Math Curriculum, 2013-2014

Highhill Education has started a new Lesson-Planning Linkup and this week's topic is Math Curriculum. It took me some time to find a math curriculum that I was comfortable with, and with the price of most of them, it was an expensive trial and error process. I have finally found a system that works for all of my children, and I am going to keep with it as long as it continues to work, so this year's math curriculum looks very much like last years. We are just moving up a level for each of them in their understanding and the topics that will be covered.

• Math on the Level
• Mathematics, A Way of Thinking
• Teaching Textbooks: Algebra I

Quentin began third grade last year, and so he has graduated out of Math Their Way, (Pre-K-2nd) and he started Mathematics, A Way of Thinking, (3rd-6th) which is the same book James used, just at a different place in the book. Quentin was just starting the book, and James is finishing it up. Both books were written by a husband and wife team of math teachers, Bob and Mary Baratta-Lorton. Both books are very hands-on and sequential. 

James will begin the school year doing the last activities from Mathematics, A Way of Thinking on Negative Numbers, and then we will begin Teaching Textbook's Algebra I, taking it VERY slowly, adding in lots of hands-on applications from Pinterest. I will also use materials from Math on the Level.

Sam was involved in some of my trial and error process of finding the right math curriculum for us. He began Algebra with Videotext Algebra, which looked very good in the beginning (I might even use some of the beginning activities with James), but then somewhere along the way, it became very confusing. Even Steven and I became confused about where the curriculum was going. Sam's grades began to go down, understandably. So, with all the great reviews we have heard from my blog friends, we decided to try Teaching Textbooks. It has worked for us. We decided to have him start from the beginning, which put him a half to three-quarters of a year behind at the start of this past year. Between that and the various things that came up this year to interfere with our regular schooling, Sam is still working on Alegbra I and will be this next school year.

Alex has topped out on his understanding of math concepts. We have worked on addition, subtraction, and multiplication for about eleven years, and each time we sit down at the table, we are at the same place. He can add fine, he can subtract once I finally get him to understand what I want him to do. He cannot multiply. I have tried a variety of hands-on activities over the years, and some special needs curriculums, to no avail. When it comes to special needs children, sometimes it comes to the point that you have to accept them for who they are and their abilities for what they are. In terms of meeting diploma requirements, we will continue to practice these concepts, but I am not stressed or frustrated any more at how to unlock any more potential in this area. We will have fun instead. We will play games, make things together and in general enjoy the time together.

More discussion on the sequence and use of our math curriculum, What To Teach, and When.

We will also be adding in some Living Math, where appropriate. Here is an example of some of the living math books we will use in conjunction with our history and science studies

• Joy of Mathematics, T. Pappas
• Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians
• Senefer, A Young Genuis in Old Egypt, B. Lumpkin
• How to count like a Martian, Glory St. John
• The Warlord series, Virginia Pilegard
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, Kathryn Lasky
• Science in Ancient Mesopotamia, Carol Moss
• Science in Ancient Egypt, Geraldine Woods
• Science in Ancient China, George Beshore
• Science in Ancient Greece, Kathlyn Gay

Links:

• Highhill Education Lesson Planning Link-up- Writing Curriculum

Next post will be about our Science Curriculum.

Highhill's Lesson Planning Link-Up ScheduleJuly 11 - Writing
July 18 - Math
July 25 - Science
August 1 - History
August 8 - Music
August 15 - Art & Handicrafts
August 22 - Geography
August 29 - Foreign Language
September 5 - Reading
September 12 - Organization your Classroom/Schedule

Math Adventures: Cooking & Math

There are so many math concepts that you can cover while cooking with your children.

Today I made bread with James and used only a half cup and a half teaspoon measure.

Not only does it review the concept that one-half and one-half equals a whole,

but he had to convert 4 1/2 cups of flour to 1/2 cups. If I had been baking with Quentin, I would have gotten out a cup measure for him to see that it held two half-cup measures of flour.

When we needed to add 2 Tablespoons of yeast, we reviewed that 3 teaspoons equals 1

Tablespoon, so he had to determine how many half-teaspoons that would make, which is a two step process; converting first to teaspoons and then to half-teaspoons. Because the application is tangible, he happily and easily tackled the adding and subtracting of fractions with like denominators.

We completed these activities several times, as we added new ingredients.

Later when it was time to preheat the oven, we looked at the temperature dial and talked about relative temperatures. He then set the dial to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For older students, I could decide to increase or decrease a recipe to practice multiplying or dividing fractions. I could also have them use ratios and proportions.

Math Adventures: Playing Store

I know this activity is nothing new, but after playing store with my young boys today, I was amazed at how many math concepts can come from such a simple activity.

"Since money is based on units of ten, children who understand and can use money will have a much easier time learning other concepts, such as decimals and percents. If you start your child playing store when they are pre-school age, you can continue all the way to algebra age by bringing different real-life aspects to the store such as sales and sales tax."

-Math On The Level, Math Adventures

We set up play food on Quentin's old Diego table. James was the storekeeper and he put prices on each of the items, which we had written on little squares of card-stock. Katie and I took turns being the shoppers. We talked to the storekeeper, asking him questions about his products and we got coupons from him. Then we went across the living room and Quentin played the checkout person. I took the price tags out of the card and lined them up on a white lunch-sized bag. I helped Quentin add these prices up since he is just getting to adding double-digit numerals. When Quentin had difficulty, I asked James to help out. We even had coupons for so much off, and I helped them subtract this. We even had a 10 percent off coupon, which introduced James to percentages. Katie and I would give Quentin a little more more money than our total, so he would have to give us change, which is once again some subtraction. We all had a wonderful time, and the boys just didn't want to stop! I can see that some of this at least will carry over to playtime on their own.

Roman Coins: Art, Math and History All In One Lesson

Now we are studying Rome and one of the suggestions in the art curriculum is to look at Roman coins. This is a really neat idea which never would have occurred to me. We are also studying Roman Numerals in math. Then the idea struck me that we could combine these things into an activity, so I got out some Sculpy...

and had the boys make their own Roman coins.

Making pictures of Roman rulers on them was a bit difficult...

but they were able to mark them with Roman numerals.

Quentin only put the easiest numerals on them...

but the older boys were interested in putting more sophisticated numerals on them...

and we reviewed what was happening in history during the time of these dates. Of course the Romans would have dated their own coins differently as they started with the founding of Rome and not Jesus' birth, but we let that go and just used our current dating system.

They seemed to like the fact that they could determine their own level of difficulty in the various aspects of this activity. They also were happy to help each other out in making the Roman numerals or determining what has happening at that time in history.

Sources and Inspiration:

• Harmony Art Mom's Ancient Art and the Orchestra 

Another excellent idea from Almost Unschoolers is to make cookies in the shape of Roman Numerals and arrange some of the cookies, according to all of the ages of the people in your family, on a plate. Then the kids have to find their correct age in Roman numerals, before they can have their cookies.