Useful links

These are just some links sent my way over the last few months that I thought you might enjoy.
  • Teach Banzai is an online system for financial education. It sounds really interesting! Students can set up various "jars" (budgets), enter transactions (real or fictional), and continue using the system for life if they so wish. It's all free and there are lesson plans offered.

  • SpaceTime TV
    Watch educational videos online from full length documentaries to short video clips featuring shows from PBS, National Geographic, and the History Channel. They've done a good job of collecting the best free science and history videos. I can just imagine how difficult and time-consuming it'd be to find those if you went searching on YouTube an other video sites yourself.

  • Dimensions
    Interesting movie - which is available totally free online - about how mathematicians can visualize the fourth dimension. Some of that stuff will give you "mathematical vertigo", but some of the chapters are easy enough for middle schoolers on up, teaching about stereographic projection, the difference between 2nd and 3rd dimensions, complex numbers, and more.

  • Math Problem Generator
    On this site you need to browse through a collection of problems and add them one by one to your worksheet so it is slow - BUT the problem collection includes prealgebra, algebra, high school geometry, proportions, statistics, probability, algebra 2, and SAT (inc. word problems in all of the categories), many of which you won't find on many of the other worksheet sites.

Comments

Alison Kerr said…
I'm not exactly a math whiz. Both my kids told me yesterday though that they're enjoying homeschool math this year so I must be doing something right! What is wrong with American math? I'm convinced there is something fundamentally different and I was blogging on that today. Any insights?
11:08 AM, September 11, 2008
Morgan said…
I'm one of the creators of Banzai (teachbanzai.com) and I am very interested in receiving feedback from homeschool parents! Please don't hesitate to contact me at morgan[at]teachbanzai[dot]com.
11:35 AM, September 11, 2008
Maria Miller said…
Colors and distractive photos are one part of the problem, but not the main one necessarily. Check out this article:

Is you math curriculum coherent?

It talks about how the material is organized over the school years in typical US curricula. It often ends up that a year's math has tons of topics to go through, none of them done in-depth.
11:36 AM, September 11, 2008
Samy Aadam said…
Math Problem Generator
I came across this great site. It offers a wide variety of arithmetic
worksheets. It has a lot of problems covering: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Fractions, Percents, Conversions, Decimals and Negative Numbers.
It worksheets cover Kinder garden age all through high school.

Besides Arithmetic, it has other features like: Phonics, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary, Literature, Arithmetic, History, Economics, Mythology and Rhetoric.

Visit this site and it will change your child's life forever.

http://www.accelerated-achievement.com
6:27 PM, December 09, 2008
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conversion chart for measuring units

Image
I was just sent a link to this site; all it is, is a handy one-page printable conversion chart for various US measures, metric measures, and US vs. metric measures. Includes even a comparative Fahrenheit vs. Celsius thermometer. http://metricconversioncharts.org/
Read more

Geometric art project: seven-circle flower design

Image
I got inspired by the blogpost Art School | Geometric Design with Islamic Art where Deborah shows how to make a neat flower design with seven circles , using a compass, and then coloring it using 2, 3, or 4 colors (or however many of your own). I think it ties in neatly with mathematics, and lets students practice drawing circles with a compass.  My girls loved the art/math project. Here are pictures they made: Here are step-by-step instructions for the flower design: 1.  Draw a line and a circle so that the circle's center point is on the line. Then mark the points where this circle intersects the line. 2. Use those points as center points, and draw two more circles. The radius is the same all the time, so make sure you don't change it on your compass!We used 5 cm as the radius, and that made the whole design fit neatly on a regular letter size paper. 3. Now note the two points marked in the picture. They will be used as center points in the next
Read more

Meaning of factors in multiplication: four groups of 2, or 4 taken two times?

Someone asked me about the interpretation or meaning of the two numbers in multiplication, such as 4 × 2. Do you view it as four groups of 2 , or as four, taken two times ? Here's their question: "...I noticed that your explanation about how to interpret a math phrase, such as 4 × 2, is different from how I have understood it and taught it to my older daughter who was using RightStart Math at this level. Let me explain:  I see that you are using the first factor to denote number of groups and the second factor tells how many are in each group (4 × 2 would be interpreted 4 groups of 2).  On the other hand, I have taught and thought of it reversed, with the first factor telling how many are in each group and the second factor telling you how many groups (4 × 2 would be 4 taken 2 times).  I know that the difference in explanations does not ultimately change the product, but I am wondering what you thoughts are.  When I conceptually picture what I'm doing I see it as 4
Read more