Base Ten Block Sample Lesson.

Math is fun when you use base ten blocks. Here is a young girl who isn't so very keen on math, she'd rather be playing with her bows and across or her sword but playing with nines and building walls can be fun too.   Measuring out how many nines in 27 turn out to be pretty easy.

Building walls of 24 can also be fun...here she sees quite clearly four sixes and six fours are the same also three eights and eight threes....and of course we counted by 3's, 4's, 6's and 8's...and we see counting by eights is the fastest...no need for worksheets. No muss no fuss. We talk about it she hears it she sees it.

She gets a math experience using base ten blocks that evolves more than just paper and pencil and memorization. She can get her hands on it.  She is in a math rich environment.   Everything we do is math during this lesson and counting.  Here we are doing multiplication and division and skip counting. It's visually obvious that the bigger the number is the fewer we need to count to 24...we see a relationship between numbers. Six 4's is the same four 6's...which is pretty cool when you are six.  But lets not get stuck doing the same thing over and over again...let's do something else.

Remove the no from the lesson.

So lets make some puzzles.  Build me x² + 7x + 12...and then count the sides...basically here the algebra is just along for the ride mostly we are cementing in the addends and doing some multiplication facts. Then we also see x² + 8x + 16 is (x+4)² which is just a shorter way to write (x+4)(x+4)...this also gives us a better understanding of just plain ol' x²...

10 to 15 Minutes per Topic.

Factoring is fun and easy. And it builds confidence because every kids knows algebra is supposed to be hard. So if they can do it with ease they must be just as smart as grandma says they are.

That moment when you see the answer.

 Keeping it small and easy makes it fun but there is plenty of math going on here none the less. Dividing by two, squaring a number, addends, multiplication she gets exposed to all of it in one simple problem.  If you put the child in a situation where they can not fail and feel like they are making their own discoveries rather than you just telling them math facts and practicing with drills and memorization you will find lower stress and more fun which leads to more learning and happy memories and associations.   Or you can bust out your work sheets.., and see how much fun that isn't.

It is a very simple concept, the making of positive associations with the mathematics instead of negatives ones. It should be pretty clear from the pictures that she is having a good time.  If you have doubts listen to her excitement in the video.

Once you get the thing factored counting is the easy part. While she is building it fine motor skills are being developed. Also recognition of spatial relationships...

Algebra is fun and easy.

Factoring Polynomials is Child's play.

Here is a picture that's fun because we are seeing quite clearly that 3 sixes and six 3's is the same thing. We made a purple sponge cake with pink frosting and as we frosted the cake we counted by threes.  We put them on top of each other and counted the sides...

Multiplication doesn't have to be drudgery, if you do it right the child see's that actually it's a time saver and learning to multiply makes life easier not harder because it allows us to count quickly which allows us to do more math with less pain. Discovering constancy of numbers is fun when you are six.

It's these little repeated exposures using base ten blocks that over time add up to a deeper understanding of how math fits together.

So here is a sample for you, showing us "jumping around" from topic to topic. The topic is math. so we are just playing math...we start off counting 11's...and then fool around with multiplication concepts...then we solved for x playing what's under the cup, told some stories...did some thinking...then we factored some polynomials and we were done...moved along in lively fashion didn't get bored doing the same thing over and over again even though we were doing the same thing over and over again...which is math...

Not just Theory.  Theory in Practice.  
I have HUNDREDS of FREE videos that show you how.

I don't want to tutor your kids I want you to tutor your kids. Play math and have fun. Spend quality time with your kids and learn together. This method will transform your math time into something your kids look forward to instead of dread. But don't take my word for it, here are testimonials, you can see many others have found that this is a better way to go. All you have to do is dive in.  Christmas is coming and it will be a great time to get some blocks and GET STARTED.  Get a set of blocks and a password and you are good to go.