• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

  • HOME
  • How to
    • Preschool
    • Kindergarten
    • Middle School
    • High School
  • Planner
  • Lapbooks
    • Trioramas
    • History Games
  • Shop
  • GET STARTED NOW!
    • Learning Styles
  • 7 Step Planner
    • DIY Best Student Planner
    • Free & Easy DIY Home Management Binder
  • Unit Studies
    • Creation to Ancients
    • Middle Ages to Reform
    • Exploring to Revolution
    • World Wars to Today
    • Science
    • Free Art Curriculum Grades 1 – 8
  • Curriculum
    • More Unit Studies
    • Geography
    • Writing PreK to 12th
    • Geronimo Stilton
  • BootCamp
    • Resources
      • Dynamic Subscriber Freebies
      • Exclusive Subscribers Library
      • Ultimate Unit Study Planner

math

21 Hands-On Math Activities for Elementary and Middle School

December 13, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

As our kids get older, it’s so easy to start shying away from teaching more advanced math concepts. Especially if you were an English major in college, like someone I know. *cough* me *coughcough*

Math is taught very differently now than it was when I was in school.

When I started looking at upper elementary and middle school math concepts to teach my children a couple of years ago, I felt completely lost. It was like going back to school myself!

But, over time, I’ve gotten more comfortable with these concepts.

There are 21 math learning activities that are perfect for upper elementary and middle school homeschooled students, even if you're not math inclined yourself. CLICK HERE to grab an idea or two!

I’ve also found a few ways to make abstract math ideas come to life with these fun hands-on math projects and crafts!There are 21 math learning activities below that are perfect for upper elementary and middle school students, even if you’re not math inclined yourself.

21 Hands-On Math Projects

All of these math crafts and projects are adaptable, so you can use them for several grade levels.

If you have one child in middle school and one in elementary school, you could use the same activity and just adjust the kinds of problems involved to suit their ability. It’s up to you!

1. Let the kids walk a negative number line to learn about positive and negative integers.

2. Celebrate Pi Day with this gorgeous Pi Art Skyline craft.

3. Display fractions visually with this neat Fraction Tree the kids can make.

4. Play this easy Sidewalk Chalk Math Game and use equations, exponents, or any math concept your child is currently studying.

5. Learning to multiply fractions can be tricky. This Hands-On Multiplying Fractions Activity can help.

6. Show the kids how the Fibonacci sequence works with this lovely Fibonacci Art Project.

Hands-On Math Projects

7. Create math art with these LEGO Tessellations.

8. Combine art techniques and basic multiplication with this Skip Counting Pointillism Art.

9. If your kids love Minecraft, these Printable Minecraft Math Cubes will be a perfect DIY manipulative.

10. Get comfortable with four-digit numbers with this simple Safe Cracker Math Game kids can play on their own.

If you’re looking for ways to make math more meaningful check out Loving Living Math
Our Journey Westward

11. Kids love to write secret codes. This Number Line Secret Code Activity looks like fun.

12. Introduce the concept of statistics with this “sweet” Candy Statistics activity.

13. Encourage creative kids to use Math Journaling to demonstrate mastery of math skills in an artistic way.

14. Play a matching game and practice spotting polygons with these printable polygon flashcards.

15. Show kids how chaos theory works with this easy Chaos Theory Activity.

16. These Printable Long Division Puzzles are excellent for helping kids become comfortable with division.

17. Create your own measurement tool with this cool build a LEGO balance project.

18. Play a game of Multiplication Checkers and get some fun times tables practice.

19. This beautiful Parabolic Curve Art is a nice way to add STEAM learning to a lesson.

20. Build this DIY Abacus Craft to use design and create a math tool at the same time.

There are 21 math learning activities that are perfect for upper elementary and middle school homeschooled students, even if you're not math inclined yourself. CLICK HERE to grab an idea or two!

21. Work on measurement outdoors with this Sunflower Garden Math activity.Which of these hands-on math projects do you plan to try with your kids? I’d love to know how they work out for you!

Add more hands-on math learning with these ideas!

  • 25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities That Make Learning Fun

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities, Math Based Tagged With: hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, math

Making Math Count for Middleschool When You’re Not the Math Mom

February 19, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Overcoming a fear of homeschool subjects we feel less than qualified to teach becomes the norm for the homeschooling lifestyle we choose. We’re not afraid of challenges. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school for more fun tips.

Besides, pushing through fear of subjects we are weak in doesn’t have to be a negative because it makes us work harder to obtain accurate facts and tried-and-true teaching tips.

My idea of how to teach math has changed positively and considerably over the last 19+ years of my homeschooling. Look at these 3 ways to make math count for middle school when you’re not the math mom.

Making Math Count for Middle School When You're Not the Math Mom @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

     ONE/ Just because you’re the teacher, it doesn’t mean you have to understand every concept.

One mistake I wish I could take back was to not be so hard on myself thinking that I had to understand every math concept. While it’s true that you want to have an idea of what you’re middle school kids will be learning, it’s not necessary that you understand every concept.

Part of the challenge in teaching is to be a humble learner yourself.

After jumping into math assignments with each son, I knew that if the curriculum could teach a middle schooler how to learn math that I could learn right alongside them. If you model an eager attitude to learn math, your middle school kid will too.

     TWO/ Choosing the correct math program is essential to nurturing a math lover.

I have used numerous math programs throughout my years and each one served a different purpose.

I don’t buy into the thought that one math program is superior to another, but one is superior for my boys’ learning styles to others. And the other equally important thing I learned was that my teaching ability mattered many times more than the curriculum.

That may seem like a contradiction after I mentioned that you didn’t need to know every concept, but let me explain.

Not having the ability is quite different than finding math challenging. From the time we started homeschooling, we always question our confidence. The point is that if you and your child both struggle in math, then you will want to find a math curriculum which gives you more help in explaining concepts.

However, if your child is a strong math learner, then follow his lead by choosing a math program that suits his learning style.

For example, two math programs that I used for middle school, which gave me more teacher help were Calvert Math and Rod and Staff. Each one had it’s strengths and comparing costs, Rod and Staff is more inexpensive, but then it is written for a classroom.

Calvert math was written for the homeschooled mom in mind.

Math-U-See is another favorite I used in middle school for my math lovers. Though Math-U-See touts that it is for the non-math person, the amount of concepts and pace it moves at is just right for the math lover. The mastery approach is appealing to a child who loves the challenge of math and wants to move at a faster pace.

Too, unless I watched the videos with Math-U-See alongside my son, I couldn’t just pick up the teacher’s manual and explain it. This is why I recommend it more for the mom who has had experience teaching math or for the motivated math learner.

     THREE/ Project based learning is for math too.

Another important way to make math meaningful for middle school is allow more project based learning instead of rote memorization. Project based learning gives your child a chance to solve real-life problems.

I’ve learned that I don’t want to follow the masses instilling a hate or worse yet indifferent attitude toward math. How did math ever get such a bum rap?

That means I have to let go of my thinking which is that completing math worksheets means that my sons are grasping math facts and more importantly seeing value for numbers lifelong. It does not.

How to Make Math Move from Miserable to Meaningful

Project based learning, however, gives a child a real meaning for learning math. For example, one project that we jumped into for a month was to focus on learning the differences between customary and metric measuring.

See, back in the 70’s, the U.S. tried to switch to the metric system like the rest of the world, but it didn’t go over. Now, we live in a world where a majority of what our children see each day can be a mix of the metric system and customary measurement. On top of that, many kids are still confused by our customary measurements.

We kept a journal of things we measured in both the metric system and our customary measurement. Explaining to my sons why the U.S. was so different helped them to see that they would constantly need to be aware of the two types of measuring systems.

Most math programs are similar when they explain very little about the metric system and how it got its name from the meter, which is the principal unit of measure.

Taking on a challenge and tying math to something I have a passion for like history, we were able to read about how the metric system got started. During the French Revolution, the academy of science was looking for a better way to measure.

This project based learning where my sons chose books about the metric system along with the French Revolution and keeping a math journal made our month project based activity memorable.  And no, I still can’t recall instantly all the metric measurements, but I love a challenge and more important is that my sons have a love for the history of math.

This type of learning gives them a spark to be more number aware. From the beginning, teaching children that patterns are found in everyday things like a garden and even music gives them a love for math that they will carry into adulthood.

What strengths in math can you bring to your middle school kids?

Also, grab some tips from 25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun and 5 Tips on Teaching Homeschool Subjects I Loathe.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Homeschool Multiple Ages of Children, Middle School Homeschool, Teach Homeschool Math Tagged With: hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, math, middleschool

25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun

December 10, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 25 edible math activities that keeps learning fun.

Food and kids connect. And the sweeter the food the better. My boys always perked up when it came to edible learning. Whatever subject it is, edible projects are some of my boys best memories and teaching moments.

Teaching through edible manipulatives is another advantage we have over public school because with so many allergies, public schools are limited in edible hands-on projects.

25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun. Yum!

Hands-on Math

So today, I have rounded up 25 ideas for edible math and a few books for some edible fun.

  • Geometry chocolate
  • Circumference of an apple
  • Rock candy ratio
  • Cocoa calculations and marshmallow math
  • Math fun with fraction pie
  • Fruit salad math
  • Edible nests and math
  • Flashcard graham cookies
  • Jellybean math
  • Learn about cones through scones
  • Estimate and measuring with hearts
  • Tangram sandwiches
  • Popcorn math
  • Grapes geometry
  • Noodle and cheerio counting
  • Teaching place value using saltines
  • Pretzel sticks for tens and marshmallows for ones
  • Edible flat and solid shapes
  • Cereal patterns
  • Edible domino doubles

Delicious Edible Math

  • Edible math food and candy in math
  • Touch math with Dots
  • Graphing with M & Ms
  • Edible watermelon seeds
  • Fibonacci lemonade

Move out of those workbooks and grab one or two of these sweet ideas for your next homeschool math lesson. Your kids won’t forget it!

Also, you may love to check out these other helps!

  • Making Math Count for Middleschool When You’re Not the Math Mom 
  • Ancient Greece Unit Study.Play Stomachion Like Archimedes {Explore Hands-on Geometry}

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins and I have a Learning through Cooking Pinterest Board.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities, Teach Homeschool Math Tagged With: edible, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschool, math

5 Tips on Teaching Homeschool Subjects I Loathe

March 9, 2015 | 8 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have been on a homeschool confession sort of roll and in that spirit I might as well confess my dislike for math.

All you math lovers don’t leave because I need you here on my blog.

5 Tips on Teaching Homeschool Subjects I Loathe @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Teaching homeschool subjects I loathe I guess really boils down to just one and it’s math but I am so thankful that none of my boys feel the same way.

However, these tips I am sharing today will work for any homeschool subject.

The tips are really kind of like a formula I have followed when we have covered tough subjects or ones that we had less interest in.

5 Tips on Teaching Homeschool Subjects I Loathe

Believe me, it’s not because I am a brain-iac in math that my boys actually love math, though I do feel differently about it now than I did when I first started teaching my boys math.

Looking back now and if you have a math bent, I think you would agree with me that sometimes math can be plain easy to teach because of the predictable formulas and operations that you follow.

That part of math saved me in a sense once I figured out it was like learning a foreign language in a way.

It is sort of like defining terms.  Once you understand the operations, terms and formulas, a lot of it is practical sense.

However, before getting to that point, I struggled with picking math curriculum for my boys because I didn’t want them to not like it.

I knew my dislike of math was traced back to my school days.

It is actually kind of ironic or a twist because I did not have good math teachers or start to enjoy it until high school.

Up until that time I struggled with math.  I had dedicated public high school teachers who allowed me to stay after school and they would tutor me.

Oh, I soon caught up and did four years of math and took advanced classes in the end, but I still remember my struggle and dislike.

What I am trying to say is that the beginning mattered more than the ending because it set the tone for how I still feel today.

I just wanted you to know all that background because our weakness affects the way we set out to teach a homeschool subject we loathe.

Look at the these tips that I learned that made math a favorite subject for my boys and that really can be applied to any homeschool subject you loathe teaching.

One/ Understand the approach.

What I didn’t realize about myself was that I needed less drill when I was younger and longer time in between concepts to think about them.

I needed something to add a mystery of suspense to math and to allow me to think about it, which is how I still am today.

You know for the most part I don’t make knee jerk decisions and it’s the way I approach learning too.

Remembering this, I took a long time looking over math curriculum to give my boys a good head start and settled on Singapore Math as a good beginning math curriculum.

I was such a good choice because it was not boring and it is a mastery approach, meaning it had less drill and kill.

It focuses on conceptual understanding, which was lacking in my own elementary years.

Also, I liked how it focused on concrete things before moving the boys too quick onto abstract.

Knowing that I wanted my sons to understand the concepts before rote memorization, I feel, made all the difference for them.

Math just made sense to them from the beginning, unlike my own experience.

For any subject, think about the approach they use whether it’s a spiral approach with lots of repetition or has some repetition, but moves on at a steady pace.

Two/ Use as many hands-on manipulatives as you like and don’t get rid of them too fast.

My first son was the only one I rushed when using math manipulatives because when the math curriculum stopped giving me instruction like: “Show your child this operation with blocks, shapes or a number line”, I stopped doing them.

I realized soon after that my sons benefited from using the hands-on activities longer.

So I soon ignored the advice to use them only in the younger grades, again, because I recalled my limited use in the younger grades with hands-on manipulatives.

Why do we have to leave off those vital things in the first or second grade?  There simply is no rush.

Each of my boys on their own gradually moved away from using them as they understood the concepts.

If they couldn’t show me with a picture or manipulative, I knew they didn’t fully understand.

Three/ Games are NOT just for young learners.

Then another thing I did was to be sure I kept the subject fun by adding in games.

A simple deck of cards used to drill multiplication facts took priority anytime over a boring worksheet.

Tell a boy we are going to play War with the cards and he is in and brushes up too on his math facts so that he can win.

Dominoes, Uno and Monopoly were called “school” and took the place of our math time on many occasions because again I was determined for my boys to feel differently about math.

Four/ Read a math story.

When they were little, I used math time to read aloud.

I loved it when I was unpredictable when assigning them their math for the day.

Reading a living math book for the day was always a winner.

Living Math Books for Homeschool Middle School Too

I never minded that the boys felt like they were getting away with not doing school because we only read.

It hasn’t hurt one bit to let them feel that that way because it always added an air of fun to math.

Too, though there are many living math books for the younger grades there are also many books to use even for middle school.

One book, Lawn Boy, I read to one of my sons who struggled a bit more to show him the value of learning math.

He needed a valid reason to learn math and making money is certainly an inspiration for learning.

Too, I didn’t want them to sigh when they heard the word “math” and I did want to invoke warm feelings toward learning math.

Five/ Join a Chess Club.

Even though at the time we lived far out in the country and it was about a 40 minute drive one way to meet with other homeschoolers, my boys played chess with other homeschoolers.

It helped to burn off some of that mental energy they had for numbers as they grew.

It wasn’t anything formal, the other moms had boys and girls too who enjoyed being challenged and had math lovers.

These five time tested tips have been the starting point when teaching homeschool subjects I loathed.

Not wanting to model for my sons my dislike for any subject, I can say today that though math may never be my favorite subject to teach, it certainly has way more appeal to me as we homeschool.

What is your least favorite subject to teach? What tips work for your kids?

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Also, look at tips at my post 25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun.

8 CommentsFiled Under: Teach Homeschool Math Tagged With: math

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Privacy Policy | About Me | Reviews | Contact | Advertise

Categories

Archives

Tina Robertson is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 · 5 TNT LLC · Log in · Privacy Policy