Monday, November 22, 2010

Chalkboard Math for Teenagers

Happy Birthday Miss Jones




I have three chalkboards in my livingroom. I use them for notes, recipes, reminders, prayers, phone numbers and school work.

My favorite thing is chalkboard math. Out of my five children, I only have 2 students left. They are my youngest - Amy (15) and John (13).  Throughout the day, I put math problems on the boards.

The largest board is behind our living room door. This one is used by John.

The smaller board is used by Amy. It is near the Phone. (Could that be a coincidence?)

I like to write long division, long multiplication, addition and division problems for them to do. It keeps their minds sharp, active and busy. These are not easy problems, like 5 + 5, but are fairly simple for them to do. This keeps them happy and does not frustrate them.  An example would be:

76 divided by 98745

or

68973 - 4508

These are problems that will take them a little time to solve, but not overwhelm them. Amy actually loves the chalkboard math. I have to keep erasing her work and giving her new problems during the day. I never have to tell her about them. She just notices them on her chalkboard. Sometimes, If John is too slow getting to his work, she will run over to his board and do his math too!

I remember one night, while the children were doing their chores, I was checking the boards. I had a calculator to check Amy's math. She was standing nearby, smiling and proud. (She is quite the entertainer!) Then I went to John's, and said, "Hey, how come you didn't do your math?" I went in the kitchen to see what he was up to. Then Amy came running over to me, grinning and said, "But Mom, he DID do his math. Come see!"  When I got over there, I realized she had done his math for him.

The other day, John was working on some long multiplication. He had his coat on. We were on our way out the door when I reminded him to do his math first. He had a question. Before I could answer him, Amy had raced over to do the same problem, right beside him.

Our Large chalkboard in the Living Room


Blessings,
Mrs. White

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1 comments:

Mrs. Stam said...

this is a fun idea! I have the keep it in mind with our little one get older :-)