When you homeschool, there is a plethora of activities and gadgets that can be incorporated to aid the learning process, but it can get expensive and overwhelming…i’m going to list the ones we enjoy  and find the most useful.

Math Dice

For more information on the Math Dice, please check out my review here.

Coin-u-lator and Pretend Money

Learning money has taken precedence in our math curriculum this year, because it is such an essential real life skill. We use the money math skill workbook to supplement our learning in that area, complete with pretend money (coins and bills) and this Coin-u-lator. It gives you a monetary value and you select the coins/bills that would give you that result. It’s a handy game and the kids (including my first grader) absolutely loves it!

Clock/ Telling Time

Another life skill is obviously being able to tell time. This is something we add in a very practical fashion to our day with me constantly asking them to tell me the time and asking, “how many more minutes to the next hour?”etc

I picked up a Dr.Suess clock for useful reinforcement from the Target Dollar Spot and also some wipe on/off cards from the Dollar Tree.

Counters/Snap Cubes

I use a variety of these mainly for my pre-schooler who is 3 and learning the basics of addition and even subtraction.

The manipulatives I use for him are mostly snap cubes, cuisinaire rods and cuisinaire blocks. We use them as a visual for doing math as well as for pattern recognition.

All of these can also be used to teach beginner fractions as well.

Fraction Tiles

These are such a neat tool to use for fractions. It allows children to see the practicality in learning fractions.

Pattern Blocks

This is a very fun activity that we do even outside of math as a form of pattern recognition and also to learn about shapes and the different shapes that can be used to make up others.