Hi! It’s Monday, July 12, 2010 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!
Recommended Website:
Mixing In Math
Age Range: 4-12 (grades PreK-6)
Just in time for summer learning! Mixing In Math (MiM), funded by the National Science Foundation, provides educators and parents with free activities, games and resources that provide ways to mix math into daily activities (e.g., hanging around the house, playing games, doing crafts, cooking, shopping, etc.) to help kids see the value of math in every day life and to reinforce their math skills.
It is difficult to describe the wealth of material here in both English and Spanish that includes ingenious suggestions for math activities designed for 1-4 participants that can be done in:
- Under 10 minutes
- 10-20 minutes
- 20-60 minutes
The activities cover math strands that include:
- Numbers and Arithmetic
- Measurement
- Money
- Time
- Data
- Patterns and Algebra
- Geometry
When you get to the site you’ll see some icons that lead to explanations of what is available on the site. You can click around and quickly find activities and resources. I recommend that you use the horizontal menu bar at the top of the page and place your cursor over “Materials” to see a drop-down list that includes:
*Activity List – See a list of over 60 activities that help kids practice math skills. Click on any one and a new page opens with colorful instructions, examples, and variations. Some are simple such as: “It’s about 4:25. We’ll have snack in 20 minutes. What time will that be?” and some require more time and preparation such as graphing how tall house plants grow.
*Download Activities – This list is the same as the one above, except each activity opens a pdf file. Print out one activity or print out all of them and place them in a binder to use at will.
*Games – This section provides printable “game boards” for activities that provide practice in math and critical thinking skills.
*Calendars – Download and print out a year’s worth of calendars with simple math activity suggestions such as count the seeds in an apple or find the number 24 on something in your kitchen.
*Posters – Print out posters with provocative math questions. Post one on the wall and see if it inspires your kids to find the answer to these puzzles: “Up to how many miles away can a lion’s roar be heard?” “What’s about the same size as a Blue Whale’s heart: a mailbox, a VW beetle, or a UPS truck?”
*Newsletters – Access the archived MiM newsletters with all kinds of additional lesson ideas and activities for learning math.
*Mixing in Math Moments – Print out individual sheets with a “Math Moment” to inspire kids to do a quick math activity or as a way to give kids something to do.
*Activity Search – Search the activities based on parameters such as grade level from Pre-K through 6, length of activity, materials, math strand, and type of activity. Note: Too many limitations can lead to a “not found” message. It’s better to select just one or two options to limit your search if you want good results.
While MiM was designed with classroom teachers in mind, I think it’s a no-brainer for homeschool parents who want to encourage their kids to see that there are opportunities to learn math everywhere.
