Math Alive

Math Alive is a concept invented and taught by Elaine Gaines. She has been a math and science teacher and a home schooler for many years. I took one of her work shops last year and have had a lot more fun teaching math since then.
She takes math concepts and teaches them in ways that students can make their own discoveries about math and thus, really understand the concept. One thing she stresses is pattern. We use these ten squares to do addition and subtraction problems so that the pattern of fives and tens is instilled in our minds and counting on our fingers becomes a thing of the past.

Always fill in your ten square the same way. The first five from top to bottom and then the next five from top to bottom. Use different colored markers for each number in the problem.
For example, four plus three is seven. You can see your four and your three and you can see that it fills up the first five spaces on the ten square and the next two, so that is easily recognised as seven. As a student continues to solve problems this way, it becomes easy for him to visualize the ten square in his mind and he soon should no longer need his fingers for counting.

Texas and Mechanism really love using this method, and it gives a break from all those sheets of math problems.

Proverbs 24:13-14

"My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off."

We started school again this week. It is so sweet to see how much the boys have matured. We now have peace and quiet as they study with a good attitude. It is a far cry from a few years ago when mostly one could hear wining coming from our school room as someone wiggled on the floor in protest to being educated. Finally, the persistant prayer and discipline is paying off.