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Search Results for: manipulatives

Math Automaticity: The Secret Key to Math Success

October 16, 2018 by Jenna

math automaticity with M&Ms
If you’ve read any educational articles about teaching math, you may have come across the term automaticity. It may seem like a scary word, but it’s not. It simply refers to the ability to do something without thinking about it, or automatically. In math, it most often refers to the ability to use basic math facts without thinking about them. So when solving 5 + 5, you don’t have to count up the fingers on your left hand and the fingers on your right hand to make 10. You just know that 5 + 5 equals 10. Math automaticity isn’t scary at all, right?

But how do you bring your children to the point where they are demonstrating math automaticity? As with most subjects, learning math is a process. Working their way through the process guides them towards automaticity.

Start Early to Develop Number Sense

Most children begin developing number sense early—before kindergarten. The BJU Press K3, K4, and K5 materials use songs, number games, and other activities to help children develop an early sense of math. Having your children participate in board games and dice games while they’re still very young also helps them develop number sense. These early stages are crucial in your child’s development. Studies show that early math and number skills (even more than reading skills) predict how well a child will perform academically later on.

Add Manipulatives

Manipulatives play a key role in math learning by helping students to visualize throughout the process. They help solidify children’s number sense and give them tools to connect abstract math concepts to the real world and creation. That’s why all the elementary level BJU Press math courses include manipulative packets. Many of the high school level math courses even offer suggested manipulatives, like this candy sorting activity from Algebra 2.

Review and Review Again

Once your children have a strong number sense and manipulatives to work with, they will need to practice their math skills. Simply understanding a math concept and how it works doesn’t mean that they have automaticity for that math concept. They need to practice the same concepts in new situations to create familiar problem-solving paths in their minds.

For example, when I was a kid, I struggled with knowing my right from my left. But I knew that I was right handed. I also knew that the hand that makes the L was my left hand. Whenever I needed to figure out right and left, I thought about which side my dominant hand was and which side made the L. I did that so often as a child that the thought process made mental ruts. I don’t go through that whole process now because I don’t have to. That kind of repetition is what makes the review books in elementary math so important. They provide additional practice opportunities of the day’s lesson as well as a spiral review of previous lessons. Each time your children encounter a familiar problem, they’re digging those mental ruts deeper and coming to solutions faster.

Unless you’re a math person, you may be wondering why it’s important for your children to be so proficient in math that they can do it all in their heads. In fact, many parents often think of math as less important than reading. But by going through this process of developing math automaticity in your children, you’re also enabling them to go further and do more with math. And the further they go in math, the more developed their logic and critical thinking skills become. In the end, you may not be teaching the next Einstein, but you definitely want to train up children who think logically and critically when faced with difficult decisions and complicated variables.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: automaticity, homeschool, homeschool math, math, math automaticity

5 Ways to Use Leaves in Your Homeschool This Fall

October 11, 2018 by Guest Writer

use leaves in your homeschool
One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is the freedom to adapt your lessons to the seasons or to your kids’ needs! This autumn, why not incorporate natural elements, fresh air, and movement to spice up those lessons? Check out these five ways to use leaves in your homeschool lessons.

1. Hone those identification skills.

One way to use those fall leaves is to have a classification session. Run outside with your kids and gather up some freshly fallen leaf specimens. Make sure your kids bring back several different kinds of leaves, of various shapes, sizes, and colors. With the help of the internet, some library books, or a BJU Press textbook, your kids can compare the leaves they have found to the pictures they see. Once they note the specific traits of each leaf, they’ll be able to identify which kind of tree it came from.

2. Have a homeschool microscope session.

There are a million fun and educational things you can do with a microscope; so if you don’t already have one, consider investing in a small, inexpensive model for starters. Maybe you can borrow one from a friend for this lesson.

After the initial “Wow!” moment when your kids see an autumn leaf under the microscope for the first time, ask them to describe what they see in a few sentences. Do leaves from various kinds of trees appear different under the lens?

Consider comparing a leaf that’s still green with one that is red or yellow. How do they look under the microscope when compared to a leaf that’s very brown and dry?

3. Create fall leaf art pieces for your homeschool.

For your homeschool art class, why not make leaf rubbings, leaf lanterns, leaf puppets, leaf masks, or leaf crowns? You can also create garlands, wreaths, prints, and collages with the leaves. Or just give your kids a bunch of art supplies (like glitter, glue, chalk, paper, yarn, and googly eyes) and see what they come up with! This post from HandsOnAsWeGrow.com includes links to dozens of fall leaf crafts.

4. Get down to the molecular level.

Older kids may be more interested in the actual process by which leaves change color. Talk with them about the cellular structure of the leaves and about the presence of carotenoids and other pigments. You’ll find excellent material in the BJU Press science textbooks as well as on the Harvard Forest website and at Environmental Education for Kids website.

5. Use leaves as math manipulatives in your homeschool lessons.

Almost anything can become part of a math lesson! To add seasonal flair, let your preschoolers or kindergartners count some fall leaves. For elementary-aged kids, teach fractions by snipping the leaves into sections and showing what three-fourths or two-fifths might look like.

Once you’ve used the leaves for your lessons, they’ll probably be crumbling and falling apart. That’s a great time to talk to your kids about properly disposing of yard waste and recycling it if possible. Fallen leaves can become mulch for your flowerbeds or an addition to your compost pile. In God’s world, nothing is wasted—even the death of the summer leaves enriches the earth and enables new life in the spring.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: fall leaf art, fall leaf crafts, homeschool, homeschool lessons, math manipulatives

How to Engage Your Kinesthetic Learner with Art

October 9, 2018 by Megan

teaching a kinesthetic learner with art
One of my daughters is a classic kinesthetic learner. She hops while practicing spelling words and taps her foot while doing math problems. She pretty much never stops moving.

Homeschooling a kinesthetic learner has been a bit of a challenge. For concepts to stick, she has to be physically involved in the learning process. BJU Press has been great for her because it incorporates a lot of hands-on, authentic learning. We use manipulatives to learn math concepts, and we do hands-on activities in science and heritage studies. But English and reading are a little more challenging. I’ve found that a great way to help my kinesthetic learner through these subjects is by incorporating one of her favorite activities—art.

Incorporating Art into Reading for Your Kinesthetic Learner

There are a lot of ways to integrate art into reading. Your child can draw story maps, make organizational charts, and illustrate scenes or vocabulary words. A few weeks ago, my daughter and I read a fictional selection in Reading 2 entitled “Owl Face,” which was about a girl who took care of a barn owl. After reading the story, my daughter created her own mixed-media illustration of the main character and the owl, clearly demonstrating her understanding of the text. During the “Look Again” lesson that covered the same selection, we watched a YouTube tutorial about how to draw owls, and we drew owls and wrote stories about them. That activity helped solidify a lot of what we had learned about owls, characters, and the sequencing of a story.

Incorporating Art into English for Your Kinesthetic Learner

There are also ways to blend English and art, especially during the writing process. I found out pretty early on that my daughter did a lot better organizing her thoughts when she drew pictures. So when she planned her personal narrative in English, I had her illustrate the different story details she wanted to write about, and then we put the pictures in order so she could refer to them as she wrote her first draft. That activity helped her organize her ideas and produce a coherent narrative.

I’m still learning about how to best teach my kinesthetic learner, but incorporating art has proven to be both motivational and effective. If you have other ideas for me, please share them in the comments below.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: art, homeschool art, kinesthetic learning, types of learning

Decluttering Without Discarding

August 9, 2018 by Jenna

decluttering colored pencils
Textbooks, notebooks, binders, handouts, tablets, portable DVD players, pencils, manipulatives, art supplies—these are the things that crowd your homeschool space. With all that stuff lying around, it can seem cluttered and overwhelming. How can learning happen with so many distractions? Decluttering is a great idea, but you can’t get rid of any of those things because they’re a part of your homeschool.

One of the first things I discovered when I got my own place was that as life goes on, things accumulate. And you can’t always get rid of them. That’s where the old adage, “a place for everything and everything in its place,” comes into play.

The more you take the time to find homes for your homeschool materials—or anything else in your house—the less cluttered it will seem. So how do you find homes for all your homeschool materials?

Find a setup that works for your family

The space you use for homeschooling changes where you’re going to put things. If you have a whole room dedicated to homeschooling, then you may have more storage space. If your whole house is your homeschool space, then you may be able to store your materials wherever they seem most natural. And if your dining room table doubles as your homeschool space, you may have to get creative about storing your books.

Check out what some other homeschool moms have done with their homeschool spaces. You might get a great idea!

Invest in storage equipment

Sometimes, the difference between an organized space and a cluttered mess is having things to put other things in. What will work best for you—bookshelves or storage-cubes? How are you going to keep track of the little things? If you like the office look, you might go for mini drawer sets that sit on top of a desk. If you’re crafty, mason jars with cute labels can make perfect desk organizers.

Here are three tips for keeping your homeschool space decluttered and organized.

Feel free to be creative when decluttering

There are plenty of storage issues that you’ll run into as you go. You can’t plan for everything, but you can make the decision to be creative in getting to a solution. Here are some ideas you can think about ahead of time.

Decluttering doesn’t always mean discarding things. If all your possessions have homes to go to, then decluttering your house just means putting everything back in its place. And when everything has a place to go to, cleaning gets a lot easier.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: decluttering, homeschool materials, homeschool organization

Creative Ways to Organize Your Homeschool Space

August 2, 2018 by Guest Writer


Homeschooling takes many different forms and shapes depending on your philosophy, the textbooks and tools you use, the number of kids in your family, their learning styles—and the available space in your home. Whether you’ve already started school days again or you’re revving up for the coming semester, you might be pondering some different ways to arrange the physical space that you use for homeschooling. Here are some creative ways to set up your homeschool space this fall.

Stations for Your Homeschool Space

Some parents love the concept of “stations” for their homeschool rooms. Create a reading station with comfortable beanbags or pillows, plus shelves or baskets of books. A math station can include manipulatives, calculators, flashcards, or other tools, depending on the ages of your children. The science station might include charts or posters of the topics you’re currently studying, along with boxes or trays for nature samples your kids find outside.

A Homeschool Space for the Little Ones

If you have preschoolers, you may want to include a corner just for them, perhaps outfitted with a low table and coloring supplies. Or why not paint the entire table with chalkboard paint so they can draw or practice writing right on the work surface? A bin of puzzles and learning toys keeps the little ones quieter so the older ones can learn. Think about including items like a play kitchen or sensory bin in your preschooler’s corner as well.

Color Coding for Convenience

Why not assign a specific color to each child? Purchase their clipboards, bins, chairs, pen holders, notebooks, and binders in that color, and you’ll find it so much easier to keep track of whose supplies are whose. If you can’t buy everything in that specific color, just add a colored sticker or label to help differentiate the items.

Shoe Organizers for Homeschool Supplies

Need more storage space? Use the back of a closet door! Install a clear shoe organizer and you can use the pockets to stash all sorts of things—scissors, pencils, glue, craft sticks, math manipulatives, flashcards, erasers, and more.

Space to Move

Homeschool moms and dads with active kids find that an activity zone keeps everyone sane. One mom included a small trampoline and allowed her kids to bounce while spelling words or reciting multiplication tables. Older children might enjoy reading or studying while walking on a treadmill.

Homeschool Workstation Sight Lines

If your kids don’t work well when they can see each other, here’s an idea. Arrange the room so each child is facing a different wall; or, if they have to face each other, create partitions between desks with decorated boards.

Technology in the Homeschool Space

Technology is a part of our world, and it can really make your homeschool life easier! Instead of stuffing the tech into the room as an afterthought, plan ahead. Place the printer, camera, eReaders, and MP3 players in a central location. Keep each workstation (whether in one room or in bedrooms throughout the house) stocked with earbuds, a laptop or tablet, a charger, and other essentials. If your child is doing homeschool videos, a comfortable, ergonomic computer chair is a nice addition.

Are you eager to find other creative ways to set up your homeschool space this fall? Search online for ideas and chat with fellow homeschool moms to get inspired for your own creative homeschool layout.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: homeschool organization, homeschool space, organized homeschool

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