Math practice, especially just rote math practice, can be very boring. But I’ve found that presenting math on new and interesting mediums can persuade a pretty reluctant child to practice their math. We regularly find new ways to practice. I remember the first time I saw a dry erase board. Vividly. It was Take Your…
Kids are naturally drawn to puzzles. Not all kids, of course, but there is something about puzzles that naturally draws in a lot of kids. And adults. Yes, I admit to putting together all of the puzzles when we’re cleaning. (I absolutely have to make sure all the pieces are there…). Puzzles are naturally great…
We got one of those amazing spy kits last year and there were a lot of fun activities in it for breaking codes and whatnot. I noticed a few that they came back to over and over and the red cellophane thing was one of them. It was almost like magic! So of course I…
Pokemon is awesome and multiplication facts stink, right? That’s pretty much what Baloo thinks, but he’s 9… Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of Pokemon Go. We immediately jumped on and joined the game and we are having a blast. Now, you guys know me, I will take advantage of any…
My kids wiggle. They’re just wiggly. Even at nearly 10, Baloo wiggles. They just want to be moving! So I figure I can fight it and somehow force them to be still (which would be impossible) or I can work with it. Certain subjects get more wiggles than others and math tends to be a…
I love playing board games with the boys and I hate it at the same time. On the one hand, it’s great for learning how to take turns, losing to lose, learning to win, and it’s great family time. On the other hand, it’s heartbreaking to watch your kid getting more and more frustrated by…
Making math real to kids is one of the best ways for them to actually grasp the material. Math can be very abstract and many kids just don’t grasp that as easily. Math manipulatives make math so much more concrete and real. The easiest way I’ve found to make it real is use real objects. …
We have a habit when we go on road trips to buy a bunch of new toys and activity booklets in hopes that they will be exciting enough that we can make it through the road trip. Granted, it works pretty well. I actually hide the new things until we hit the first breaking point. …
Learning should be fun. Kids should have fun learning. Learning happens best when it is fun. It all sounds good, right? But why? Why should learning be fun? And what does “fun” entail? I’m constantly talking about making learning fun but my real goal is teaching kids how to learn. But the catch is, if…
Practicing multiplication facts is boring. I don’t remember it being an issue as a kid, but I was really into school. My kids aren’t like that. They don’t learn for no reason. Learning is a natural response to an interest, and they’re not interested in math facts. I wouldn’t push, but I think memorizing facts…
The first thing I heard when I woke up Friday was “Finding Dory comes out today!!”. I honestly don’t know how they knew. We don’t really watch TV. Or YouTube. Or anything with commercials. I suspect it was my mother (who is way more excited for Finding Dory than anyone else in existence). Still, surprised…