Finding ways to make math fun and interesting can be difficult. Children need to practice certain skills in math to become competent but doing the same drills again and again isn’t much fun.

However, making math fun can be as easy as adding a few games into your daily math routine. Math games can be used to introduce new concepts, practice math skills and consolidate math concepts.

Here are four different types of math games to consider using in your Home School math program.

Math Board Games

Board games can be used to teach different math skills. Commercial board games are available but these can be expensive and often one board game will only teach or practice one skill. A better alternative is to involve the children in making their own board games or look for ready made board games that can be printed from the internet.

Math Card Games

Math card games can be played with a simple deck of cards or with specially designed cards. Simple match up games are easy to make with cards having an equation on one card and the answer on the matching card. This can be played like Memory or Concentration. Children simply turn over 2 cards at a time and if they match they get to keep the cards.

Pencil and Paper Games

Many games can be played with just a pencil and paper. Everyone knows the word game Hangman but not everyone knows that Hangman can be adapted to a math game. Simply choose an equation and draw a dash for each of the numerals and signs in the equation, e.g. 24+18=42 would be recorded as 8 dashes _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. Children then guess the signs and the numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Write the sign or numeral on the dash for each correct guess and draw a part of the hangman for each incorrect guess. HINT: If you don’t like the idea of drawing a hangman, just change it to something else and play ‘Racing Car’ or ‘Robot’ instead. Just decide upon the shape to be drawn before you start.

Other Games

Many math games can be played with little or no equipment. Twenty Questions can be played with no equipment at all. One player thinks of a number within a set range, e.g. between 0 and 100. The other player/s asks questions about the number until they guess what the number is. Each question can only be answered with yes or no, e.g. Is it an odd number? Is it larger than 50?

Tips for selecting Math Games for Home School Math

– Make sure that the instructions are simple, clear and easy to follow.
– Make sure that the game will challenge the ability level of your child without being so difficult that it will frustrate them.
– Ensure that everyone is aware of all of the rules.
– Involve children in making and selecting the games to give them a sense of ownership of the games. This way they will be even keener to play as they will regard it as ‘my game’ or ‘the game that I made’.
– Let your child know why you are playing the game – what they will get from playing the game.

Get creative and you will find that there is no end to the number of games that you can use to increase math skills and increase math fun.

Most likely while growing up, you heard the phrase, “It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.” Parents often use this threat as a means to control their kids. Mind you, their intent is well-meaning to protect the child from getting hurt, but still, it is a control mechanism. Oftentimes we view control as being a “bad” thing, yet we don’t see that at the root of all control is love. Love is the foundation which causes the desire and perceived need to control because without that love for something, there would not be a need to try and control the things that we fear will take that something away.

The ego is very much like that loving, controlling parent. The ego believes it knows what is best for us, and thus, it tries to control our behaviors to fit what it believes is our greatest good. So in that way, the ego is actually behaving very lovingly towards us, even if we perceive its actions in a negative light. When we try to eradicate the ego, when we try to get rid of it, it becomes stronger. Why? Because it’s acting out of LOVE! And as we all know, love tends to be an extremely powerful force. Therefore, by truly understanding that the ego acts out of love, we can learn to live in harmony with it. In fact, we can actually work with the ego to move towards our higher spiritual goals that we previously believed the ego was trying to prevent us from reaching.

Here’s how…

1) Ask The Question

The next time your ego acts out and you find yourself doing or thinking something that isn’t the way you’d like to live, pause for a moment and ask yourself this question: “How could this be beneficial to me?” The point of asking this question is to answer all hypothetical ways (without judgment) in which the behavior could be helpful to you. Let’s use an example and pretend that you have a difficult time going to sleep. Here’s a list of reasons why it might be beneficial to not go to sleep:

It means I’m not awake as long to do productive things
Being awake protects me from having bad nightmares
If I’m awake, then I feel safer that nobody will physically harm me
When I sleep I feel absolutely nothing, like I’m dead. I’m scared I won’t wake up.

You see, those are a few reasons why we might not be able to sleep. Notice anything in common? They’re all protective instincts coming from the ego… they’re all with the intent of love. By recognizing this, we are empowered to then work with the ego and find a more meaningful solution.

2) Feel The Answers

The next thing to do is look at the reasons you listed. Say one out loud, close your eyes, and focus your attention on area of your belly just below your ribs. You are listening to see if this reason you spoke out loud causes a reaction in you… something that says, “Yes, that feels like it could be the reason.” Maybe the first one will cause a reaction, maybe you won’t find a reaction until the last one. However, assuming you’ve exhausted all possibilities as to why you might have the upsetting behavior or thought, then repeating this process with each possibility will eventually identify exactly why it is happening.

3) Thank Your Ego

Once you identify the reason, the next thing to do is THANK YOUR EGO for acting out of love and protecting you in that way. Gratitude is key here because it recognizes that the ego isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just not focused on the same set of priorities as you are.:) This is fundamentally important to this process because it enables you to build a meaningful relationship with your ego built on trust, and more importantly, respect.

4) Give Your Ego A New Reason

Now that we have thanked the ego, we must release it from its previous duty. Let it know that its original purpose is no longer needed, and that you would like it to take on a new purpose. This new purpose should reinforce the way you want to now live, for example, to be able to fall asleep easily at night from now on. The goal here is to continue building that relationship with your ego in a positive and healthy way. Remember, it wants to show it’s love for you! What better way than appreciating what it’s done and now giving it a brand new way to show it’s love for you?

It’s important to make sure your ego knows why you want this new behavior, so the more justifications you can find the better. Therefore, as an additional exercise to help identify the new reasons, you can use a similar process as step 1. Instead of asking a question about why the behavior is bad, instead, ask why the newly desired behavior is good. Following our example we would ask the question, “Why is it beneficial to fall asleep easily and quickly?”

I awake more rested and can be more productive throughout the day
I can enjoy my dreams
I can release the stress of the previous day
I can wake up early to enjoy a sunrise / make a nice breakfast / workout / etc
When I sleep I feel extremely at peace

Now you have a full list of reasons to justify to your ego why this new behavior is in your best interests, and that will help guide your ego to continue acting out of love for you… now in line with your goals!

A book reviewer can help you promote your sales. This is because most people, when buying a book, want one that others have read and recommended. Sometimes people look for a familiar person who reviews books in a certain magazine or other publication while others will just take the recommendation of people who are just like them. A review can do wonders to promote your writing.It is very difficult for a new author to get started when it comes to book promotion. The competition is very fierce when it comes to book sales and authors will go through great extents to stand out. One way that they can stand out a bit from the rest is to get their book reviewed by a someone who others listen to. This can be someone who works for a publication like the New York Times, New Yorker or Vanity Fair. Others may look for book clubs to sponsor them, such as the Oprah Book Club. In these cases, the reader is actually giving the author an endorsement.You have to realize that reviewers usually read the books that are published by the major publishing houses. Chances are that they will not be reviewing books that are not published by the large publishing houses or have not stirred a lot of attention. A famous celebrity may be able to get their book reviewed by the New York Times, but the average author who uses a small publishing house or even self publishes has virtually no chance of this happening.A good review, however, can help you promote your book. One way to get your book promoted is to give it to others for their comments prior to publication. If they like the book, you can then put their comments on the dust jacket. As dust jackets are printed after the book, this is not difficult to do.Even a review online can help you sell your book. As more and more are being sold online, you can find someone who is willing to read your book and review it for you. If you pay a reviewer service to give an honest review of your book, you will get a more lengthy review of the book rather than just someone saying that it was a good read. Again, you will want a review to get into why the book is so good and make the reader want to purchase the book.A reviewer can help you promote your book in several different ways. Whether you are fortunate enough to get a prominent person to look at your book, or even if you use a service, this can help potential readers want to purchase your book.