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I remember learning my multiplication tables when I was Little Buddy’s age and not exactly enjoying it. And that’s a major understatement.
At dinner time, my Daddy would grill me on my sevens. At breakfast, my mother would quiz me with a that week’s numbers. And I still didn’t get them like I should have. I was multiplication dense.
I was determined to make multiplication fun for Little Buddy. I didn’t want for him to dread the flash cards or get nauseous at the word “math” like I did. That can seem like a very daunting task, can’t it?
But, so far, so good.
We’re using Math-U-See the first half of our year for our math. I say for the first half of the year because we are year-round schoolers and rather than advancing to the next grade, I’m planning on using another math curriculum for the same grade level. I’ll see how that little plan works and keep you posted when we get there. I’m not opposed to changing my mind. That’s for certain!
I love that this curriculum comes with an instructional DVD to cover each lesson (I have to admit, I’ve learned some cool math tricks watching this each week!), a teacher manual, a student text, and a test booklet.
Little Buddy loves that we also purchased the manipulatives. They have helped him to “see” the math problem and solution quiet easily. He also loves to build with them – that’s a good thing when math manipulatives are seen as toys. Right?
For Math-U-See, our math schedule looks like this:
Monday: We begin our week by watching the DVD of that week’s math lesson. Complete worksheet A together. Completes worksheet B on his own.
Tuesday: Completes worksheet C. Play a math drill game.
Wednesday: Completes worksheet D.
Thursday: Completes worksheet E. Completes worksheet F as a practice test.
Friday: Test from test booklet.
Oh, and so far, we’re both enjoying our multiplication tables this year!
What do you use for teaching math?
My kids love multiplication.com. The games are FUN! My kids do homeschool through an online program, K12. This year, their online part of the math is better and has more games. They have a game on there called Germ Multiplication that they LOVE! My 3rd grader has them all memorized and is now doing longer multiplication in his head while I check it on a calculator. Nice!
We also use Math U See and my kids (and I) love to learn with Mr. Demme. We also add some “fun” things like Math Wrap Ups, Timez Attack, Multiplication.com and board games that help with multiplication. The way I see it, if they are not mastering the concept, you keep working on it using different techniques until they do.
Best of luck to you. I look forward to reading more from you!
We have used Math U See from the beginning. It is the ONLY subject that we have never dreaded nor curriculum hopped on! There was a little grumbling in the triple digit multiplication and the super long division, but it was to be expected and rather short lived.
I plan on using it all the way through Calculus!
One activity I’ve done with children is write numbers on a soccer ball. You throw the ball back and forth. When you catch the ball you yell out the number and multiply it with the number the next person shouts out. Good way to practice while playing.
Thanks for sharing. I love using math games to reinforce multiplication. Fun Math Games