Five Teachable Moments for Using Math Skills
As homeschooling educators, we have a unique opportunity to seize “teachable moments” in our everyday routines to reinforce math skills with our students. Whether you homeschool kindergarteners or fifth graders, you can find plenty of ways to incorporate math skills into your day-to-day activities. Check out these five tips below:
Telling Time
Practice telling time using analog and digital clocks around your home and when you’re out and about. Ask your children to check the time for you, figure out how much time has passed since something has happened (e.g., “Jeremy, I put the cookies in the oven at 10:35. How long have they been in there?”) or calculate how much time before something will happen (e.g., “Cassidy, we need to return our books to the library before they close at five. How much time do we have?”). Asking questions about time and encouraging kids to refer to clocks and watches throughout the day will build their confidence in time-keeping skills.
Cooking and Baking
The kitchen is a great place for teaching children about fractions and measurement. It’s here you can help them understand equivalent fractions (How will they measure out 2 cups of sugar when you’ve only given them a half cup measure?) and simple conversions (How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?). Kids will also learn other skills, like keeping track of temperature and time. So, get out those spatulas and aprons, and get baking!
Grocery Shopping
It’s never too early to begin teaching children about money skills and budgeting! What better place to do this than the grocery store? Basic adding and subtracting, making change, and comparing prices are all important math skills we use in our everyday lives, so instilling these principles in our students from a young age is a good idea. Next time you’re at the grocery store, why not give your child a couple of items from your grocery list to pick out? When you give her a bill to pay for the items, ask her to figure out how much they cost and how much change she can expect back from the clerk.
Making Art
Art projects are such a fun and creative way to introduce math topics to your homeschoolers! Make paper snowflakes to teach symmetry, use tessellations to create colorful modern art, or make stained glass window art to introduce angles and basic shapes. The possibilities are endless!
Planting a Garden
Depending on the time of year, this option could be an amazing chance for you and your little ones to learn about nature, science, and math all at once! Planting a garden requires lots of basic math skills, like counting and sorting, and even some more challenging ones, like measuring area and perimeter (e.g., “We need to make a garden that is 4 feet by 5 feet. What is the area and perimeter of our garden going to be?”). For those homeschooling families who like spending time outdoors, this could be the perfect opportunity to practice math skills in everyday life.
How do you teach your homeschoolers math skills in day-to-day activities? We’d love to hear from you! Please leave us your feedback in the comment section below!
Looking for more ways to integrate math concepts into your homeschool program? Check out www.iKnowIt.com for fun, interactive math games for kindergarten through fifth grade!
Leah Kanaparthi is a writer and content editor for SuperTeacherWorksheets.com.
