Fun Math Websites!

 “Can we play a game?”

“Can we have a free day?”

These are typical pleas heard almost daily in my middle school math classroom.  Most days, of course, I have to be a scrooge and tell them no, that we are in math class and it’s supposed to be agonizing because how else would I get my entertainment? 🙂

However, I have a few favorite websites that I use to reinforce certain math concepts.  Remember the old game “Connect Four,” where you drop checkers into the slots and try to get four in a row before your opponent can block you?  At  http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/ArithmeticFour/ you can play a version where the students answer problems dealing with concepts such as operations using positive and negative integers.  Kids love doing this in class, and get lots of much needed practice while competing with their classmates.  I have to warn you though, tweens are brutal!

My favorite site is the National Library of Virtual Math Manipulatives, http://nlvm.usu.edu .  There are tons of games and mind benders on this site.  I enjoy getting on here myself and playing just for fun!  Remember about 20 years or so ago (wayyy back before my time, by the way!) we had those little plastic squares with the numbers 1-15 in them, that you had to slide side to side and up and down to try and put the numbers in order? There is actually one of these on the site called Fifteen Puzzle, under the Algebra 6-8 block.

Other fun puzzles on the same site that you may recognize are the peg puzzle, Towers of Hanoi, Circle Zero, Circle 21, Circle 99, and Circle 3.  Whether you or your child go on these sites just for fun or just for curiosity’s sake, you’re bound to get some practice in some math related skill without knowing it!  Just don’t tell them it will be fun!

Have a math question that needs answered?  Ask me anytime…I will try to help explain how to solve it!

How do I get my kid to like math?

How do I get my kid to like math?  As a parent, I’m sure this is a question you ask yourself over and over again to no avail.  In all honesty, there is no real quick and easy answer.

Math is one of those subjects that if you’re good at it, you like it, and if you’re not good at it, you don’t.  There seems to be an unconscious will to give up if you can’t keep up with your peers.  What can a parent do?

First of all, don’t pressure your child and make them feel like they have to like math.  Start simple; get them good at the basics, the old adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing using flashcards that they make themselves.

Get colorful index cards or interesting printed paper that your child finds appealing to look at.  Many times a child will be able to recall the flash card in their mind when they see the problem on a worksheet just because of the uniqueness of their homemade flash card!

Since every topic in math is built upon the basic operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, then half the battle will already have been won if your child feels like this is something he or she knows how to do.

Remember,  it’s never too late to get better at basic math facts, whether your child is in elementary, middle or high school!