Math Resource Reviews
Math Resources

Homeschool Directory
Math

Eclectic Educational Weblinks:

• A Budget for Every Income
  by Jeff O’Leary
  When you get right down to it, most of our children will never grow up to be nuclear scientists or mathematicians. However, the math concepts we teach them will prove invaluable in some very important ways. “If Johnny has $1 and spends 70 cents on candy how much does he have left?” This question not only teaches subtraction but the idea that money is finite—it is limited, and we must choose how we’ll spend what God gives us.
• Algebra Manipulatives
  by Cindy O'Leary
  It’s easy to find math manipulatives for students when they’re still learning arithmetic in elementary school. You can buy Cuisenaire Rods, or use many items found around the house such as coins or M and M’s. But what can you do when your child is studying algebra and struggling to solve quadratic equations?
• Algebra, Not Necessarily a Nightmare
  by Kate O’Mara
  If the thought of teaching algebra and higher math to your kids is causing you anxiety, you’ll want to read Kate O’Mara’s tale of how, even when her fears became reality and things went horribly wrong, there was still a way through the morass.
• Basketball Math
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  With the NBA playoffs just around the corner, your sports minded son or daughter may enjoy a little recreational mathematics. The following activities show how basketball intersects with statistics, algebra, and geometry.
• Battleship Math
  by Cindy O'Leary
  During the summertime kids have a tendency to forget much of the math they had learned during the year. To help combat this forgetfulness, without having to do math papers all summer, it is fun to play games that use math skills learned during the year. A great way to practice using ordered pairs, coordinate systems, and problem-solving skills is by playing Battleship. You don’t have to run out and buy the board game to play it. You can make your own.
• Bits and Pieces for Math and Science
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Have you ever had one of those days when you are all set to dig into an exciting project and find that you’ve forgotten one small but essential element? Has your son happily informed you that it is impossible to do his math assignment because you have no graph paper? Well, I have! It's frustrating. This article is about those bits and pieces. How to keep from an abrupt termination of your plans by having on hand certain homeschool essentials.
• Bolster Math Skills with Technology
  by Beth Waltman
  Many homeschooling parents groan when it comes to teaching math. The endless worksheets, the drills and practices, the formulas and word problems seem like a daunting mountain to climb. If a child is an audio or kinesthetic learner, the challenge is even more difficult. However, for those with computer access, online tools and software options can fill the learning gaps.
• Calculating Tools through History
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  The modern calculator and desktop computer are the current calculating tools of choice. Mathematicians have developed a number of different means in past centuries to make repetitive calculations quicker and easier. Learning about these various calculating tools can increase our understanding of numbers and how we use them.
• Digital Logic
  by EHO Staff
  Interactive digital logic learning tool created by Geoffrey at RealApplets.com. With it you can create your own logic circuits and test them.
• Discovering Fractions
  by Beth Waltman
  When working with fractions, children at several levels of mathematical understanding can learn at once. Manipulatives are as close as the kitchen. Every child understands the beginning concepts of sharing a pizza or splitting a piece of cake. They may have figured out that in a family of 5 dividing a 10-piece pizza, each person will eat two slices. They may not realize it, but they already have the ideas necessary to beginning work with fractions.
• Domino Power
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  A game of dominoes is a terrific way to work math practice into family fun. There are many varied ways of playing dominoes. Start out simple and work up to more complicated games.
• Enriching Math Resources
  by EHO Staff
  If you're like most homeschoolers, you're on the lookout for math resources that will make learning math concepts easier and more fun. These resources should provide you a few more options.
• Fear of Fractions
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  When you understand math, it can be hard to grasp just where someone struggling with a particular concept is having a problem. I once was asked for help with fractions from a homeschool mom who was desperately looking for something to help her daughter that she herself was able to understand. She wasn’t getting fractions, so she couldn’t help her daughter who also wasn’t getting fractions.
• Free Educational Math Games
  by EHO Staff
  Seven free or nearly free math software games.
• Fun Ways for Practicing Math Facts
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Learning their math facts is the bane of some homeschool students. If you could just find a fun way for them to practice that clicked with them. Perhaps one of these suggestions will work for you.
• Helping Your Child Learn Math
  by Patsy F. Kanter with Linda B. Darby
  As our children go about their daily lives exploring and discovering things around them, they are exposed to the world of mathematics.
• Home Floor Plans
  by Cindy O'Leary
  Summertime in the O’Leary family is often moving time. Being part of a military family means living in many different houses. One of the biggest challenges, once we’ve selected our new home, is to figure out where all the furniture will go. I like to make a scale drawing of our new place as well as scale drawings of our furniture. Perhaps you’re not moving in the near future, but you’d like to rearrange some of your furniture to make the most of the space you have available in your house. This can be a great homeschool family project.
• Make Your Own Tangrams
  by Cindy O'Leary
  Many of us have had fun playing with tangram pieces, trying to figure out how to make certain tangram pictures. Make your own tangram pieces with just a pencil, straight edge, and a piece of graph paper.
• Making Math Review Fun
  by Cindy O'Leary
  Each time a new school year begins I’m always amazed at how much math my kids have forgotten over the summer. It seems there are always many facts and concepts that we need to review. Math games make reviewing more fun.
• Managing Big Numbers
  by EHO Staff
  The budget for the federal government is massive. It uses numbers in the millions, billions and trillions. Try to wrap your mind around spending 60.8 billion dollars, as the Department of Transportation did last year, and you'll get an idea of how hard it can be to imagine how much is a million, billion, or trillion
• Marvelous Math Manipulatives
  by Cindy O'Leary
  I have been looking through catalogues lately, trying to decide which math curriculum to use for my son who will be in third grade next year. I was amazed when I saw the price of manipulatives. One company offered a basic package that cost over $70!
• Mastering the Basic Facts
  by Beth Waltman
  When a child is beginning math, parents eagerly coach them to become fluent in adding and subtracting. Becoming proficient in these operations prepares them for more exciting and applicable math problems. Without really knowing the facts to the point of automaticity, the child plods along in problems while peers zip through them.
• Math Bingo
  by Cindy O'Leary
  Bingo is a game that most kids as well as adults enjoy. Math Bingo can be a fun way to review math concepts or study for a test.
• Math Cadences
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  If you have ever been around a group of marching soldiers, you will probably have heard what is called a marching cadence. A marching cadence is a call and response made in a sing song voice. The drill sergeant or other leader of the group calls out a line and the squad then repeats that line. Math cadences are similar, but incorporate skip counting.
• Math for the Reluctant Learner
  by Beth Waltman
  It can be challenging to make math appealing to all learners. There are some children who have mental blocks about their own ability to do math, or who may just not care for math. They might find it boring and say it doesn't relate to real life. The homeschool parent’s job is to stimulate curiosity, showing that math has answers for pertinent questions.
• Math in the Bible
  by Cindy O'Leary
  The Bible is full of numbers. In fact, there is an entire book by that name. You know the passages. They go something like this; When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. (Gen. 5:12) or In the 7th year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 40 years. (2 Kings 12:1) There’s lots to learn from the numbers in the Bible.
• Math Skills: Making Change
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Why did the homeschool mom run outside with her purse open? She was looking for a little change in the weather. In the age of the computer chip the skill of making change seems to have gone by the way side. When that computerized cash register fails, the need to know how to make change becomes quickly apparent.
• Math with Preschoolers
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Finding patterns, being able to describe them, determine when they occur, determine when they never occur, this is the core of mathematics. Learning to see patterns is the heart of a preschoolers mathematical learning.
• Picture Books for Math
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Good books are an excellent way to open mathematical discussions with children. There are quite a number of good picture books that correlate with mathematical topics.
• Platonic Solids – Cool Math and Pretty Ornaments
  by Clay Hougland
  There are only five platonic solids. You could play around with regular polygons for a while to come to that conclusion, but there is a mathematical means of figuring out that only five platonic solids exist. Learn about the platonic solids and download our platonic solids ornaments.
• Teaching our Children to Save and Invest
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  We've all heard the old adage by Benjamin Franklin, "A penny saved is a penny earned." If you don't blow that penny you have in your pocket today on something frivolous, you'll have it tomorrow to spend on something worthwhile. We need to teach our children the value of saving, but we also need to teach them not to stick their money in a piggy bank or underneath their mattress. A penny saved can become two pennies if it's invested where it will earn interest.
• The Different Faces of Mathematics Instruction
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Just as instruction in reading is enmeshed in the struggle between proponents of whole language and phonics, there is a struggle in mathematics education. Attempts to redefine how we teach math and what we teach have been going on almost since the advent of public education. What do these “math wars” have to do with homeschooling?
• Timeline of the History of Mathematics
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  People and events important to the history of mathematics.
• Unraveling Word Problems Containing Variables
  by Beth Waltman
  One of the best tools for helping our children apply math principles is solving word problems. Word problems demand that children make decisions about equations to determine a quantitative answer. Often, the equation will contain at least one variable. Sometimes, students don't see the value of understanding variables until they attempt to solve a real-life problem. The first such problems we pose are often spoken aloud rather than written.
• Using Geoboards
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Geoboards are great math manipulative to have on hand for long car rides, trips to the dentist or other times when young children need something to keep them occupied. Kids love to play with geoboards and a package of rubber bands. Don't limit that geoboard to your preschooler though. There are many ways to use geoboards to teach math concepts.
• Valentine Number Families
  by Cindy O'Leary
  Math is always more fun when it can be related to whatever festive season is near—in this case, Valentine's Day. Here is something that I have devised to help my son learn his number families.
• Visual Help in Multiplying Positive and Negative Integers
  by Beth Waltman
  As children begin to practice operations using both positive and negative numbers, they may need extra help in illustrating the concepts. Students need to see a visual aid to help them remember that multiplying is creating “sets.” I have found an approach that is easily recreated by using either crayons or construction paper.
• Where Am I?
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Determining where you are on earth is very important to travelers, but is was especially difficult in past centuries for mariners in the middle of the ocean who had no landmarks to help them. For many centuries seafarers did not venture out of sight of the coasts. Today we can use GPS satellites to get a precise fix on our location. In the past, tools of navigation included the astrolabe or sextant to determine latitude. Determining longitude took many more centuries because an extremely accurate clock or chronometer was required.
• Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
  by Cindy O'Leary
  How many times have you caught yourself exaggerating using the word “million?” “I’ve told you a million times!” “I’ve got a million things to do today!” And how many more times to we hear that word coming out of the mouths of our children? “I’ve got a million pages to read!” “I wish I had a million dollars.” Just how much is a million anyway? Here are some things you can try to get your kids to “see” a million.

Unit Studies - Math

• Geometry Unit Study
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Math topics are not often considered fodder for unit studies. Most people have a figure or number oriented view of mathematics. They think in terms of number sentences, problems and formulas. From that point of view it can be difficult to see all the possibilities for language, history and science study that can be found in a mathematical topic. Naturally visual, geometry works well as a first mathematical unit study.
• History of Math Unit Study
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  Although we may think of them as nerds fiddling with their calculators or talking in incomprehensible terms, mathematicians throughout history have made important contributions to the progress mankind has made. Without mathematicians we would not be able to build tall buildings, visit the moon, or email one another on our computers. History buffs and the mathematically inclined will both enjoy the broad scope of the history of mathematics. Ideally this study should be used with upper level students who have at least a beginning understanding of algebra. How Math Works by Carol Vorderman makes many of the topics accessible to younger students.