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Deborah Wuehler and family

Math doesn't always have to be done in a workbook or computer program. Math can be done many places, but especially in the kitchen.

Preschool: Make celery and peanut butter snacks. Have the child count out and place 4 (or however many they need practice counting) raisins on top. Use square, circle, and star cookie cutters for their sandwiches. Have them place the shape back in the sandwich like a puzzle, and tell you the name of the shape.

Kindergarten: Give your child beans, candies, raisins, chocolate chips, etc. Have them count groups of ten until they reach 100. Show them how ten groups of ten equals 100. Try it with groups of two and five also.

Elementary: Pick out an easy recipe for them. Go over the fractions with them with all the teaspoon, tablespoon, and cup measurements. Teach them how to double a recipe and thereby double the measurements. Visually show them an ounce; cup, pint, quart, and gallon by letting them fill each with water. For example, fill a cup with 8 ounces. Fill a pint with two cups. Fill a quart with two pints (four cups), and fill a gallon with 4 quarts.

Junior High and High School: Let a child choose a meal and prepare it from beginning to end. Start with whatever is needed at the store. Let them look through ads to find the store with the best price. Give them a set amount of money to work with. Let them decide which item is the most economical by calculating price per ounce, per pound, or per unit. Have them estimate the total before checking out. Have them double check the change they received. Have them make the recipe for the number of servings for your family, which means they might have to re-calculate amounts of ingredients in the recipe.

Whatever you do, ease up on being the homeschool math dictator, and add in a little fun or variety in math. And especially if your children are in tears over math, pray and ask God to show you a different way to teach the subject. Maybe take a break on the workbooks and take math to the kitchen. Here is an article from our January 2012 digital issue on the subject. Need understanding from the Master of Math? He is infinite in understanding!

"He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147: 4, 5).

~Deborah

TOS Senior Editor

SeniorEditor@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com  

P.S. There are so many approaches to math from games to manipulatives to workbooks and texts. We have tons of resources that have been reviewed by homeschool moms like you that just might also have kids your own kids' ages. Check them out here. 

Diana Waring

Relational Homeschooling

www.DianaWaring.com 

Dear Friends,

Okay, would you agree with me that any subject gets more interesting when the kitchen is involved? Speaking of connecting great learning with food, I wrote two blog posts last week about an experience with blueberry muffins--showing how we can make curriculum more delicious! If you're interested, read here and here.

But math? How on earth do we do make math come alive--particularly in the kitchen? Well, here is some, ahem, food for thought.

Here's the deal: learning increases exponentially when we get physically involved. (Exponential. Now that's a good math term!) What I mean is that when you hear something or read something, you retain only a tiny percent. (Percentages.  Another math term!) But if, in addition to reading and hearing, you actually do something physical (pick something up, write something down, cut something up, put something in your mouth), you will greatly increase the brain's ability to remember.

So, what does that actually look like with today's topic?

Math . . . fractions. Faithfully, following the textbook, you talk about them. You read about them.

Ho Hum. In one ear--or eye--and out the other.

But today, your children are going to get the surprise of their life, something they are going to really enjoy. (Enjoyment, though not a strictly mathematical term, also increases learning!)

"Ok, kids, listen up. You know how we've been working on fractions?"

Groans . . .

"Well, today, we're going to EAT fractions. What's that you say, 'Oooo, ick!!!'?"

"Before you gross out, let me tell you what we're going to taste. I've decided to make my world-famous cherry pie, and we're going to cut it in half, then in fourths, then in eighths.  Then we will take my equally famous pumpkin pie and cut it in half, then thirds, then sixths . . . so, now, who wants to be part of math today?"

Did you just catch a glimpse of the nearly endless possibilities inherent in using the kitchen as your secret weapon?  Beyond this most obvious application, some other easy ones come to mind: the kitchen pantry is full of math manipulatives (like counting canned goods, practicing grouping); older kids can work with ratios and proportions by doubling or halving recipes; pour water into the pitcher as you study volume; put toothpicks in groups of five or ten to practice multiplication. . .

Food makes everything--including academics--taste better!

Remember, stay relational.

Diana

P.S.  If you enjoyed my blog posts, I'd love to have you subscribe to them, either via email or RSS here.

Raising Real Men

www.RaisingRealMen.com

Hal & Melanie Young

Melanie here. Some of my happiest memories are of standing on a stool in the kitchen cooking with my mother or grandmother. I think that's what gave me my love of cooking. I feel happy and creative in the kitchen.

I don't know quite why it makes me so frantic some days to have my "littles" in the kitchen with me. I think perhaps I'm in just too big a hurry. I think if they'll just let me get on with it, I can do it quickly and move on to the next task. 

When I start to say, "Not just now, not this time," though, and see their sad eyes, those happy memories come floating back up and I always relent. I'm always glad, too, in the end. Even if it takes longer and makes more mess, their joyful eyes make it more than worth it. We're building those happy memories together.

I can't remember the last time we made a "one-batch" of anything around here. One of the advantages of having a large family is that we multiply fractions and mixed numbers every time we use a recipe.

"Mama, is this recipe a double-batch, triple-batch or quadruple-batch one?" the cook will shout into the next room at me.

It makes it a lot less tedious if you know your volumes. If a batch of biscuits calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder and you triple it, you can either add 6 teaspoonfuls one at a time or just add two tablespoonfuls. When you show that to your children, they begin to understand why they're memorizing all these conversions. It works the same way with multiplying fractions, adding mixed numbers, and more.

Some of you may be asking, "Should my son cook?" We think he ought to! I've been thankful many times that Hal's father loved to bake and that Hal learned it was fine for a man to cook--I've had to bed rest for some time when we were expecting each of our eight children! Besides, one of those boys out there might be the next famous chef.  

We'd like to share with you a wonderful recipe Hal's father developed that is just right to cheer you up and make some memories on these cold winter days. Oh yes, you can practice some math, too--it's good enough to make a double batch. You can always take some to a neighbor if you don't have enough family members at home to eat them all up. Click here to go to it! 

By His grace,

Melanie & Hal

See us free Friday and Saturday at the Exploring Homeschooling Conference in Anaheim--it's not just for beginners! Click here! 

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