This video is a workshop that I put together for a homeschool summit earlier this year; since it is almost entirely an overview of the entire Framework Math curriculum, I decided to include it here as a resource for any parents or teachers who want to see the big picture before diving into the details of the program.

It will also be useful as a stand-alone resource without the books; this workshop and included workbook will provide you with the main number sense strategies and tools to use that will help your kids or students master Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division.

The rest of the videos in this course are directly related to the first book in the series (Foundations) and will be more useful alongside the book.

More info can be found at www.frameworkmath.com.

Help! Do I have to teach my child Math??

(Or: How to help your kids develop number sense, even if you have an uncomfortable case of Math anxiety yourself)

As a Math teacher and homeschool mom, I'm very passionate about helping other homeschool moms in their Math journey. 

With a clear framework for seeing Math as one cohesive picture -- from simple counting up through long division and beyond -- you can save your children from getting lost in a forest of seemingly isolated and mysterious topics.

In this workshop I cover:

•  The 2 most important (and potentially the only) tools you’ll need to build this framework
• 5 key Math strategies to help your kids (of all ages!) build number sense, even if you have an uncomfortable case of Math anxiety yourself, as they learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

I've also created a workbook (link to download is below) that goes along with this session to make it easier to bring home these ideas and put the strategies into practice right away to help your kids starting improving their numeracy skills. 

Who am I?

I'm a Math teacher on a mission to make Math meaningful, not memorizable.

(I'm also a mom. (in case the alliteration hadn't quite landed yet) ;). )

I have a Masters in Teaching with a focus on Math, a double major in Math and English, have taught in 4 different school districts and 2 online schools, have tutored Math to students of all ages, and is passionate about creating Math resources. I am currently homeschooling my 4 children and appreciates their continual help with beta testing Math activities. :)

I am also the author of Framework Math. This is a 5-volume, open-and-go workbook series carefully crafted to help students develop number sense as they master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

You can see more, including free samples, previews, reviews, and descriptions of the philosophy, content, and design of the curriculum at www.frameworkmath.com.

4 reasons memorizing Math facts may be doing more harm than good

Flashcards, timed tests, and the ubiquitous expectation of speed have infiltrated our Math culture, pressuring all of us to pressure our kids to hurry up and memorize harder and recall faster. 

But ... not only is this miserable for most people ... it's also just completely missing the mark. 

Here are 4 reasons why. (Read to the end to see how we can move beyond this - I'm not writing this to leave you in the lurch here.)

1. Math is a sense-making journey.

When we give kids the impression that Math needs to be memorized, we are re-routing them around Math's main avenue to a complicated maze of side streets.

2. Math is more than a set of building blocks.

When we focus on memorization, every fact and formula seems isolated - and we get pigeon-holed into a perpetual narrow view of Math as numbers get bigger, smaller, and more abstract - needing to continually treat every number as a series of single digits rather than seeing numbers in a more holistic context and using them flexibly and intuitively.

3. Math is not a phone number.

Some things in life need to be memorized because they don't have much inherent meaning - like phone numbers, birthdays, addresses, history dates ... But when we equate Math facts with that collection of random numbers, we imply that there isn't an underlying pattern or reason to it all.

4. Renting vs owning.

When kids experience Math through memorization more than through meaning-making, they are at the mercy of their memory. Memorized information has an inevitable expiration date (in most cases) - whereas bridges (connections) between ideas, facts, and representations that kids build on their own will be part of their permanent infrastructure. (Info-structure?)

If this sounds good, but leaves you wondering what exactly to do with your kids once you put down the flashcards ... I've created this entire workshop with the answer to that question! :)

(Note: This video was originally created as a workshop for the Homeschool Mom Summit, so you will see logos and hear references to that in this video, but the summit itself is no longer available.)