Homeschool games assist with captivating the attention of children. Using made up games, or existing games all work together to for the one goal of creating an open learning environment. Here are a few ways that we have used games in Math.
Fractions
Fractions make up so many parts of everyday life. As a younger child it was hard for me to understand why I had to learn all of the different ways to do fractions. Doubling fractions, subtracting fractions, mixed numbers and more were not easy. Now, as a homeschool mom it is much easier to teach fractions using everyday life.
Cooking is the best way to teach fractions. We made pumpkin bread. My son used fractions in several parts of the recipe. He learned how to follow directions. Finally, he learned to be careful and get the exact amount of cinnamon. The pumpkin bread was still very good, even with a small mistake.
Teaching him to double a recipe for us to take to a friend, helped him learn a step above his grade.
Circumference of a Circle
Learning the circumference of a circle was easier to do with a hands on project. Instead of using a game I used an actual game called spirograph. Spirograph allows the user to make several circular designs. We decided this may be a good way to work through some problems with circumference.
We grabbed a large piece of art paper and set to work making circles. Big circles and little circles. Next, we measured the inside diameter of the circles. Finally, he applied the formula of 2 x 3.14 (pi) x r and solved the equations. Learning was fun and he now understands the circumference of a circle.
Legos
My youngest son has a great imagination. At one point we were building a tower. This is math related because he started to count how many legos were in his tower. Then he used some addition to see how wide he could make the bottom of the tower.
At last, he just had fun with the tower and played with his toys. Patterns are another way that he has used legos. For my youngest, I definitely see how he responds very well to his hands on activities and the games we create. He is very smart, imaginative and creative. Since he has been three years old we have used games, blocks, cooking and legos in addition to his workbooks.
As a homeschooler there are many fun and creative ways to assist learning. Allowing imagination and gameplay into homeschool has been helpful.
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