Early Elementary Math Resources

One of my homeschooling inspirations is the memory of the many things my Dad taught me at home when I was a preschooler. My father (who turned 77 yesterday, happy birthday!) could almost always make learning fun. When I was about four or five, he kept a blue notebook (we simply called it the blue book) where he and I did fun things together: simple math problems, writing poetry, learning the color wheel and how to mix paint colors. I loved that book!

I've tried to tap into his "learning is fun" approach when it comes to teaching math to the sweet girl. Kindergarten math went well, but we both struggled a little (as teacher and learner) in the first grade year. I think it's a combination of things: my own lack of confidence that I can teach this subject as well as history and language arts, and the fact that my daughter's skills in math feel very different than mine. While I loved lower math, especially addition and subtraction (partly thanks to the games Dad taught me) and struggled with other, more complex spatial ideas (like fractions) the sweet girl is almost exactly the opposite. Her grasp of fractions, for instance, was better at the age of four than mine was in second grade. She also enjoys learning concepts like place value.

But she's balked at learning math facts, and it doesn't help that I've second-guessed myself many a time about having blended (or moved too quickly) from manipulative to mental/abstract phases. (We use Horizons curriculum, which tends to present certain concepts and keep on reviewing them even as they present new concepts.) She actually adds and subtracts quite well, but she's not memorized many facts (much beyond 10). She can get anxious with double-digit work and carrying, a concept we just began toward the end of first grade year. And she went through a phase in spring where she decided she really didn't like working with flash cards, which just about drove this mama bear crazy. I've never been able to invest in those cool, expensive math manipulative sets (we use decorative stones from Wal-Mart's floral arranging section for counters!) but I did invest in two excellent sets of addition/subtraction flash cards from "Math in a Flash."

Watching her set up mental blocks for herself can be frustrating, especially when I know she has it in her to do the work easily. I know that both because she's bright, and because on days when everything seems to be "clicking" she can glide smoothly and easily through problems that stump her on other days. Playing math games, encouraging number play/work in every day situations, and trying to find new ways to work on memorizing facts are all part of my current plans (in a more relaxed way this summer, but stepping up the pace as we move toward fall).

With all this in mind, I've been delighted to find some terrific free online resources/helps. Here are some of my favorite early elementary math resources at the moment:

Dr. Mike's Math Games for Kids. The link is set to his page of games for first graders, but he covers bases for kids older and younger than that as well. Lots of game ideas and printable charts and worksheets.

Open Wide, Look Inside, a blog self-described as a blog about teaching elementary math, science and socials studies, with heavy emphasis on the integration of children’s literature across the curriculum. The link is set to my current favorite destination on the blog, a list of addition/subtraction resources for second graders, but you'll find all sorts of useful things for other grade levels if you poke around.

Ten Frame, one of the games we found through the Open Wide post just mentioned. It's a simple but fun computer game where children can do all sorts of things involving a frame of ten squares (two rows of five) and colored circles (filling the squares with the correct number of circles, adding circles in two frame sets, noting how many frames are empty in a given set, etc.) Cute graphics and sounds. Though this one is mostly pretty easy for her skill set, the sweet girl likes it, and I like that she can review basic concepts in such a painless way.

If your child can't get enough of worksheets, check out the Math Worksheet Site which lets you generate different types of worksheets depending on what skills you want to emphasize.

Besides these online resources, I also highly recommend Ruth Beechick's The Three R's, which combines her old title "A Home Start in Reading," "A Strong Start in Language," and "An Easy Start in Arithmetic." Sometimes I just need to go back and re-read portions of her basic but usually very solid guidance on teaching young learners in a natural way.

And we love Mathtacular, the DVD series produced by Sonlight. We used the first one last year. They call it "unbelievably understandable math." Justin, the young man who presents the concepts, is enthusiastic and engaging, and I love that my daughter gets another "teacher" at least once a week.