I am such a  jellyfish!   I have no spine for consistency.   Even though I know that something is going to work,  I still vacillate back and forth and then  go back to the safe  side of the issue.   I like safe.  I think that safe  will work better than unconventional.   Not always, though, is that the case.

      Safe, in this instance,  is a formal math program.   Unconventional  is learning math  via living math.  I have discovered that mixing up the two  is the best way to teach math to all three of my children.  I use the math book as my  guide,  then I use the living math approach to flesh it all out  for the child, to make it more understandable   and,  yes,  fun ( I know,   learning is not supposed to be fun  but I can't help myself.)

      This is how it is all supposed to work out but I just can't seem to stick with it.   It is easier  to just stick with the math program.   Just do the next thing.  I like that.  Easy and safe  is a good thing.   But easy and safe does not always  work.   Sometimes, for learning to take place,  you have to try new unchartered territories  and  plug in the hard work.

      Math has always  been easy for Rocky.  He is good at computational skills.  He can add and subtract very well.   His multiplication  facts are coming along qutie well also.   He is having  problems  with the abstract part of math, though.   We are stuck on fractions right now.   Rocky can't seem to understand  what a half and a quarter is.    He knows  what it means  to fold something in half  but when you ask him what is  a half  of  9,  he  doesn't even know how to figure that out.    He doesn't understand that 1/2  is half of a whole  or that   2/4 is the same as 1/2.    I have been at a loss as to how to explain this.   The light came on this weekend  and I realized  that he needs more living math  in this area.  So I hauled out my books  and have an arsenal of  activities and games  to help  Rocky  become more familiar  with fractions.

       While I was looking  at all of my books,  I realized that I had fallen  down on the job  with Missy as well.   We were doing more math things  by the book  now rather than  taking the living math approach  with her.     I have been convicted by this  and  will return  to  living math  for Missy as well.

      Doing  math  this way  is more work for me  as  I need to scope the activities out  and, in some instances,  make the games  and activities.  In the long run, though,  it  works out better this way  as my children are learning to do math in a logical and common sense manner  rather than in a robotic manner as  the textbooks teach.   

     Now I just have to figure out how to teach long division  to Mia  with the living math approach.   I don't even know if that is possible. 

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Posted by Beloved8