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Have you heard? I've started a separate blog,
The Sugar Sharks, all about our life with Type I Diabetes.
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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

WFMW: Easy Math Practice

My daughter is in second grade this year.  Each month her teacher sends home two blank calendars- one for recording minutes spent reading, and one for recording minutes spent practicing simple addition & subtraction. The idea is that the faster they can recall the simple math facts, the easier it will be for them to do the more advanced math in class.

Here are the free or cheap ways we practice simple math facts:
  • a dollar store workbook.  My daughter loves to use as she plays school with her younger brother- I think he's learning, too!
  • as we're driving in the car, anywhere, we will quiz DD verbally.  Her younger brother gets into the act, too, although his answers (after he runs out of numbers he throws anything out there- "Chicken!"  "Blue!") don't necessarily fit the question.  :)   It makes it fun for everyone.
  • use this free online math quiz-- very basic, just like flash cards
  • a set of Princess flash cards, picked up for $1 at Target
  • play this free online math pumpkin game-- kids have to solve the math problem to plant/ care for their pumpkins
  • play this free online soccer math game- for each correct answer, kids get to aim and kick a ball into the net
  • using free printable worksheets from Kidzone or any of the many homeschool sites 
  • play the free math games on Gamequarium-- all kinds of themes, from Tom & Jerry to Outer Space
  • and this last one won't apply unless you happen to have a child with Type I Diabetes.... but DD helps us add up the carbs she's eaten at each meal so we can figure out her insulin dose.  She can't always add the larger numbers in her head, but she'll help by using a calculator or piece of paper.  I'm pretty sure that if I had known back in school that one day my math skills would be needed to calculate the "medicine" that keeps my daughter alive, I'd have done much better in algebra!
Free and fun math practice works for us!  If you have any other math practice tips, I'd love to hear them.

Check out more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We Are That Family.

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1 comment:

  1. These are such nice activities. Thumbs up to your daughter's teacher for encouraging parents to practise math skills regularly. Dollar store workbooks are great and my little one loves carrying flashcards around.

    One great simple activity which I have on my Maths Insider blog is throwing 2 dice and adding/subtracting/ multiplying the 2 numbers together.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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