My son, the math whiz

[CallMeMommy]

I didn't know if this should go here or in Special Needs, but this fits better IMO. I just got DS1's report card yesterday and he's showing well-above-average scores in all of his math areas. Two areas were so high that in the comments section it said "Consider individualized instruction". What can I do to help keep up his interest in math without forcing anything on him? Any good math-related games out there? He likes flashcards (already have some) but hates workbooks. I don't know where he gets it, his parents certainly didn't pass it on!

[daytripper75]

How old is he and what grade is he in?

[CallMeMommy]

Yeah, that'd help, wouldn't it? He's 6 and going into 1st grade next year.

[whatsnextmom]

My youngest loves and is talented in math but he doesn't neccessarily want to come home and do more. He likes the game "countdown" though. It's a board game you can get at places like Target.

[kate42]

We just got a handheld math game called Flashmaster. DD's GT teacher suggested it to help her learn multiplication tables. It took her about 30 seconds to figure it out.

It's not really a game in the bells and whistles sense, I guess it's more like electronics flashcards. You can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If you have an extra $50, it might be something to check out.

DD is six and going into second grade.

[ollyoxenfree]

You were probably thinking about obviously math stuff (flashcards, workbooks) but board games and card games are great for that age:

Monopoly or Monopoly Jr. (counting money, adding, subtracting - if he's advanced to multiplication and fractions and percentage, you can complicate things with interest rates on loans depending on how you play!)

Mancala (counting, strategy)

Set (recognizing patterns)

Sudoku

Chess


If you search "math games", "math puzzles", "logic puzzles", you'll find lots of sites with printables.

I also like fun books like The Number Devil, A Mathmatical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Managing his own money is also great for introducing fractions and decimals, if he's at that stage. Play shopping with a toy store catalogue and a pretend amount of cash (say $20 or $50).

[CallMeMommy]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

You were probably thinking about obviously math stuff (flashcards, workbooks) but board games and card games are great for that age:

Monopoly or Monopoly Jr. (counting money, adding, subtracting - if he's advanced to multiplication and fractions and percentage, you can complicate things with interest rates on loans depending on how you play!)

Mancala (counting, strategy)

Set (recognizing patterns)

Sudoku

Chess


If you search "math games", "math puzzles", "logic puzzles", you'll find lots of sites with printables.

I also like fun books like The Number Devil, A Mathmatical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Managing his own money is also great for introducing fractions and decimals, if he's at that stage. Play shopping with a toy store catalogue and a pretend amount of cash (say $20 or $50).

Awesome ideas, thanks!

Whatsnextmom, that's exactly what I want to avoid, him thinking he's coming home to do more schoolwork - I don't want to be *that* mom, kwim? Countdown looks fun (had to Google it), I'll have to check it out in the store.

[kimellett]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these:

http://www.marcycookmath.com/ttclist.htm

the task is you have a series of math problems, and a set of number tiles (0-9) and you can only use each tile once per page! It teaches/reinforces basic skills as well as develops critical thinking, logic, and problem solving. There are SO many topics/skills available you'd be sure to find something you like.

[LuckyMommaToo]

What about a book of Sudoku puzzles? There are lots of them for kids. We love Rat-a-tat-Cat and Qwirkle for games that are math/logic based.
-e

[zoebird]

also, any toys that do patterns and building (blocks, etc) deal with spacial mathematics (eg, geometry), and also cooking together (which also has chemistry), and other fun activities are ways to do math without doing math.

[zoebird]

oh, and...

music is math. so anything with music (such as a drumming circle or any musical instrument) involves math! so does dance (because it involves movement and music).

[ollyoxenfree]

I forgot to add dice games to my list - also useful for counting and mulitiplication skills, if you have a bunch of die to play with.

Following on zoebird's suggestion about building blocks, I just heard something about adults who didn't understand the relationship between multiplication and finding area of a rectangle. I think it's pretty obvious if you have a set of coloured blocks, and you create rows and columns with different colours. You can easily demonstrate how the rows and columns add up, and how you can change the area by adding or removing rows or columns, and how rectangles with different length sides can have the same area.

[LauraLoo]

You might want to check out the book, "Family Math." Lots of fun ideas to explore math together.

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Math-Eq...5741699&sr=8-1

There's also a book, "Games for Math," by Peggy Kaye. Not sure if these activities would be too easy for him, though.

And if you haven't checked out the Living Math website, there's a bunch of resources there, too.

http://www.livingmath.net/

[Tigerle]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

I forgot to add dice games to my list - also useful for counting and mulitiplication skills, if you have a bunch of die to play with.

Check out Yahtzee, too. And Rummy.

[LauraLoo]

You might also want to create a box of manipulatives for exploration - In our box we have rulers, meter sticks, tape measurers, measuring cups, graph paper, unifix cubes, number lines, hundred board, hand timer, fraction tiles, calculator, compasses, thermometers, counting chips, dice, multi-sided dice, play money, 3-D geometric blocks, geoboards, and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting. We also have a balance scale with weights that's a lot of fun.

[eepster]

DS enjoys this site very much: http://www.mhschool.com/math/2003/student/
It's got lots of games. Does he have legos? The Montessori method uses a bunch of really fun math games.

[mom2ponygirl]

Zoombinis! Fun, puzzle solving, computer game that also teaches logic, pattern finding, etc.

Penrose the Mathematical Cat and related books.

www.livingmath.net

Kitchen Table Math from www.artofproblemsolving.com This site will also have great problem solving books for later years. Consider books for MOEMs like Creative Problem Solving by Lenchner in a couple years.

Measure and weigh anything you can think of around the house. Measure to see where you can move furniture to, compare weights of objects, bake stuff, round off the cost of things at the store and add up to estimate cost, etc.

[ollyoxenfree]

Just came across Math Monday at the website for Make magazine and I thought of this thread. There are a bunch of links to archived posts too.

Most of the activities may be beyond the average 6 y.o., but they are inspiring.

[emilysmama]

We have this:
URL for Fractiles 7

We have this as well:
URL for magnetic Sudoku 5x5, although we started with the 4x4 version.

This is fun:
URL for Blokus Trigon

This is addictive, not just for toddlers, but for adults too:
URL for Wedgits

This is almost certainly educational, but my husband just thinks that it is fun:
URL for Magnatiles

This is definitely mathematical, but don't tell anyone:
URL for Pendulum Man

We also have a plastic marble run, which even keeps my husband entertained.

My husband likes to play yahoo chess with his friend over the internet on his ipod touch, and my dd enjoys watching him do that.