Make Math Homework Fun- Ten Tips For Parents

Homework and fun rarely belong in the same sentence!

Substitute satisfying, productive, more enjoyable

Read these tips and guidelines for helping to hopefully Make Math homework Fun.

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  Remind yourself: You are the parent, not the teacher. Your job is to provide a quiet place, enough time to complete the assignments, materials and a positive environment for your child to do their work.
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  Music? Yes, television? No! Use background music without words, set low enough so you can just barely hear it. This will help create a positive fun homework atmosphere. Some new age music and classical music work well. Bach is mathematical in its construction. This music should not be from their everyday iPod lists! One note- when the activity is routine, easy or does not require a huge amount of concentration, familiar music with words could be used. It still should not be their iPod music.
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  For the struggling math student, breaking the math assignment down into manageable chunks by creating quick and simple rewards for completion of each chunk often helps. Create a blend of snacks (not candy), drinks, points and stickers to use as rewards. Some students might prefer an all-at-once-no-stopping plan. Just be sure the option to break it down is always available.
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  Encourage the student to talk and move and sing while they work! Home is not school, they can make talk, sing, sit on their legs, squiggle, as long as they are focused and working! When studying for a test throwing a ball against a wall, putting the facts to music, pacing back and forth all can be helpful and reduce stress levels.
  
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  Use flash card drill assignments to make math homework fun by using them to play a game. Throw a Koosh! ball or shoot baskets while reciting cards. Get a game board out with a spinner or dice. Roll or spin and read that number of flash cards before moving.
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  Get a bunch of Leggos. Each problem/row/page finished means receiving Leggos. Adapt this reward by creating conditions for each size or color of Leggo. If the answer has four digits, they get four singles, or two doubles or a triple and a single. An answer that is a multiples of three might mean blue only. Be creative. When the assignment is complete they can build!
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  Use your Jengo blocks! As a problem/ row is completed take one block out. If the answer is odd, take off two. Try to finish the assignment before the blocks fall.
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  Once and awhile, if it has been a tough night, or is late, or just an unfocused kind of night, use a simple game like pick up sticks or a game board like checkers and move as each problem is finished. This allows the parent to be near the child and and keep the momentum going and prevents the dreaded head down and I'm too tired moment. By the way, the parent should not hover over the work, they need to have their own work in front of them, casually keeping track of progress, and stop when it is time to "move" a game piece.
  
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  Movement can make a difference with any homework assignment's enjoyability factors. Since so much math involves sitting with pencil and paper, look for ways to incorporate movement into the other assignments for the night, thus clearing their heads and make the brain ready for a more concentrated task of math.

Creating a healthy overall math environment at home is one of the best things any parent can do. Let the students see parents using math in everyday situations as well as having a variety of fun math games and activities for the whole family to use will contribute to the positive atmosphere needed to make math homework fun as well. Learn more...

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Halloween Homwork: Make Math Fun with Fun Halloween Activities

Take advantage of holidays by having a never ending supply of holiday homework assignments. You can make math more fun, and also find creative writing, word puzzles and problem solving activities that can be used for Fun Halloween Activities that are perfect for homework.  This is an article that I wrote with six different sorts of educational Halloween activities that can be used for Halloween Homework.

 

Classroom Teachers Need Fun Halloween Activities to Use For Homework Assignments

By Sue Gnagy Fegan 

http://ezinearticles.com/?Classroom-Teachers-Need-Fun-Halloween-Activities-to-Use-For-Homework-Assignments&id=3098164


Halloween comes at the perfect time in the school year to give students a break. Teachers might give their students homework that includes fun Halloween activities without losing progress in their educational curriculum. Some teachers will take the time to create these on their own, others will purchase an activity to download. Here is a list of the sort of fun activities teachers should look for in products they create, purchase or download as a printable worksheets or games.

1. Word Search Puzzles These are easily created with programs found online or customized by hand using graph paper. Pre-made puzzles can be purchased, downloaded and saved for future use. The key here is to be sure the words are at the reading level of your students.Never just assign a word search puzzle without also including a way for the students to use the word independently. An example would be to write ten sentences, trying to fit two or three words in each sentence.
2. Fill in the Blank Word Puzzles These usually involve a particular word with some letters left blank and some additional activity to find the correct letter. It might be unscrambling. Often these worksheets include secret messages that are solved using letters from the words. Again in order to help build vocabulary, the students need to use the words from their assignments, may-be during an in class review or orally reciting a sentence as they go over homework in class.
3. Math Worksheets Normally math worksheets for Halloween are a worksheet pages decorated with pumpkins or ghosts and possible a secret word. What would be perfect for math Halloween homework is something different, where you might work with place value, or factors or review order of operations. Take the time to look for some quality math ideas to use as a fun Halloween activity assigned for homework.
4. Writing Prompts Teachers are always looking for new and different prompts to use for writing assignments. A motivating writing prompt pre-written on a Halloween designed worksheet that students to use for homework is an essential resource to have on hand.
5. Story Starters It is very common for higher elementary and middle school classes to begin the school year with a review of the plot chart. Halloween is perfect timing to put those to use and have the students write their own short story, with characters, conflict, the climax and a resolution. Using graphic organizers to plan out the plot elements ahead of time provides a great review of these terms. This is a perfect long term assignment, with the story due on Halloween.
6. Brain Teasers and Logic Puzzles Having a supply of Brain Teaser Cards to use with students during the week leading up to Halloween will give the students some problem solving opportunities. Sending each student home with some of these and challenge them to come up with solutions is a simple yet effective way to get them to use problem solving skills and to get their families involved as well.

Halloween comes once a year whether teacher like it or not. The closer the holiday comes, the harder it is to keep student focused. Having some fun Halloween activities to use as homework assignments may be just the thing needed to tap into that energy, and keep their brains focused on academics.

Here is a link to information about one of the most comprehensive supply of  teacher created Halloween Educational games out there.

KIDS HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES

Make Math Homework Fun- Tips For Teachers

Do Not Let Your Students Groan Each Time You Assign Homework!
Create and Use Fun Yet Motivating Assignments
Make Math Homework Fun!

Rarely will you find homework and fun used in the same sentence. Teachers have the power to make homework fun or at least more enjoyable by being sure work is not too hard, not too heavy a workload, and by providing a variety of types of assignments that include challenging, interesting games, puzzles or problem solving challenges.

These tips will remind teachers to step back and keep homework in the proper perspective.

1. The point of homework is to reinforce what is taught in the class. Do not expect the students to teach themselves with a homework assignment.
   
2. Homework is not busy work. It needs to be productive and relevant to their needs.
   
3. Homework should be work that can be done independently, meaning they have enough experience with the skill, they can do it at home with little or no help. Parents are not teachers!
   
4. Where is it written homework this has to be page after page of boring problems? Incorporating a variety of activities, that address the targeted skill, in a challenging, innovative game will serve the same purpose. This does not means to make math homework fun by sending a game or puzzle home everyday, but it does mean that it will be beneficial to incorporate these innovative and challenging activities into the overall scheme of things.
5. If you run out of time in class, and did not have a chance to fully finish explanations, then assigning the accompanying problems will be frustrating and cause ill-will. You will just have to go over it all again the next day. Fire drills, visitors, unexpected announcements happen; it is never wise to punish the students for this by giving work they are not prepared to finish.
6. No one fails a class because an occasional day goes by with no math homework. To be sure, a simple no homework tonight is the best definition of a fun math homework!
7. Always have a back up plan! Digital printable math games and/or activities can be sent home electronically or easily printed out at the last minute for those days things did not go as planned. And yes, it is even acceptable to skip homework occasionally, the children with thank you, their parent will thank-you!
8. Regular reinforcement of math facts is educationally sound, so regular homework is necessary. It just does not have to be the same boring drills over and over again.
   
9. Avoid the Monday memory freeze or the first day back from winter break memory chasm by providing valuable quality but fun homework activities and games to use over the weekend or on longer breaks. This will eliminate the groan factor, but keep skills sharp
10. 20-30 minutes of targeted, appropriate work for elementary and 30-45 minutes for middle school is plenty of time. Anything over that, promotes distaste and negative feelings toward the class.
11. Simple as can be, if you hate the homework load, you will hate the class and take longer to learn what you need.

Math teachers will benefit from remembering the whole picture and find a balance that works between assigning important reinforcing drills and problems, and making math homework fun by incorporating different challenging but enjoyable activities into the mix.

Learn more! Click here to Make Math Fun with innovative printable games and activities

Make Math More Fun--Truth Behind Making Learning Math Extra Fun

Do Not Allow Your Math Classroom To Become Too Quiet and Boring!
Find Ways to Make Math More Fun

Happy Students=Happy Teachers

I feel so strongly about creating a classroom that is educationally sound, yet is able to incorporate fun games and activities into the every day curriculum. Making math more fun is a simple and easy thing to do. These principals can be followed in all classrooms! I have copied below an article I used several times and then took the time to expand a bit on some of the suggestions. I hope you find this helpful in your quest to make math extra fun for your students.

Fun means different things to different people. It does not have to mean “play a game.” Making math more fun (or any other subject), happens when a variety of different activities are incorporated directly into daily lessons. Making learning extra fun happens when the teacher has fun in their teaching. Making a class fun does not mean make one day a special fun day. Children do not need a whole lot to create fun, something adults often forget with the mounds of toys and activities we provide for them. Children have been known to entertain themselves for an entire day with an old blanket by building fortresses and tents. Give a child of any age a beach and a shovel and endless ideas for fun happens. This article will suggest some simple but effective way to bring fun into the daily lessons.

Fun can be music. Use a favorite tune to sing the multiplication tables. Let the students choose a song and let them put some math facts to it. Allow soft music with no words to play in the background while working.
Fun can be color. Color is so simple to incorporate! Make flashcards on colored 3x5 cards. Student can learn to hilite worsheet directions in green and the answers in orange. Run printable math games and worksheets off on colored paper. Let students use colored pencil to do the math! Middle schoolers enjoy this as much as the younger ones!
Fun can be pictures. Draw a picture to illustrate a problem or set of problems. Students can find pictures in magazine that illustrate some of their homework problems, or write a math problem of their own based on a picture they find. Find a video on You Tube that illustrates a problem or helps learn a procedure.
Fun can be construction. Use Leggos as rewards for correct answers. The color and shape and size can be determined by differing attributes in each answer. The older they are the more challenging the attributes are, again middle schoolers love to play with building blocks. Jenga blocks can also be used by printing numbers on the sides of the blocks.
Fun can be throwing. A simple soft Koosh ball or bean bag can be used in oral drill; throw it back and forth to the student, teacher asks and throws, student answers and throws back. A indoor basketball hoop in the front of the class is motivation to get an answer correct and shoot. Teach a student to bounce a ball when reciting facts on their own time.
Fun can be talking with your hands. Design hand signals for vocabulary words to help memory. Create a mantra or a chant to recite them each day for memorizing steps to a procedure, adding hand movements to go with it.
Fun can be manipulating. Math classroom are full of manipulatives, use them! Many schools use fraction tiles, or attribute blocks. Anything can be cut apart and manipulated on desks and put back together. Post it notes with numbers can be used to do problems on the desk. They can be color coded them by place value!
Fun can be an unusual medium. There are special dry erase markers that will write on windows! They also can be used on many desk surfaces. Giant pencils, pencils that are straws, can be the simple thing that make the lesson enjoyable. Shaving cream, pudding or whipped cream is a messy beut extra fun way to write answers to problems!
Fun can be interesting creative games. Games of all shapes and sizes can be used in the classroom and still be part of the daily lesson! Printable math games with pencil and paper, challenging board games, large full classroom games where students get up and move around and even outdoor activities all have adaptations available to use to making learning math extra fun.
Learn more...

These ideas illustrate that creating an atmosphere filled with fun for math classes can be simple but effective. It is important that the teacher incorporate these activities directly into lessons and not as a separate special activity or game time. This creates a positive attitude towards the class as a whole and eliminates the students pestering with, “Can we play a game today?” annoying questions. Eventually making math learning more fun will become second nature, incorporating the techniques as a matter of routine to classes of all ages.

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