A Look inside our Math Journals from 4th-6th Grades Introduction Keeping a math journal can be a won… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them  at…
Category: Math Subscription
Prime Factorization
Exploring Ways to Find and Use Prime Factors through Art, Cuisenaire Rods, and More This week we are looking at different ways to explore prime factoring. When teaching anything new,…
Conventional Math Check List
Here is the checklist for math for conventional math education based on the book Home Learning Year by Year. I’ve added a couple of things that I felt were missing, but…
A Walk through Waldorf Math
With a Checklist for Math on this Path Math is beautiful. If you get past the calculations of math, the forms from models, the spirals, the patterns, the shapes that…
Division of Circles
A Place Where Math Meets Art This week I’m sharing a tutorial on division of circle for 3, 4, and 6. In Waldorf geometry, it dips back from the early…
Overview of How I Approach Math
What Math Concepts that I Teach When and Why Math is probably the subject that brings most homeschool parents dread and possibly even influences their decisions to homeschool. Many of…
Teaching Permutation and the Factorial
Cultivating Systematic Critical Thinking Permutations and combinations are part of probability and statistics. It shows us the number of possibilities available under a set conditions. Combinations allow you to change…
All the Ways to Use the 100-chart
From the Basics of Counting, to Addition and Subtractions, Multiples, Multiplication, and Even Prime Number Many year ago, I was inspired by Grimm’s 100-chart which is beautiful. I was not…
Teaching Stats and Graphs
Using Nature Study to Teach Math I don’t think it will come as a surprise to you, but Nature Study is one of my favorite ways to teach basic stats,…
Decomposition and Recomposition of Numbers
How Strengthening Number Bonds Helps Strengthen our Math Skills Decomposition and recomposition may be the most important aspect of elementary level math. It is the ability to break down a…
Addition Strategies
Looking at a Variety of Methods that Make Adding Easier Addition may seem simple at the first look. We just take two numbers and combine them to achieve a total.…
Prime Climb Strategies
Using the Game Prime Climb to Practice Math I have been wanting to share Prime Climb with you for some time. We have used a number of games to practice…
Overview of Addition
From Adding Small Single-digits Numbers to Adding Multi-digit Numbers Addition – it’s likely the first process we learn after counting. It also stays with us for as long as our…
Nesting Shapes
Experiencing Geometry in a Experiential Way through Movement of Shapes We have used these nesting shapes at different times during the years. With Quality of Numbers, each shape corresponds with a…
Playing with Truchet Tiles
Truchet tiles are square tiles with two contrasting colors that can be arranged to make different patterns. When I think of them, I usually think of the contrasting colors dissecting…
Sorting and Comparing Fractions
Three Fraction Activities That Will Give a Number Sense for Fractions. This week I’m giving you a few excerpts of my Fractions guides. The first exercise, ‘Sorting and Comparing’ is…
Math Manipulatives
Bringing the Abstract Concepts of Math into Concrete Impressions Manipulatives are essential to math. They bring a deeper understanding of concepts and can make the abstract into more concrete. They…
Subtraction Strategies
Exploring Simple Subtraction Strategies and How They Scale in Application in More Complex Numbers After addition, subtraction is the next mathematical concept that we come in contact with. We often…
Using Eratosthenes Sieve to Explore Prime Numbers
Eratosthenes’ Sieve is a method of finding prime numbers by eliminating multiples of numbers in the 100-chart, leaving all the prime numbers from 1 to 100. It’s a great activity…
Middle School Math Journal
Relationships, Number Sense, Problem Solving, and Understanding Numbers through Math Journaling This post is following up with our most current math journal that goes through the end of middle school…
Division of Circle II
Symmetry of the Circle Divided by Five through Twelve This is a continuation of our symmetry work from a previous drop. If you are planning on doing these constructions, it…
Playing Number Hive for Math
Number Hive is a game that allows users to understand the relationship of addition and subtraction or multiplication and division depending on how you play it. The game is made…
Using Game Points for Math
Who thought regular games could be used for math? Of course, I did. Some games point system for keeping score have wonderful opportunities to practice math strategies. Today, I’m going…
Exploring Exponents
Using Cuisenaire Rods to Explore Patterns in the Powers There are a number of ways to explore exponents, but it will come to no surprise to you that using the…
Overview of FactoringÂ
An Exploration to its Relationship to Multiplication and Division This week I’m touching on factoring. In math, I think it’s important to show children many different angles of a concept…
An Overview of Multiplication
Looking at the Progression of Multiplication from Skip Counting in Quality of Number all the Way to Multiplying Expressions in Algebra. Introducing Multiplication When I started this post, I had…
Constructing a Logarithmic Spiral of Squares
Using Geometric Art to Practice Math Skills This construction of a logarithmic circle is a way to make art that is beautiful while also practice a lot of math. We…
Place Value Go Fish
Place Value Go Fish is a game that I first saw Denise Haskins, the author of the book, Let’s Play Math, play. In this game, players take turns asking each player…
Playing with SlopesÂ
Exploring the Correlation between Slope and Speed This week we are going to play with slope. You probably know slopes from algebra with the ratio of rise over run or…
Healing Math Trauma
Including Non-Conventional Math Activities as Part or All of your Homeschooling Math Curriculum It happens easily enough. A concept is a little too challenging, there is one too many wrong…
The Art of Tessellations
Playing with Repeating Symmetry and Patterns This week we are going to explore the world of Tessellations. There is so so much with tessellations that I cannot possibly cover all…
Number Bonds for 10
Various Activities that Practice the Number Bonds for Ten Because our number system is base ten, the number bonds for ten are fairly important. Many addition and subtraction strategies are…
Notice and Wonder
Cultivating the Observation of Patterns and Relationships “Notice and Wonder” may be the most valuable tool in education. The exercise of ‘notice and wonder’ helps us to observe, analyze, sometimes…
Vedic Multiplication
Recently I had someone ask me if Vedic Multiplication, that is taught with my guide in year 3 of Multiplication and Division, could be done with 3-digit numbers. The short…
Gattegno’s Place Value
Making a Place in Homeschool Math for Place Value Gattegno’s chart is an intuitive way to look at place value. It shows every digit possible in every place value, allowing…
Rooibos Rainbow Tea Activity
A Sensory Math Activity for Homeschooling. Not only is making tea a wonderful sensory activity for a child, but at the end of it, you get to make and drink…
Window Star Math
Playing with Shapes, Angles, and Symmetry When Making Sun Catchers A little while ago, I showed the homeschooling subscribers how to fold window stars. This week, we’re going to explore…
Memorizing the Multiplication Tables
Different Ways to Help our Children Memorize the Multiplication Tables One of the most common questions that I get is about multiplication. People want to know how to help their…
A Look at Division
From Introducing Division, to Long Division, to the Fractions and Factoring This week we are looking at an overview of division. Division is integral in many higher level math concepts…
Using Monopoly for Math
The Different Ways that You Can Use the Game Monopoly to Get in a Little Math Practice in your Homeschooling. Introduction I’m pretty community and collaborative-oriented, so the idea that…
Doubling and Halving
How Using Doubles and Halves Can Help Us in Simplifying Math Doubling and halving are such integral ideas within our world, that we almost don’t even think about them. They…
Exploring Long Division
Taking a look at the Long Division Algorithm Today I’m going to try to tackle the process of long division. This is a complex algorithm to learn and often is…
Math Circles
How the Waldorf Pedagogy uses Circles in their Math Waldorf uses circles throughout their years in math, from an exploration of them in Year 1 with the Quality of Numbers…
An Overview of Cuisenaire Rods
An the Many Ways They Can Be Used to Show Math Cuisenaire rods are my favorite math manipulative. This is because they translate the math so clearly. This week we’re…