Multiplication Monday
Using ALEKS for our math this year has been great. GB has mastered 75% of the 4th grade already.
BUT….. he still is very hesitant about multiplication. And as you know, if you don’t have those multiples down pat, it makes all future math problems take longer, and feel harder. The ALEKS program is great for teaching the concepts. But we need to step back and really have a reinforcement day for multiplying. I’d really like him to know these facts easily.
So we started our day with this video. It’s a great video that shows you just how easy it will be to memorize these multiple facts, if you take it a step at a time.
Then we sat on the couch, with a nice fire in the fireplace and had a no-stress, no time limit flash card session. We really tried to work on those numbers in the 6’s, 7’s, and 8’s that he’s having problems with.
After a short break we came back to the computer and played some math computer games. I was hoping that this would help with his speed. We played:
Lemonade Larry ~ this was a nice easy warm-up
Pumpkin Multiples ~ this one didn’t work well, because he was too slow with his facts
Space Racer ~ we had the same slowness problem with this game
Balloon Invaders ~ he had a lot of fun with this game, so I highly recommend this one, especially for boys
After lunch we played a game I’m calling Tic-Tic-Tac-Tac-Toe. It’s like Tic-Tac-Toe except you play on a 5 X 5 grid instead of a 3 X 3. Plus, in order to place his icon, he has to roll two dice and answer the multiplication problem correctly. Once he does that he has to place his icons in such a way as to get 5 in a row in any direction.
We also played these games.
Multiplication Mystery ~ he liked this one because there was no speed factor involved. And at this point in the day, he needed something that didn’t involve a time limit.
and Timez Attack which is a download. But it’s free and the graphics are really cool.
After all this reinforcement, I still think he needs more. So tomorrow, instead of Language Arts, I may have a repeat Math day. Because I really think this is important. And because we can. Since we homeschool, we can do anything! Right?
