Enjoying Math

Fred, of Life of Fred Math Fame

I am a homeschooling mom that does not like textbooks (unless you count Life of Fred - we are huge fans of Fred around here:).  Why use textbooks when there are so many other engaging, beautiful and educational books to learn from?

My philosophy on education is this:  children are play-based learners until at least the age of 12.  What does that mean?  It means that you need to make learning fun for them, and they need to have time to play with what they've learned to truly learn it, because they don't have the attention span or the brain-processes to do the "teacher in the front of the class" kind of learning you typically find in most schools, public or private.

For example, I recently taught a class on Lewis & Clark for a group of homeschooled children; ages 8-11.  The Class was an hour, and during that time we read 3 incredibly good picture books (check my lesson plan on Lewis & Clark for details) together, while occasionally referring to a map, and then they were let loose to play.  What did they play?  They played that they were going on an expedition, of course - using the ideas and words that they'd been introduced to in those three books.

I've taught many classes, from math to science to history to art, using this same method (utilizing picture books for the curriculum and then letting kids play) and the results are amazing because children learn best through stories and play - and you can teach any subject this way, even math!

Math
For your child's math curriculum, I strongly recommend Life of Fred.  These books literally changed my children (and me!) from hating math to asking for more.  If you're used to other math curriculum, it will seem as though you aren't doing enough, but you are.  Don't lend them to others when you're done - your kids will want to (and should) read the stories over and over.  Aside from Fred, here are some other books you can read to kids to teach math:

• Multiplying Menace:  The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert
• The Multiplying Menace Divides:  A Math Adventure by Pam Calvert
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
• How Much Is A Million?  by David M. Schwartz and Steven Kellog
• G is for Googol:  A Math Alphabet Book by David M. Schwartz
• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens by Cindy Neuschwander
• Sir Cumference and the Viking's Map by Cindy Neuschwander
• What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?  A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis
• Pythagoras and the Ratios by Julie Ellis
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky
• One Grain of Rice:  A Mathematical Folk Tale by Demi
• Fractals, Googols and Other Mathematical Tales by Theoni Pappas
• A Place For Zero:  A Math Adventure by Angeline Sparagna Lopresti
• The Man Who Counted:  A Collection of  Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan 
• Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
• Why Pi? and Go Figure:  A Totally Cool Book About Numbers by Johnny Ball