I have recently fallen in love with some new-to-me websites. Before I took up this homeschooling gig in full force, I used to love browsing sites about digital scrap booking, perusing all the wonderful layouts and new scrapbook kits, and reading blogs with anecdotal stories about moms and their toddlers. I have also been known to spend hours upon hours surfing blogs about large families. (I’d love to have a gazillion children one day but for now I happily manage my three while living vicariously through others). My latest on-line obsession, however, is MATH. I’m so thrilled to have found so many resources for teaching math to children. I am also encouraged to learn that there are resources available for all age groups so as my children grow, I know that I will be able to find methods to help them at any age.

Currently, I have a kindergartner, a 3 year old and an 18 month old. Although this is my first “official” year of homeschooling, I have been teaching my children since they arrived. (Haven’t you? I mean, how did they learn to walk? Talk? Dress themselves? Say their ABC’s? Say grace before their meals? Pour themselves a glass of juice and clear the dinner dishes? Oh yeah – YOU taught them those things!) I will say, I do feel very confident about our choice to homeschool but like many moms who have started down this path of educating their own, I also have moments of breath-taking fear seize upon me. “What if I MISS something? What if I neglect to teach them something they need? What if I don’t teach them “correctly” and I mess their little brains up?” In the moments when I do start to let those doubts creep in, the things that I worry about are the things that I feel I am not strong in, and Math is at the top of that list.

Now, and I hope I’m not sounding too cocky here, I must say that I do believe that I possess the skills necessary to impart basic Math facts to my kindergartner. Ask me in a few years how I feel about it and I may be singing a different tune, but for now I’m fairly certain that we can grasp the basics of kindergarten math without having to outsource the teaching. I do, however, do lots of thinking (and fretting) over HOW to transmit those facts in an effective way. I must pause here to say that one of the beauties of homeschooling is that as your child’s personal learning coach and private tutor, you can more effectively figure out what methods best speak to them and tailor their education program to fit those needs. Math resources are all over the internet and that has done much to help me overcome my fears of not being able to “get it right.”

In the event that you share in some of my irrational fear, I’d love to share a list of on-line math resources that have been helpful to me. Some are sites that give instruction as to how to teach math, some are sites that have on-line Math games that your child can play, and some are links to sites that allow you to make your own math worksheets. I’ll start out with the instructional sites:


  • LET’S PLAY MATH – This site has resources for all ages. It is written by a homeschooling mom who has taught or tutored mathematics at every level from pre-K to undergraduate physics. She encourages teaching Math in a variety of ways and making it FUN. Thanks to her “Game that is worth 1,000 worksheets” post, we’re playing lots of WAR around here. (Even my 3 year old is learning from it. When we play the card game, he is the “judge” and decides who wins or loses each round by telling whose card was worth more.) I also love her “20 Things to do with a 100 chart” post and as a result, we have incorporated the number grid in lots of creative ways. There are also links on Let’s Play Math for middle and high school students. Finally, she has a humongous list of links for other on-line resources.
  • MATHWIRE – Wow. You could spend a very long time here. (Be sure you don’t have anything boiling on the stove while you’re surfing this site. Not that I would know anything about that.) They have a huge A-Z list of topics, tons of ideas for Math Games and so much more.

Next, here are some links to MATH WORKSHEET WEBSITES that have pre-made worksheets to drill certain skills. Many sites also have worksheet generators so that you can make your own worksheets for whatever your child is into or struggling with at the moment.

The Math Worksheet Site
Worksheets at DonnaYoung.com
LizardPoint
MathCafe
LessonCorner

Finally, there are tons of fabulous sites with games that your children can play on-line while actually learning something other than how to dress up Polly Pocket or steer a hot wheels car to the finish line. Here are our Top 10 Favorites:

10 Frame Game
Interactive 100 Chart
Subtraction Harvest
Clock Game
Concentration
Dot To Dot Constellations
Crazy Pattern Machine
Counting Coins
Number Line and last but not least…
TETRIS! (OK, I admit it, I play this one :)

So there you have it. You’ve no excuse to be fearful now! With all of these on-line Math Resources, you will be equipped and ready to teach those pesky fractions and integers to your children with ease… and you can make it fun!

This post was written by Julie C., homeschool mom, Lesson Pathways contributor and author of the Clark Chronicles Blog.

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