways to teach them to help with joy! (Colossians 3:23) Habits are built ever so slowly...Math and clean-up marry well. While getting gas, "Everyone grab your age in things of trash in your row and pass it forward". After a busy week in the car, "everyone grab your age in things and take it out of the car." A massive pile of legos that is threatening to make me despondent, "everyone grab your age in LEGOS times 3!"
Often my kids, with this significant measurable attainable goal, go above and beyond! "You did 4 MORE things then your age in things that is so awesome." And, how encouraging it is to this weary momma on how it adds up. 12+7+7+5+3+1=... Well that sounds like a problem I would work with them together! And, by no means do I feel pressure to grab every math problem, just the ones that are jumping out at me.
"Age in things". This is a phrase heard even at dinner. You must eat your age in green beans or carrots before being offered dessert. At 5 years old Zadie doesn't have a single math worksheet. And, I absolutely don't think she should! But, conceptually she plays with 2 times 5 and 3 times 5 during clean-up! This is a regular way we talk and so as they get older so does their working knowledge of that times table. And, they get to hear the conversations of their siblings times tables! They LOVE to make sure others are doing their appropriate amount of "things".
5) Groceries. Most Fridays I take my crew to Sam's after the Y to do our weekly shop. We use the store as our classroom. Mostly they enjoy guessing about the total. Each week they know approximately how much we spend and they enjoy ESTIMATING. This is a great chance to develop number concepts. We also rotate (under my direction) who picks up what item. Zach grabs the spinach and how much is it again? Once the receipt prints they all can't wait to know who was over and under on their guess. And, what a perfect chance to do greater than and less than! And, it helps keep them out of trouble :)
6) Baking. There are TONS of fractions in baking! My older boys love to bake and as long as they clean up the mess I let them bake on Fridays. They often double a recipee to share with others and there are endless opportunities with fractions. Zach made a chocolate pie the other day and had to figure out 3, 1 ounce chocolate squares in a 4 ounce pack times 2. But, he was highly motivated to figure this math problem out!
7) Sales! Zach is in a Nike phase. When Nike clothes are 25% off, a perfect "problem" to crack together. The other week I woke up to Steve and Zach at the dry erase board with graphs on what the cost of a shoe was compared to what they sell it for! It was Saturday.
8) Division fun! The twins 100th day of Kindergarden we went to Chuck E Cheese and I got 100 coins and we had fun working together to DIVIDE them equally (among 4 "gamers" at the time, Zeke was only a baby and Zayden was still held in God's heart). Anytime there is a limited number of a special treat they LOVE doing the division. Everyone is highly focused on dividing a dozen donuts equally among 12 people. We make it fun!
I love searching for their UNIQUE interests and pointing out the math in it! This isn't always easy but it is worth it. And, I won't find what I am not searching for. And, the reward of delight in their eyes at getting the next level is an instant reward!
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