*waits patiently for many of you to raise your hand*

Now, how many of you are actually attempting to teach math to those same kids this year?

Anyone looking around nervously hoping we can talk about something else? Been there.

We’re teaching three kids at home this year and each one of them has a different relationship with math.

One loves it but wants to move at a faster pace than the public school system.

One likes it but loses interest very quickly.

The third outright despises it.

And I, as the homeschooling parent, get to figure out how to teach math to all three of them! Yay!

Not.

When I found out that I’d could try Teaching Textbooks with all three this year, I breathed an audible sigh of relief. I’d never used TT before, but I’d always heard it praised by other homeschoolers.

And now I see why.

Read on to see how we’re using Teaching Textbooks for all three of our homeschooled kids this year and how it’s making homeschool math a snap. Plus, find out how to get a free trial for your family!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Common Problems when Teaching Homeschool Math to Multiple Kids

My youngest child is a learning dynamo.

If she could just be locked in a library with every encyclopedia in the world for the rest of her life, she’d be thrilled.

As much as I love her interest in learning, it can be a challenge to keep up with her everyday.

My sixth grader has a great aptitude for math. He picks up concepts quickly and masters them efficiently.

He does not, however, have the longest attention span.

And it’s hard for him to exercise the patience needed to get through a concept that he doesn’t grasp right away.

My seventh grader is another story.

When I tell you that this child hates math, I mean he HATES math.

Last school year, it was a struggle just to get him to complete his daily assignments. He spent most of his winter break that year catching up on past work.

And, then, there’s me.

I’m a veteran homeschooler, so teaching my own children is not new to me. But I’m busy!

I work from home, I have a house to take care of, and our oldest is a high school sophomore who is doing distance learning this year.

I’m barely keeping my head above water as it is *before* you add teaching math into the equation.

When I found out we’d need to homeschool again, I was just looking to get it done.

How Teaching Textbooks Makes Homeschool Math Easy

So – how does Teaching Textbooks 4.0 help?

My little one can go through the lessons at her own pace.

According to her age, she should be in second grade this year. But she was bored in first grade last school year, so we decided to let her skip to third.

I was a little unsure about placing her in Teaching Textbooks 3. As she worked on the first lesson, she let me know that it was way too easy.

Teaching Textbooks lets you move around in the curriculum as you like. So we skipped ahead about ten lessons and she started getting a bit more of a challenge.

She’s two-thirds of the way through Grade 3 and excited to start Grade 4 this fall! And she can view her grades easily on her daily lesson pages.

My sixth grader, who has a short attention span, is also finding Teaching Textbooks 4.0 to be a great fit.

The program includes a lecture for each day’s lesson. And the lectures use pictures, short paragraphs, and prompts to keep kids interested and attentive throughout.

Plus, when you’re working on a problem, you can use the onscreen Scratchpad to show your work, which he loves.

You can see how my youngest child uses the Scratchpad in the video below.

And what about my math-hating child?

Teaching Textbooks opens the school year with a gentle pace. So when he started Grade 7, he didn’t have to feel as if it was going to be difficult right away.

Whenever he has trouble mastering a concept, we just watch the practice problems again. Or we pause the lecture and work through the problems along with the lesson.

So, how’s it going with him?

Well, to be honest, he’s still not a fan of math. But he’s actually doing his work everyday! And he’s been getting mostly A’s this year.

That is practically a miracle.

I never thought he would be able to develop the self-discipline to sit down and complete his own work, but halfway through one school year with Teaching Textbooks, he’s doing just that.

Finally, there’s me with the packed schedule and almost no time to lesson plan for math.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 comes with an ebook you can view inside the program.

So when a child needs help, I can take a quick look and refresh my memory before sitting down with them.

Honestly, because the program is so comprehensive, I haven’t needed to help my kids much at all this year. Particularly once they got the hang of using it.

It’s been a genuine lifesaver for all of us.

Ready to try Teaching Textbooks 4.0 with your family? Visit Teaching Textbooks and sign up for the free trial to get the first 15 lessons of any math level free!

Want to see more about our homeschool plans for this year? Take a look below!

The post How I Teach Math to Multiple Kids with Teaching Textbooks appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

If there was a way to study only literature for the remaining seven grades, she’d be in heaven.

But once numbers show up on a paper, her love for reading goes out the window.

I wasn’t encouraged to pursue a mathematics-based career and I’m a literature lover, so I understand her feelings completely.

But I don’t want her to allow a discomfort with mathematics to limit her career choices, so we’ve got to find a way to make math fun!

Thankfully, there are a lot more resources for making math interesting these days than there were when I was a kid and I’ve gathered up a few today!

Check out this list of educational and fun math books for middle school to find some resources your kids might like!

For more fun with math, don’t miss our list of hands-on math activities to try!

Fun Math Books for Middle School

These books are not the only cool math books for tweens around, but they are some of the best. Especially if you have students who love to work with their hands.

If you like any of these, leave a comment and let me know which one!

(This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

1.Math Dictionary for Kids: The Essential Guide to Math Terms, Strategies, and Tables (Grades 4-9)

2.Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail

3.100 Math Brainteasers (Grades 7-10)

4.40 Fabulous Math Mysteries Kids Can’t Resist (Grades 4-8)

5.Janice Van Cleave’s Math for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Math Fun

6.One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Math

7.Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure (Grades 2-7)

8.Math Puzzles and Games for Grades 6-8

9.Funny & Fabulous Fraction Stories: 30 Reproducible Math Tales and Problems (Grades 3-6)

10.Math Projects: 50 Hands-On Projects (Grades 5-8)

11.Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook (Grades 6-8)

12.Real World Math (Grades 5-8)

Does your middle schooler have a math book that he or she loves? Please share your recommendations in the comments!

Need more math learning resources? Check out these posts!

The post Fun Math Books for Middle School appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

I am in the small group of people who actually enjoy solving arithmetic problems.

When I was young, I would doodle math problems in my notebook in my spare time.

My kids, though, aren’t big fans of arithmetic, unless I can make it fun.

So instead of just giving them a sheet of problems to solve, I put together a fun aquarium-themed lesson: our Aquarium Arithmetic Seek and Find activity!

And if you’re looking for a way to practice adding and subtracting online, you can get this in a digital version too!

Read on to see how to get your copy.

Plus, take a look at our easy Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game for some hands-on math practice fun!

Aquarium Arithmetic Seek & Find Math Activity

To use this aquarium arithmetic math activity, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are included in this post. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• Printer (with ink)
• Printer Paper
• Crayons

This product includes eight sheets of addition and subtraction problems.

Once they find the corresponding problems, they can color them in!

For example, one of the pages instructs kids to “color the problems that have a difference of 5”.

So after kids solve the subtraction problems, they can go back and color in the bubbles for the problems that equal 5.

Easy!

A full set of instructions and a complete answer key are also included!

To get your copy of our Aquarium Arithmetic Seek & Find math activity, click the image or the link below to get it from my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

>>> Aquarium Arithmetic Seek & Find Math Activity <<<

Prefer to use this online with your students? Pick up the digital version for distance learning below!

>>> Aquarium Arithmetic Math Practice Activity – Digital Version <<<

This post is part of the Free Aquarium Unit Study linkup! Check out more fun aquarium activities and learning ideas below!

Aquarium Animals Letter Find Worksheets from 3 Boys and a Dog

Under the Sea Fun Octopus Vegetable Platter from Crafty Mama in ME

Fish Books for Kids from The Jenny Evolution

How Fish Breathe – A Science Experiment from Tales of Education at Home

Fun Things to See at the Newport Aquarium from Something 2 Offer

Aquarium Scavenger Hunt Printable for Kids from CraftCreateCalm

Aquarium in a Bottle: Ocean Sensory Idea from A Little Pinch of Perfect

Aquarium I Spy from Schooling a Monkey

The post Aquarium Arithmetic Seek and Find Math Activity appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

One of the things I love most about spring is waiting for rain showers to end so we can try to spot some rainbows.

You know how you always heard about “the end of the rainbow”? Well, it turns out there is no end.

I just read the other day that the rainbow always changes arc direction depending on your position. So as you travel, it seems to travel too.

Bummer.

They may not be what they appear, but rainbows are still plenty of fun for kids.

And that’s why I thought I’d make some rainbow tally marks worksheets for kids who are working on counting with tally marks!

These would be fantastic for spring math centers! Simply laminate the pages and let students use them with dry erase markers!

And be sure to grab more of our spring worksheets for kids, including our Flower Repeated Addition Worksheets!

Rainbow Tally Marks Worksheets for Kids

To use these rainbow tally marks worksheets for kids, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• Printer (with ink)
• Printer paper
• Pencils
• Laminator (optional)
• Dry erase markers (optional)

Counting with tally marks can seem old-fashioned, but it’s still a wonderful math skill for kids to learn.

When students use tallies, they practice one to one correspondence, skip counting by fives, and number sense (understanding what numerals actually mean).

This product contains: 

• Three color rainbow tally marks counting worksheets
• Three line art rainbow tally marks counting worksheets
• A full answer key
• A mini lesson about how to count with tally marks
• And a set of instructions!

Review the mini tally marks lesson with your class and then let the students get to work!

You might also find it helpful to keep a copy of the lesson at the math center for easy reference.

Scroll down to get your copy of these Rainbow Tally Marks Worksheets!

Check out our other rainbow learning ideas!

To get your copy of our Rainbow Tally Marks Worksheets, click the image or the link below to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

> Rainbow Tally Marks Lesson – Teachers Pay Teachers <

The post Fun Rainbow Tally Marks Worksheets for Kids appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

Now that we’re winding down first grade with Roo (yay!), I’ve been looking through the math objectives to make sure we touch on as many topics as possible. One of the major math concepts we still had to discuss was: measurement.

For Roo, though, life begins and ends with movement. So I wanted to make learning about measurement as fun as possible. Time to add in some monster trucks with a fun set of monster truck themed measurement for first grade printables!

These are a wonderful way to practice using rulers to measure to the nearest inch, half-inch, and quarter inch, especially if you have active kids who love all things transportation.

Check out our printable Monster Truck Measurement lesson and get a set of your own for FREE! And, for more ways to make math fun, take a look at our outdoor sidewalk chalk math game!

Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables

To use these monster truck measurement for first grade printables, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links included in this post. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• Printer (with ink)
• Printer Paper
• Pencils
• A Ruler

All you have to do is print the worksheets and then follow the instructions!

Kids can choose from measuring to the nearest inch, the nearest half-inch, or the nearest quarter-inch. So these work well for teaching measurement for first grade, but also measuring skills for second grade and rising third grade students.

This product also includes a full answer key, so kids can check their work!

Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables Lesson

Since it was Roo’s first time working on this topic, we started with learning to measure to the nearest inch.

After we talked about the importance of lining up the first line on the ruler with the start of the object, Roo was off and running!

I encouraged him to draw a line from the start of the object to the point at which it lined up with the ruler, and then the same with the end of the object.

The instructions say to measure to the nearest inch, so it was also a good time to talk about estimation. After Roo measured each line of trucks, he wrote down the number on the lines. Easy peasy!

Since Pooh is in second grade, he worked on measuring to the nearest half-inch.

And he ended up learning that .5 and 1/2 are the same thing! (We’re already working on third grade objectives, albeit unconsciously…lol.)

Don’t miss these other math activities you can do at home!

Plus, learn more about teaching math to kids by following my Math Mania board on Pinterest!

Get your copy of our free Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables when you subscribe to our email newsletter! You’ll get these printables, plus lots of other freebies, in the Subscriber Library!

The post Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

Over the years, they’ve gotten to try lots of math programs and we’ve enjoyed most of them. But the real issue has been getting them to do a program regularly. If each lesson takes a while, they tend to lose interest rather quickly and then they start viewing lessons as chores, instead of something they actually want to do.

So I was excited to learn about the Smartick method – a math practice app that helps kids get math enrichment in just 10 minutes a day! And it’s been helping my boys do their math lessons without fussing and fighting – always a win in my book.

Read on to see how the Smartick method works and how you can score a free trial and a 25 percent discount on your subscription!

Disclosure: I received access to this product in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

The Smartick Method for Math Practice

Let me be clear: Smartick is NOT a math curriculum. So it’s not a primary math teaching program. Rather, the Smartick method is used for enrichment and regular practice of what kids are already learning.

Many parents use it as an alternative to Kumon or similar after-school programs, so instead of having to take your child to a math lesson after school, you could try Smartick for a quick math boost!

It’s easy to set up Smartick for your kids. Once you create a tutor account, you can add your children as students. Each of them will complete an initial assessment to see what math skills they already know and then the lessons can begin!

Smartick is not text-heavy. Each of the math problems does have written instructions (with optional audio), but there’s not a lot of reading involved.

This was great for my youngest son, who really isn’t much on reading. His patience is low because of his attention issues, so he loved how visual the program is.

Since he can do the lesson completely on the tablet, he can just pick it up, log in, and get started!

What I also love about Smartick is that he can keep up with his progress through the daily lesson and get an idea of how many more problems he has to do. That stops him from constantly asking “How much longer, Mooooom???”

At the end of each lesson, the boys could see their results: how many questions they got right and how many they missed. They’re also given the opportunity to fix their errors and, if they do, they get an extra point. It’s a nice way to encourage them to review their mistakes and try again.

Plus, there are games they can play after they’ve completed their daily lesson. And when they miss a lesson, which mine frequently do, I get an email letting me know that they didn’t do their practice for that day.

Smartick is a really good, simple to use math program that’s working well for my boys. It’s available in both the Google Play Store and the App Store.

And it’s worth the time to try it out with your kids too! If you decide to subscribe, you can score a 25 percent discount when you sign up with this referral link!

Need more math ideas for your students? Try these posts!

And see more ideas for teaching math on my Math Mania Pinterest board!

The post 10 Minute Math Practice with the Smartick Math App appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

So when I first discovered Life of Fred, I was thrilled. My oldest daughter, who has ADD, is a voracious reader. But she is NOT a fan of math.

Which is just fine because Life of Fred is NOT a set of math textbooks. If it was, she would have lost interest long ago. But she has loved these books and the concepts she’s learned as a result and that’s why we’ve kept them in rotation during the school year, even as she’s moved on to higher grades.

Read on to find out about the Life of Fred math books available for homeschool students. Plus, enter to win five Life of Fred math books yourself!

Life of Fred Math Books for Homeschool

Life of Fred is a series of storybooks about Fred, an unusual five-year-old. In fact, he’s the youngest professor ever in the history of Kittens University.

The stories tell us about what happens during Fred’s day-to-day life. In the first book, Fred wakes up in the morning and gets out of his sleeping bag (located in his office at Kittens University) and reads the clock to tell what time it is.

As the books go on, Fred’s days become more complex as he goes jogging, studies constellations, learns to read music, and even tries to assemble a bicycle he orders through the mail. All the while, mathematical concepts are introduced and practiced without kids really even noticing. (They’re far too interested in what happens to Fred.)

The books are separated by grade level, beginning with the Life of Fred Elementary Series, which includes the following four books:

Life of Fred Apples

Life of Fred Butterflies

Life of Fred Cats

Life of Fred Dogs

These are described as elementary level books, because they focus on the basic operations of arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They also introduce number theory, rounding, skip counting, shapes, and more.

For middle school-aged children, Life of Fred math books for homeschool include:

Life of Fred Decimals and Percents

Life of Fred Fractions

There’s also an Life of Fred Intermediate Series (for middle school) that includes the following books:

Life of Fred Kidneys

Life of Fred Liver

Life of Fred Mineshaft

In the Intermediate Series, the books take a big leap forward and tackle more advanced math topics, such as geometry, finding averages, and even the Pythagorean Theorem. Like the Elementary Series, though, these books introduce the topics so gently kids won’t have a chance to feel overwhelmed.

Each chapter is only about six pages long (perfect for short attention spans!) and there are a few questions for kids to practice some of the concepts they learned in the chapter. There are also answer keys for each practice section. Plus, the books are written at grade-appropriate levels, so kids can read them on their own. It’s reading and mathematics all in one!

Want to see more ways to make math fun in your homeschool? Check out these ideas!

And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to get educational printables, freebies, and tips in your email inbox!

Now for the REALLY big news! We’re giving away five Life of Fred math books! Read to the bottom for your chance to enter!

28 homeschool bloggers have joined together to provide one massive back-to-homeschool basket giveaway! Take a peek around these 28 sites and enter to win as many baskets as you like. Each blogger is conducting her own giveaway, so you never know…you may end up winning more than one!

(1) Our Favorite Literature by Geek Families

(2) Ocean Learning Gift Basket by See Jamie Blog

(3) Getting Back to Homeschool Bundle Giveaway by Renée at Great Peace

(4) Back to High School Giveaway Basket by BJ’s Homeschool

(5) Hands-On Learning Basket by Homeschool Hideout

(6) Box of Preschool Busy Bags by Happy Brown House

(7) Middle School Homeschool Curriculum Giveaway by Starts At Eight

(8) Life of Fred Math Books Gift Basket by Look! We’re Learning!

(9) Medieval England Unit Study Basket by Table Life Blog

(10) Favorite Homeschool Things With a Texas Twist by Classic Housewife

(11) Bible Study for Kids giveaway by Adventures in Mommydom

(12) Back to Homeschool Morning Time Gift Basket by Everyday Graces

(13) Mom’s Quiet Time Gift Basket Giveaway by Embracing Destiny

(14) Five Days of Fine Motor Fun by This Outnumbered Mama

(15) Plan to Play Basket by Hide The Chocolate

(16) Middle and High School Living Book Lover’s Delight! by Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(17) American History & Government Back to School Pack by Blog, She Wrote

(18) Create Your Family Mission Statement by Not So Formulaic

(19) The Home Education Road Map Scholarship Homeschool Giveaway by Grace, Grow & Edify

(20) Homeschooling Through the Seasons Basket by Amy’s Wandering

(21) Elephant and Piggie Favorite Book Characters Giveaway by Line upon Line Learning

(22) Back to Homeschool Giveaway 2017 by That Bald Chick

(23) Back to School Shopping Spree by Sallie Borrink

(24) Travel the Globe with a World Geography Gift Basket by Eva Varga

(25) Getting Started with Home Education by My Little Robins

(26) Back to Homeschool Online Music Course Giveaway by I Choose Joy!

(27) Growing Science Resource Basket by The Learning Hypothesis

(28) by Family Style Schooling

I’m excited to announce that we’re giving away FIVE!!! Life of Fred books to one of our readers! The winner will receive:

• Life of Fred Apples
• Life of Fred Butterflies
• Life of Fred Decimals and Percents
• Life of Fred Fractions
• and Life of Fred Kidneys!

So if you have elementary or middle-school students this year, this is the giveaway for you! Just use the Giveaway Tools widget below to enter!

The post Life of Fred Math Books for Homeschool appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

So I was excited to try out the CTC Math Membership to see if the program would be a good fit for him. Guess what? HE loves it! And I love any math program that will get him to love math. See why we love using CTC Math for ADHD kids in our family!

Plus, there’s an incredible giveaway available! Five winners will get a one-year membership to CTC Math absolutely FREE! Read on to learn how to enter!

Disclosure: I received access to this program in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

How CTC Math Works

Here’s a look at how the CTC Math membership works:

As parents, you can sign in and decide which lessons in each grade you want your child to cover. Roo is entering second grade this year, so we started him off there.

Each lesson has a short video that demonstrates the concept in question.

Then there are ten exercises for the child to complete.

One of the things I really like about this program is that the exercises follow the exact same structure as the problems shown in the video. So, there are no “tricky” questions.

Every time your child completes a question, he or she gets a check mark or a red X showing if their answer was correct.

As they work through the lessons, they can see their grade for each concept. This is really helpful, because you can see at a glance which topics they may need more help with before test time.

And, if you look at the top, you’ll see that you can choose the length of your child’s tests. That’s a super option, because some kids don’t need a lot of questions (or don’t have the attention span to complete a lot of questions). That way you can customize the test length for each child and each lesson.

Just in time for the new school year, CTC Math is offering a huge discount – just for homeschoolers! Right now, we can get 60 PERCENT off the regular price, which means you can grab a one-year family CTC Math membership for just $118.80!

Want to test the program out before you buy? Sign up for a totally free trial!

Why I Love Using CTC Math for ADHD Kids

So, what makes CTC Math so awesome for kids who have ADHD?

As you can see, my boy is really into that video lesson. Know why?

It was only a little over a minute long! While some videos are closer to three minutes, they’re all very short, which is perfect for kids with attention issues.

See the “For Your Reference” heading at the bottom? If you download the “Lesson Summary” PDF, you can see a list of what will be covered in the video, along with the answers.

Just like this! So you can prepare ahead of time and come up with additional problems for your child to practice that use this same concept. I also like that, because there are some concepts that I already know may be a bit confusing. This way, I’m prepared to work them through along with him.

Roo did a great job at using the computer to answer the questions. Since the questions aren’t timed, he didn’t feel any pressure to finish them before he was ready. That’s another reason why CTC Math is great for kids with ADHD. It reduces anxiety.

At the top, the program keeps track of how your child is doing on the questions he or she has been answering so far. When Roo saw that he was on track to get them all right, he stopped in the middle of one of his problems and said, “I better slow down. I want to get a 100.”

I had to pick my mouth up off the floor. I don’t recall him ever saying he needed to slow down for anything ever in his life before. The scorekeeping is a great motivator.

So, since he wanted to slow down, we paused on the questions and worked out a couple of the “Writing the Numeral” problems together.

I wrote numerals and number words on the blackboard.

He wrote them down as either numerals or number words on his paper. When we practiced a couple, he seemed to feel more confident and we returned to the questions.

You can take a break on the questions anytime and resume when you’re ready. (Another win for CTC Math!)

That break for more practice worked! He got his 100.

And, he’s actually been asking to do this program each day since. It’s definitely a keeper!

To learn more about CTC Math, follow the company on social media!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Periscope

And….drumroll….here’s your chance to enter the CTC Math giveaway! Five winners will receive a FREE 12-month membership! To enter, use the Giveaway Tools widget below!

P.S. Don’t forget to stop by and check out the amazing 60% off CTC Math homechool deal – available right now! And while you’re shopping, sign up for a free trial to see if a CTC Math membership will work for your kids! SPOILER: It will.

Need more ideas for homeschooling your child with ADHD? Follow my ADHD Homeschooling Tips board for our tried-and-true suggestions!

The post Why We Love Using CTC Math for ADHD Kids appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

In our family, Tigger (our oldest daughter) has been a lifelong math-hater. She just loses all interest and tries to get through it, instead of trying to grasp the concepts. But, as I’ve tried to tell her, we don’t get to just “opt out” of things we don’t like in life. Thanks to homeschooling, though, we do get to try different ways to understand them and improve.

So I was excited to try the Pre-Algebra program from Mr. D. Math! I’d heard such great things about the program and my daughter was happy about having someone to walk her through pre-algebra and get her ready for middle school math.

See how using Mr. D. Math is helping us to manage common ADHD math problems!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

Managing ADHD Math Problems with Mr. D Math

Let me just start by saying that I completely sympathize with Tigger. If I could have gotten through life without math, I would happily have done so. But as I got older, I found that I’m actually good at math…when I try. And the same is true of Tigger. It’s just taking some time for her to realize that.

I mean, look at that face. That is a beautiful young woman who should never feel inadequate about doing anything, including algebra. (Sorry, I had a Mama moment.)

Common ADHD Math Problems

What are some of the common ADHD math problems kids deal with? Well, since kids (and adults) with ADHD often have issues with executive function, they may have trouble with the following areas:

• organizing their thoughts into a process
• executing that process
• persisting when they’ve made mistakes

Pretty much everything you need to do in order to grasp a math concept, right? You need to learn the steps, perform them IN ORDER, and take the time to check for errors. So, for kids with ADHD, a math lesson can be a recipe for disaster.

This is not to say that all kids with ADHD struggle with math. My youngest boy, who is the most hyper of all of my kids, actually does better with math than language arts. But a child who has ADHD and struggles with math lessons may find that even the simplest concept is almost impossible to learn.

How Mr. D. Math Works

Which is why I found Mr. D. Math to be such a great program for my daughter with ADHD! Here’s a look at how the Mr. D. Math Pre-Algebra program works:

The lessons are organized very clearly by topic and chapter. As your child works through each lesson, it appears with a checkmark.

Every section begins with a video lesson. In the lessons, Mr. D. himself introduces a concept, demonstrates how it works, and asks a few questions.

Here’s a look at one of the video demonstrations. This one was on Order of Operations.

After the lesson is complete, students take an online quiz on what they learned.

Afterwards, they submit their grades.

At the end of each chapter, students take a test. And, as you can see, the solutions to the chapter tests are provided. Those are great for checking work and finding areas that need to be strengthened.

How Mr. D. Math is Helping My ADHD Daughter with Pre-Algebra

The Mr. D. Math Pre-Algebra program is a super introduction to algebraic concepts. What I loved about the program was that it begins with a nice introduction to exactly how math works. So your child doesn’t need previous experience with pre-algebra to begin it. As long as he or she can add, subtract, multiply, and divide, they’re good to go!

Right from the beginning, Mr. D. won Tigger over. As he explained, math is a language. It has its own symbols that have a unique meaning. And you have to understand the language to understand what each expression says. Since Tigger is a bookworm and interested in writing, that analogy made perfect sense to her.

His initial comparison was to compare learning math to talking to a dog. The dog only understands select words that have meaning to him, so the rest of your sentence would be “blah blah blah”. And that’s how math is! Block out the parts that have no meaning and focus on what matters. Brilliant!

What I also liked was that Mr. D. paused during the lesson to ask a few questions.

Knowing Tigger’s tendency to let her mind drift away, I asked her to write her answers down. And lo and behold! Neatly written notes! That’s how I knew she was paying attention and actually interested in the material.

After introducing a new way to look at math, Mr. D. reviews basic arithmetic operations with students (addition, subtraction, etc.). But, as the chapter progresses, he moves on to new concepts: order of operations, simplifying expressions, and so on.

Remember PEMDAS? He uses that mnemonic device also! While she remembered the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally”, she had a little trouble remembering what each word in the phrase actually represented.  So she wrote it on the board to help herself remember it.

I will add one note of caution that I observed with Tigger: Kids with ADHD may tend to redo the same things again and again without slowing down to pay attention to why something is incorrect. Since the Pre-Algebra program is self-paced, kids can take quizzes whenever they want.

After Tigger’s first Order of Operations lesson, she took the quiz and missed several of the questions. Naturally, she simply took it again and then again. But since she didn’t slow down to review her notes, ask me for help, or rewatch the video lesson, she kept getting a failing grade. And you can only take each quiz three times. So she had to accept a grade lower than she wanted.

But that was a lesson to her as to why it’s important to slow down, check your work, and get help when necessary. So, if your child with ADHD behaves similarly, keep an eye out when they start taking quizzes and encourage them to take a break or get help with something that seems fuzzy.

If you’re looking for a self-paced Pre-Algebra Math program for your child, Mr. D. Math is definitely worth the investment! And if you’re in a time crunch, you can get a program to get your child ready for Pre-Algebra in just 11 weeks or even six weeks!

To find out more about the program, follow Mr. D. Math on social media!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

And if you’d like more ADHD math ideas, check out my list of 10 Math Activities for Kids with ADHD!

The post Managing ADHD Math Problems with Mr. D. Math appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

Math has been an issue in our family, especially since several of our children are living with ADHD. But with this easy sidewalk chalk outdoor math game, my active kids got some arithmetic practice done while moving!

If you love this hands-on math activity, be sure to see our list of math activities for kids with ADHD! There are plenty of hands-on math learning ideas there as well!

Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game

It took me about 15 minutes to set this up. But there’s a lot of bending involved, so prepare to use your back…lol.

What You’ll Need:

• Sidewalk chalk
• Giant foam dice

What I did was draw a long squiggly line on our driveway and then another about two feet parallel from it. That way, I could make a game board.

Then I added horizontal lines every foot and a half or so.

Finally, I filled each space with a simple math fact. I alternated addition and subtraction with multiplication and division.

The kids rolled the dice to find out how many spaces to travel.

Then they walked to the correct space. (Just like a regular board game.)

When they got to their space, they worked on solving the math problem in the square. For my boys, multiplication and division are still pretty new concepts, so I talked them through it using how they relate to addition and subtraction. They seemed to pick up on it pretty quick that way.

Learning to skip count is super helpful when it’s time to introduce division and multiplication. I saw proof of that in this activity.

And we kept on solving math problems until we reached the end!

Get a look at more ways to make math fun for your kids!

And for more math ideas, follow my Math Mania board on Pinterest!

This post is part of the Early Elementary Blogging Team linkup! Check out some of the other fun outdoor learning ideas shared this week!

Map Skills for Kids: Backyard Treasure Hunt from Life Over C’s

Nests Nature Hunt for Kids from Still Playing School

How to Make an Outdoor Mud Kitchen from Parenting Chaos

Outside Arrays for Multiplication Practice from Line Upon Line Learning

Gardening For Math Time from Preschool Powol Packets

Second Grade Math with Rocks from Sugar Aunts

Tree Unit Study and Science Experiment from Schooling a Monkey

The post Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.