Math: Fun and Games and No Workbooks!

I tried something new this year -- I got Singapore Math for my 2nd and 3rd grade children. Lego Maniac (3rd grader) doesn't mind doing the workbook as I keep the lessons short. String Bean can also handle it for a short-time, but she'll balk at having to do too long a lesson! And then there's Bam-Bam, my almost-5yo kindergartener who just wants to play math.

Yes, the kids need to learn math facts and math concepts. A workbook helps ensure that they are steadily learning. But, I think I made a BIG mistake by ONLY using workbooks (and a mark-n-wipe board for Bam-Bam). I need to bring the FUN back into the fundamentals!

So, enter my September email from a very cool, very free, math site called Mathwire.com. In the September email, dated the 16th, Terry (the math consultant), has ALL KINDS of really cool Fall math games and activities to teach the concepts necessary for K-3 or 4th grades (exactly what my kids are!). These games include bat math, spiders/web math, and many more ideas for "doing math" during Fall. She also has links to picture books! What more could I ask for? Well, she also links to her seasonal math ideas from Fall 2006 and Fall 2005!

Well, just in case I'm really craving more workbook-style math pages, someone posted on 4real about this site from the UK which has free workbook pages for all grade (years) 1-6! Another freebie.

Now, tell me again why I paid for Singapore?????