I never used flash cards with my oldest who doesn’t even get math as a concept. Subscribe to the weekly Demme Learning newsletter for the latest blog posts, webinars, and more! If you have questions about teaching math, we are here to help! Get in Touch Weekly Newsletter I wish you a stress-free and joyful learning experience with your children, and I earnestly hope you don’t hijack the process with those flash cards! We Are Here to Help He will laugh, answer, and then move on out the door!Īll six of my children are proficient with their math facts, but, interestingly enough, my youngest, with whom I used the fewest flash cards, learned his facts the most quickly and seemed to be the most cheerful in the process. For example, my youngest says he is on his way out to the trampoline I may say, “Ok, but answer me three first,” and ask him three random facts.
But I never ask more than three facts in a row and usually do it as my children are on the way to do something else. Then Jacks can become 11, Kings can become 12, and so on.ĭid I burn all of the flash cards at my house? Nope. Star with the face cards as ‘10’ – you can become more creative as their proficiency increases. You may need to grant grace in the beginning, but it won’t be long before they are really playing in earnest. The first one to answer correctly wins that pile. You throw down a 6 and your child throws down a 7 6 x 7 = 42. Split the deck in half equally between the two of you. With an older child, you can use a deck of cards to play “Fact War”. This incorporates more than one sense, and keeps the learning fun.
#Math flash plus
The game “number catch” goes something like this: toss the ball to your child, and where their two hands land, have them use those numbers in the corresponding math fact (example: “Six plus six equals twelve”) Then have them toss the ball back to you, and you do the same. Then take a permanent marker and write numbers all over the ball so that, as the ball is thrown and then caught with two hands, the child’s hands will be on two numbers. With a younger child, purchase a beach ball it needs to be at least 18 inches in diameter. Today I want to share with you two of my favorites: My colleagues and I share all sorts of ways to internalize those facts without the stress of flash cards. It makes the whole process of mathematics more doable. Remember, memorizing math facts is like reading without sounding out words. So what would be an effective way to teach math facts without creating a stressful environment? The minute my child perceived that I was less than happy with their performance and stress entered the equation, their learning stopped. However, I must confess that my fictional scenario was not very fictional in my household. I was an ardent flash card proponent and used them in conjunction with other methods to help teach facts to my children. In the presence of stress, the amygdala, a small part of the brain, actually shuts learning down. This biological cascade cannot be prevented.
Holinga calls it an amygdala hijack, which means that learning is temporarily interrupted until the stress dissipates. There’s nothing we can do to combat it because it is a physiological response to the perceived stress.
Research tells us that when stress enters a learning situation, learning stops. Karen Holinga for showing me what I was doing in error. Specifically, what happened to my child is that their learning was literally hijacked. What? What happened here? Quite by accident, I derailed my child’s learning train by introducing stress into the learning equation. Has this ever happened in your home? Flash card learning is going along swimmingly, until you encounter one fact that your student stumbles on, and then, from that point forward, the whole thing descends into a rough deal. In a flash I have inadvertently and completely derailed the process I’m trying to accomplish. My child dutifully says, “Six plus four equals ten.” I enthusiastically say, “Excellent!” And then I hold up a flash card that show 5 + 9, and my student hesitates in a wink of an eye I say, in likely what sounds like a whiny voice, “Aw, come on! You knew this yesterday!!” and waggle the flash card at them. I say to my child, “Six plus four is…?” and expectantly grin.
#Math flash how to
Yes, I am poster child for how to use flash cards the wrong way.Īllow me to paint a picture for you: I sit down with my child – usually across a table (already putting a physical barrier between us…) – and I hold up a flash card that shows 6 + 4. They are probably the single most used tool in a homeschool mom’s tool belt, and I am about to tell you that you’re misusing them. Visit any homeschool household and look for the “tools of our trade” as homeschool moms, and you are going to find math flash cards.
0 kommentar(er)
