Is it Much Farther?

When I was a child, one of my favorite cartoons was The Smurfs. I just loved it when the smurfs were going on a trip and the younger smurfs and Papa Smurf would have the following exchange:

Smurfs: "Is it much farther?"
Papa Smurf: "Not that much farther."

Smurfs: "Is it much farther?"
Papa Smurf: "Not that much farther."

Smurfs: "Is it much farther?"
Papa Smurf: "Not that much farther."

Smurfs: "Is it much farther?"
Papa Smurf: "YES IT IS!"

Now, I'm Papa Smurf and my children are the ones asking me how much longer, how much father, etc. And I finally found a way to answer them without losing my cool.

If my children ask me how much longer I'll be on the treadmill and the answer is 18 minutes, I'll say, "Only 18 hours." They'll giggle and say, "No it isn't, Mom. How much is it really?" I'll answer, "Okay, you're right 18 hours is too long. It's only 18 days." Then we'll move to seconds, weeks, years, months, decades, and so on.

My preschooler will say things like, "Mom, if it's only 18 seconds, you'll only have time to blink your eyes." My oldest will try to figure out how to translate hours into minutes, decades into years, etc. This game has been a fun way for me to make sure my children understand the concept of time, and teach a few facts along the way.

Workbooks, tests and grades aren't the only tools we can use to find out how much our children know. Think outside the box and have a little fun. Here are some additional ideas for homeschooling math.