How often do you meet a homeschooling mother who says, “I really enjoy teaching maths”?
There are some who enjoy maths but many homeschooling parents don’t enjoy it. In fact, of all the basic subjects, maths is probably the one that worries parents most; and many of us feel incompetent and unsure about it.
I think the reasons many parents think that maths is hard is because they weren’t taught very well themselves.Maybe they didn’t have good teachers themselves and didn’t fully understand what was going on.
Maybe the teacher went too fast. Or maybe the student missed a vital step in a series of lessons, so that everything after that point didn’t make much sense.
Or maybe it’s just that they have forgotten so much that the textbook they have for their child looks frighteningly complicated.
If you weren’t good at maths or have forgotten much of the school maths that you did learn, don’t worry. You can work alongside your children, investigating, co-operating, discussing and arriving at solutions together.
A comprehensive teacher’s manual is a good investment of your money. It will guide you through parts you are unsure of and give you confidence in teaching maths. It will also help you to be reassured that you haven’t ‘missed anything’.
With younger children you will have everyday situations like shopping and cooking. You can also use games like snap and dominoes are helpful for younger children. You can look for board games that use maths skills. You can get times table books to help with rote learning, and you and your children can invent your own games;
I would keep computer maths games to a minimum, if at all. I’m speaking from experience. They don’t really do all they promise.. The games look better than they are worth and children will often avoid the learning part and cheat the programme to play the games.
For older children you may want to call in a tutor. Your job, at this stage, is to be a facilitator and support person for your teen. You can be the cheer leader, encouraging and searching out the opportunities for your child. You are the one with experience in researching what you need.
You might like to get maths books from the library. This is one of my favourite ways to teach maths; it’s so easy and makes maths such good fun. The call number is 519 – 520 for children’s books and you can look under call number 371 in the adult section for teaching ideas. Also, you can collect a few maths games books for your book shelf. You will find yourself dipping into them at odd moments and it’s good to have books like this on hand.
If you are still feeling unsure about enjoying maths you might like to find another homeschooling family who is enjoying maths; ask them for tips and suggestions. You could set up a Games Afternoon and invite friends round. Or you could make Fridays (or a day that suits) your maths games day.
You will soon notice the improvement in attitude to maths in yourself and your children.
The topic of teaching mathematics is looked at in more detail in Lesson Two of Successful Homeschooling Made Easy.
The price of this course is just $10. For six months of weekly emails and lessons.