Monday, November 30, 2009

Parents Use Printable Games At Home For Making Math More Fun

Parents should not shy away from playing math games with their children while at home. Board games and card games are easily adapted to use with math flash cards and printable board and card games downloaded and saved on your computer allow for a never ending supply.

Here are some suggestions of times to play math games with your child:

On a night there is no homework.
  • Pull out a game, and have some fun.
  • Use flash cards with the spinner or dice. Whatever number rolled is the number of cards that need read.
  • Printable games can be adapted so multiple skill levels are played at one time.
When your child is home sick.
  • Parents are always calling school to try to go get make-up assignments
  • When a child is sick, they often have trouble concentrating, particularly if they missed the explanations in class.
  • Playing a fun game, that uses their math skills, but is not too taxing will give them time to think about math without the pressure.
Snow Days!
  • Need I say more?
  • Also works for Hurricane Days, Flood Days, No Electricity Days
A Rainy Sunday Afternoon
  • A great low key kind of time to sit and play a fun games with your child.
  • Get some math practice in at the same time.

School Vacations
  • Not while away on a vacation trip, but a vacation from school that lasts a number of days or weeks.
  • Having a supply of board games for making math more fun will solve those, "I don't have anything to do!" moments.
  • Keeps skills current and helps prevent the vacation memory loss teachers notice.

Using these opportunities to play math card and board games with your child will help make math more fun for all.

Finding a high quality resource,written by a teacher and used in the classroom, that can be downloaded to your home computer will create a supply of printable card and board games and other activities that can be used for years with children of all ages.

Check out my Make Math Fun website for some great activities parents can use at home

Some of these games might be strategy games that push higher level thinking skills and are quite a good way of making math more fun at home since parents can get into the strategy while their children end up practicing their math facts.

For Directions to Make Go Fish Card Game a Fun Math game go to Ezine Articles: Fun Math Card Games--Three Simple Ways to Adapt Go Fish

Here are Directions to Make the Card Game Rummy a Fun Math game. Ezine Articles: A Fun Math Card Game- Three Simple Ways to Adapt a Game Called Rummy


FYI:
Printable downloadable materials by the way pay for themselves so quickly. the cost is usually averages out to about a dollar a day for the first month, then it is paid for and yours to use forever. When there is a sale, like at holiday times the cost is even better. These also come with a no risk money back guarantee.

Make Math Fun: http://thesue-teaching-tips.info

Monday, November 23, 2009

Four Basic Teaching Principles Justifying Playing Fun Math Games

Here are some of my thoughts on the underlying teaching principles involved in making math fun for your students by using fun educational math games with your students. If you take the time to figure out great ways to work these games into your lesson they can be quite effective.


Provides Opportunity For Reinforcement of Math Skills

  • Consistent drill that is repeated over and over again is one of the best way for facts to be memorized

  • Drills work best when spread out over a number of days or weeks.

  • Playing fun math games provide more drill opportunities than using flash cards will.

  • With games, the same facts might be encountered twenty times and the student will not even notice since they are focused on playing the game.

  • Just try showing your students the same flash cards twenty times and see their reaction!


Forces the Students To Use Pencil and Paper

  • The kids expect instant and digital interaction since this world has forced educators to put pencil and paper aside in favor of online activities.

  • Printable math games provide a fun way to force the children to use pencil and paper.

  • Using pencil and paper is powerful educational tool as you remember what you write much longer than what you type.


Is A Cost Effective Tool for Teachers

  • Saving quality educational games and activities on your hard drive can be printed out at whatever quantity you need.

  • They are much cheaper than buying workbooks.

  • Many of these games can be adapted and then used over again year after year never needing to buy a new resource.

  • The same board game for example can be played over and over again using different cards to pick up before rolling the dice. Keeping it current, but not using a new resource.


A Simple Formula: Positive Attitude=Positive Learning Environment

  • Anyone responds positively when they are having a good time. Having fun activities for individuals, or small groups or for the whole class contributes to positive math learning atmosphere.

  • The students will want to come to math class and want to do their homework because they know they will probably enjoy what they are doing


If you are interested in some quality educational and fun math games ...

Go To My Website

You will find fun math games, teaching tips and fun holiday activities written by a teacher and used in her classroom.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Parents Can Help Make Math Fun When Their Child Needs Extra Help

Parents are often at a loss when looking for ways to help their child who is struggling in school. Those with children struggling with math can end up with unhappy, stressful, conflict ridden atmosphere at home, particularly with homework. This article was written for Ezine Articles with some ideas to help create a healthy fun atmosphere at home and how to make math fun by using printable math games and activities at home to reinforce math skills and keep the stress away.

Find Out Ways to Make Math Fun For Your Child Who Needs Help With Math
By Sue Gnagy Fegan
Level: Platinum
http://ezinearticles.com/?Find-Out-Ways-to-Make-Math-Fun-For-Your-Child-Who-Needs-Help-With-Math&id=3130728

When looking in educational forums where parents can share concern it will be likely to find the questions, "Is There Any Advice On What To Buy For My Child Who Needs Help With Math?" For a parent this can be anxiety producing as their desire for the child to do well mixed with the helplessness felt combined with the desire to keep home a safe place often causes conflicts. This article will explore three ways to make math fun and provide that extra practice you child needs all at the same time.

The first way to make math fun and not a drudgery is to include your child in every day math decisions and activities. If your child has and needs to use a fact chart, let them use it, just make sure the say the numbers out loud themselves. Doubling a recipe is a perfect way to use math, in a subtle but matter of fact way. "Help me figure out how much flour or baking powder to put in." When they get out eggs, or hot dog buns, or ice cubes you yourself can use math terms, "I need 5/12 of the ice cube tray for my iced tea." Working math into your every day conversations without making it a big deal gives the child extra exposure.

Another way to give extra practice at home and still make math fun, is to use the flash cards the teacher sends home, or tells you to buy, when playing board games. Play a favorite board game that involves a spinner or rolling dice. Roll the dice. Before moving the child must read that number of fact cards. Be sure they state the entire problem, not just the answer. There are also printable math board games available to buy that can be covered with an acetate sheet or laminated.

A final suggestion of a resource to buy for for the child who needs help with math at home are challenging puzzles, riddles, pattern designs, and problem solving books or printable worksheets stored on your computer. These are good to have when the parent and child are in sync and offering to give extra practice at home will not cause a scene. The can be bundled together to make a mini workbooks and used in the car, while waiting at the orthodontist's office, or on a snow day.

You will notice there were no computer games suggested in this article. Children often see computer games as speed challenges. A student struggling with math may not be able to solve the problems fast enough to get to the next level. Giving the child and fun math activity they can touch and feel and work at their own pace may be novel enough to motivate them an gain confidence. These are just some ideas of way s to make math fun for a child who needs help with math at home.

Ready to buy? Click HERE to purchase some instant access fun math games and activities. For the cost of one commercial board game, get materials to last for years to come.

Want more information? Go to this Website