Everyday Math

Andrew has started setting up basketball games against himself. He sets out one of our toy baskets, gets an indoor ball, and takes shots from various places in the room.

He even names the two teams and keeps score. He's practicing addition and counting by 2's and 3's. He even taught himself to carry by going from 39 to 41. (Shh... It's also handwriting practice!)

Last Saturday he couldn't wait to tell me that a basketball player had scored 8 - 3 pointers in one quarter. I showed him that he could count by threes or multiply as a quick way to find out how many points that was.

On a car ride last week, he asked, "What if a number has more than just three numbers (meaning digits)?" So I told him about the thousands place, ten thousands, etc. all the way up to a trillion.

People always ask me how I know my children are learning. The truth is - children just learn. Especially when we adults stay out of the way.

Here are some other ideas for homeschooling math.