Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to episode 97 of Outnumbered the Podcast. Today's topic is math. Yay. Helping your kids with math. Now, don't worry, we've broken this down and made it really easy for you. We're going to explain the seven different types of learners so you can figure out how your kid learns best and then share our experience and how to help those seven different types of learners. And then at the end, we've got a little segment on how to improve your own math skills if you feel like those are lacking. So we really hope this episode is
Speaker: helpful for you helping your kids with math. Hello and welcome to Outnumber the Podcast. I'm Bonnie. And I'm Audrey. We're experienced moms to a combined total of 18 children. Our mission is to help overwhelmed parents find peace in parenting and humor in the chaos. Come join us as we attempt uninterrupted conversation about parenting with joy and intention.
Speaker: Okay guys, we're back. We're going to talk about math. Aren't you excited? I'm being a little disingenuous because I actually love math. I considered at one point in my teacher's ed schooling that I was going to go and become a math teacher because I love it so much. Wow. I did not know that about you. Yeah. No, I really love math.
Speaker: I'm not going to say that I love it, but I actually, there are many years I really, really enjoyed it. So I think that we can give you guys some great tips for helping kids today. One thing we wanted to mention is that we are getting so close to our 100th episode, which we're so excited about. If you haven't yet heard, we are collecting tips from all of you listeners on how you find joy in your day to day. So if you have a tip like that, it can be something as simple
Speaker: as eating chocolate chips whenever you feel stressed or going out for a bike ride by yourself, whatever it is, email it to us at outnumberthepodcast at gmail .com. Yes, you still have time to get those in. No, I wanted to share a little funny thing my kid said this morning. So we're sitting down to breakfast and everybody's kind of quietly eating and my three -year -old looks up and says, boogers are like crayons.
Speaker: Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. And when the laughter died down, I said, what do you mean burgers are like crayons? She says, well, when you rub them on something, they make a mark.
Speaker: I knew that was coming. Oh, that's so gross. Oh, yeah. But anyway, breakfast was kind of over at that point. I feel like I'm full. Thank you. That's so funny. We just moved one kid from one bedroom to another one. And every time we move beds around, I'm like, oh, I don't want to move the bed. I don't want to move the bed. What am I going to find back there? Kids are so gross. OK, that's fun. And on that note, here we go.
Speaker: So math doesn't have to be scary. If you don't personally like math or love math like me or not into it, it's okay. There are so many resources to help. So don't, it doesn't have to be scary. Don't shut off the episode where we're going to help you.
Speaker: Right, exactly. And I think that one of the reasons that there is a lot of kind of pushback or some negative feelings regarding math is because it kind of requires a specific type of thinking. And if you don't know how to think that way, or your brain just doesn't naturally do that, then it can be very, very frustrating. Whereas everybody can learn to read, right? And reading doesn't require, unless you become, you know, like you get a PhD in literature, you don't really need to know really, really in depth,
Speaker: skills to read, whereas math every year gets more and more complicated. And if you don't have the proper skills can be very difficult. So the first thing we want to mention is that for those of us who might have negative feelings regarding math, and this goes for really every subject that you're helping your kid with, whether it be homeschool or homework or whatever, be sure to not communicate that negativity to your child. So it's very easy to do like even just body language. They go, can I you help me with my math, mom? And you go,
Speaker: And you sit down and you tense up or you make excuses, well, I'm not good at math. We all do these things. But our kids are really kind of a blank slate. So to be able to open them up to the possibility that they could be awesome at this subject and any subject they try to be is really powerful.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. So try, try not to transfer your feelings about math to your kids if they're negative. All right, so we're gonna break this into seven different areas because there's seven different types of learners. And we're gonna explain each of these seven different types and our experiences with them. I don't know, you think between our 18 kids, Bonnie, we have a learner in all these seven areas? Oh, I'm sure we do, yeah, I'm sure we do.
Speaker: And then we're going to share ways to help this kind of learner when you're working with them on math.
Speaker: Right. And one last thought before we get started on the learning styles is if something is not working that you've been doing, don't be afraid to pivot, right? I think so many of us have been educated a certain way that we expect our children to get the same type of education. And when they don't or it doesn't work for them, we get really frustrated and we don't know what to do. But there are a million different ways to teach math and reading and everything else.
Speaker: going through these learning styles and trying to figure out what style is best for your child will help them help use whatever resource you choose to their advantage.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Because oftentimes a kid will be really strong in one, but they'll have kind of, you know, like the, the side ones, the wings that are, you know, they also, well, they mostly learn in one way, but they also can learn, you know, a different way. So if something isn't working with one of my kids, I always try using a different method, a different learning method to explain it, just kind of to touch a different area of their brain.
Speaker: All right, so the first one, the first type of learner is auditory or musical learners. This kind of kid likes to talk, sing, hum when they're working. They have a good ear for music and rhythm, and they're very easily distractible. Yes, exactly. And the minute you said that, I said, yep, I got one of those. And they're really fun to be around and memorize things, especially to music very well, but yeah, but kind of flighty sometimes.
Speaker: Okay, a few tips for how to help these auditory or musical learners with math. It might be a little counterintuitive because you're thinking it's numbers on a paper, right? How do I make it musical? But there's lots of ways. Just by saying or reading the math problem out loud can really help these auditory learners listening to math facts songs, which are really fun. There are oodles and oodles of these for free online. Not playing music or having lots of noise while this child is trying to learn because they need
Speaker: those, you know, their ears to help them focus. Right, right. You don't want to distract them with, you know, something else going on when they're trying to use their ears to focus on the math thing. Yeah. Right. In fact, a side note about this is my my auditory learner, who loves music, likes to try to keep music on when she's doing schoolwork. And I know it's fun for her, but I know she's not getting anything because she's just tuning out to the music jamming along. Right. So sometimes we have to have some limitations there.
Speaker: Yes. All right. So I have an experience to share with, well, first a non auditory learner. So I was trying to help one of my non auditory learners. I'll explain her learning style later when we get to a different one and what worked for her. But let me tell you what didn't work for her. I got some multiplication songs and she sat and listened to these for an entire year and was not able to memorize her multiplication table.
Speaker: The poor thing, like they just did not stick. This is so totally not her way of learning. So anyway, that is not recommended if you have an auditory learner, just to share that, hey, not everything we do works all the time.
Speaker: Yeah. And just to make sure that you're not consistently beating your head against a wall because it's not working for one child. Yeah. Yeah. There was probably other kids that, you know, memorize their multiplication tables just by listening to that in the background. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Just not her. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, we can highly recommend for auditory learners. We'll link it in the show notes, but there's some free math facts songs that are really fun. So we'll link those in the show notes. They're from Demi Learning.
Speaker: Yeah. We also got some from the Good and the Beautiful this year. We haven't started listening to yet, but that's another resource if you want to look into those.
Speaker: Number two, the second kind of learner is the visual or spatial learner. I'm pretty sure this is me. Doodler, drawer, very observant, not distractable, tends to be a planner, likes visual instructions, not auditory instructions, and can visualize things easily. An interesting side note is a friend of mine just reached out to a group of us and said, hey, do you guys think in words or in pictures?
Speaker: And I thought it was a unique question, so we were all kind of answering back and forth. And surprisingly, most of my friends said words. And I said, actually, I think in pictures, like most of the time. So I think that is just kind of the way I learned that I see things first and then I can describe them.
Speaker: Okay, so how to help a visual spatial learner with math. So these, it's really helpful to use charts, images, diagrams, like if they have a story problem and they can't figure it out, have them draw a picture of it. Use different colors. That's really helpful for visual spatial learners is to like color code things. If you're adding two numbers, make
Speaker: One of the numbers blue and one of the color, one of the numbers red and that somehow touches different parts of the brain for a visual spatial learner. Encourage them to take notes and to copy things down if they want to remember them because it's seeing it that helps these visual spatial learners.
Speaker: Right. And as far as experiences go, so I have one little one. Well, one thing I'll say right up front is don't automatically assume that using the different ways of helping your child is like a crutch, right? So for example, some kids have to count on fingers. This isn't visual. Well, it is a little visual, right? But a little bit more of a different style we'll talk about in a minute.
Speaker: But oftentimes we think, well, if they're still using their fingers to add, then clearly they're not advanced enough. They might just need that to see it, to touch it, to really get concrete on the answer. So another example is like what Audrey mentioned, the note -taking thing.
Speaker: So I have one child who, if I didn't make him take notes, he wouldn't, but he learns it so much better when he does. So he'll have a kind of a complex problem. He's getting into algebra now, pre -algebra, and he will just try to do it all in his head. And I'm like, just write it down, just write it down. And as soon as he does, things click so much faster because he's seeing it and his brain is making these connections. And there's nothing wrong with trying to do the exercise in your mind. I think that strengthens some other things as well.
Speaker: Uh, for the visual spatial learner, they just have to see it. Yes. Yes. So just, it's not a crutch. It's the way they learn. Right. Right. Number three is the verbal linguistic learner. So this type of child is very intellectual. They're a bookworm always got their nose in a book. Um, they're great, great storytellers and they have a big vocabulary, kind of a, I don't know, maybe a side effect of reading so much, but also words mean so much to them that they can remember and use these big words that they're reading.
Speaker: Yes, I have a sibling like this and they're just, yeah, always phenomenal readers. A few tips for helping these verbal learners is that obviously it's going to be a little bit different from those visual ones. They may prefer talking it out or even talking to themselves like an inner kind of storytelling where they're explaining it to themselves before they understand.
Speaker: They sometimes require you to read the lessons to them or read them themselves. Sometimes we have to write or make up stories to help with the problem. So these are the kids that are a little bit better at those word problems that all the rest of us can't figure out. Yeah, definitely. So going back to my daughter that did not learn the multiplication tables by listening to the songs. So I was like desperate the next year.
Speaker: to figure out what her deal is, to help her out. So, she is definitely a verbal linguistic learner. And I got this little program called Times Tales, and each of the numbers has a little story that goes with it. So like, for example, number seven is Mrs. Week, because there's seven days in a week. And then
Speaker: So then there's all these little stories about Mrs. Week and she interacts with other stories that are numbers. And my daughter, you know, like one time you tell her this story, Mrs. Week and Mrs. Snowman, you know, were blah, blah, blah. And boom, she's got it with one story. So it was like, ah, you mean in a week you memorized all your multiplication tables and you spent a year listening to it.
Speaker: So that's just an example of how effective it is to find their way of learning that works for them.
Speaker: Wow, fascinating. I didn't know about these until I started homeschooling, but there are also quite a few story -type math books out there for kids, and we'll share some of these in the resources too. And when I first bought the couple, I just thought, these are useless. No one will learn what these. And then my kids did, and I realized, oh, I don't learn what these. I don't learn what the stories. That's much trickier for me. But there are some of my kids that really, really appreciated that verbal learning opportunity. Ooh, like Life of Fred.
Speaker: Yes, yes. We use those two for the same child. Totally different way of learning for sure. Okay, so the fourth learning style we'll talk about is the logical or mathematical learner. These guys probably have a leg up, right? They like and look for pattern recognition. They tend to be good with numbers. They're good with grouping classification. They like to seek order in their universe.
Speaker: Okay, so how to help a logical mathematical learner? Well, kind of basically you can't.
Speaker: I mean, all my logical mathematical learners, kids with learning style, they seem to know everything before I teach it to them. Like you explain it to them once or you give the book to them and they're like, oh yeah, I know that. I already know that. And I think this is my learning style as well because it like it just makes the most sense to me. Like when I put things in order, it's with numbers and grouping and classification. So I think this is my learning style as well.
Speaker: It makes learning other subjects a lot harder. But math, yeah, got that one. Yeah. Well, do you want to share any experience or resources? I don't think I have a kid like this. Or maybe it's one of my little ones that hasn't done math yet. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, just say that basically any math program will work for these kids. And most good math programs will touch several of these different kind of learning styles. Right, right. OK.
Speaker: So as far as helping these ones, specific resources, really just any program will work for them. They'll figure out a way to learn it. But really, any good math program will probably use a variety of ways of teaching a child. They'll use a little bit of visual, a little bit of auditory, which is great. But thank goodness, if you have one of these, they probably will pick things up fairly quickly. Yeah. They're going to need help in other areas. But that's not our topic today.
Speaker: Exactly. All right, so number five is a physical kinesthetic learner. These guys are hands -on. They might drum their fingers or wiggle their legs or stand on their head when you're trying to teach them. You're like, just sit still and listen. But no, all that wiggling helps them. They're action -oriented and they really deprioritize reading and writing like they want to do it and touch it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, and unfortunately for these cute kids, they tend to be labeled kind of disruptive because they need to move and touch things and, you know, really be a part of it. But that is the nice thing about alternative, you know, learning opportunities like homeschooling or charter schools, they might get more opportunity to do things their way. So a few things to help these physical or kinesthetic learners are using manipulatives encounters. So this is a great thing.
Speaker: to do in math, blocks or little pie charts that can be taken apart. We have these little blocks that are kind of like Legos, just each line has different segments. So here's one with nine blocks on it, and here's one with 15, and you can add them together.
Speaker: They can use their bodies to do things. So like we talked about counting with fingers, even using their bodies to make number shapes when they're little, it could be really fun. But yeah, just encourage movement. Have them sit on an exercise ball or do jumping jacks while they're counting out their multiplication facts. Yeah, and try to eliminate other distractions as well so that they're able to focus.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. You tell them to count to 100, and they're like, yeah, why? And you're like, oh, can you do 100 jumping jacks? And they're all over that, right? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I find some kids, some of my kids kind of go through the physical kinesthetic learner, like at the younger stage. They really like those
Speaker: those hands -on math manipulatives. So, one resource that I math program, I use with my younger kids is Matthew C. And it does, like you said, use a variety of these learning styles, but they do have the manipulation blocks, the counting blocks, like you said, the blocks that are different number.
Speaker: numbers, I mean like different segmented into different sections. You can use tessellation blocks to introduce geometry and just, you know, to play and make patterns. My little kids love those. Cuisinero rods, money, you know, physically instead of just thinking about money, use actual money or play money.
Speaker: Teach time with a clock with movable hands and just instead of just showing them pictures with clocks or talking about it Oh another one that my kids really love is so I was talking about this on our patreon episode You guys should follow us on patreon just a side note here
Speaker: I was talking about this new thing that I'm doing with some of my kids that I felt were too old not to have their math facts memorized. We're talking embarrassingly old that they're still counting on their fingers. We'll link them in the show notes, but I got some math facts mastery books and they just take a few of the math facts. There's a set of four books that goes through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Speaker: Excuse me. It introduces just a few math facts per week and it has a game with each math fact and math fact set and it just involves like, you know, a deck of cards or some counters or sometimes it has a little thing that you print out to play bingo or something.
Speaker: And we've gone through the adding one and we're on the subtracting now. And they're really working, but this is especially good for those physical kinesthetic learners to play and to be touching as they're saying, you know, nine plus four is nine plus four is 13. And they're, you know, they're touching or they're moving a bingo, you know, playing piece or whatever. So we'll link those in the show notes, but definitely tons of resources out there to help those physical and kinesthetic learners who can sometimes poor kids be seen as a problem.
Speaker: Yeah, and I think it's interesting that you said that many of your kids have gone through this kind of as a phase. I feel like my boys have a lot more years of this kinesthetic learning, and maybe it's not their final way of learning, but they definitely need that help. They cannot sit at a desk and do things the quote unquote normal way, right? Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: Okay, so number six, the sixth type of learner that we're dealing with is the social and interpersonal learner. Oh, and a side note before we get into this one is most kids have a combination of learning styles. I think that's an important thing to recognize because if you just see one of them and just only teach them one different way, it's not gonna work as well as if you learn the best three ways that they learn, just a side note there.
Speaker: So the social interpersonal learner is extroverted. They're good communicators. They're sensitive. Yeah, they just, they love people.
Speaker: Yeah, and usually these last two that we're talking about, usually they have one of these two and another one. Okay, so to help these social and interpersonal learners, they like to work in groups or with another person, like flashcards. Two people sit with flashcards across from each other. That's a great way for a social interpersonal learner to learn.
Speaker: learners do need an environment they're comfortable in or people they're comfortable around. Like they have a really hard time learning in a situation where they're nervous or uncomfortable. Yeah. So, you know, I personally am not a social learner, so I hate group projects, but social learners love that sort of thing. They love being helpful. A social learner is really good at helping her younger siblings and working in little groups. And sometimes I think that really helps solidify her own learning as well.
Speaker: Oh yeah, definitely. That is a way that sometimes when I have a kid that almost has something math figured out but they need a little bit of help, I have them teach it to somebody younger than them, one of their younger siblings, and that really like cements it in for them. It's like they understand it a little better just by the act of doing that. Yeah, totally.
Speaker: All right, the last type, number seven is solitary or intrapersonal learners. So these guys are independent, introspective, and private. Yep, that's me.
Speaker: So to help these kinds of learners, if you're not one, they need a quiet place to work, no distractions. They need siblings to not be asking them questions. They need music to not be playing, et cetera. And they need to not be forced to collaborate. So this was a pet peeve of mine growing up is when the teacher would say, and then we're going to do a group quiz or a group project. And I'd go, oh, you know, like I wanted maybe a little bit of a control issue too.
Speaker: I wanted to be solely responsible for my work and to do it alone because I just focused so much better and did better work that way. So that's just a side note. I know, you know, getting your kids to work together is always good and they need to have those skills as well. But to be sensitive to the fact that some kids just do not learn that way. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe not when they're trying to learn something that's difficult for them or they're struggling with, you know, if it's a math topic, not to add having to work with somebody else on top. Right. Yeah, totally.
Speaker: Yeah, I definitely have some solitary interpersonal learners and these kids just, um, something that will work for them is they'll be like, no mom, you've already told me about this and I'm not getting it. So I'm just going to go and figure it out myself. How are you going to do that? If you're not getting it when I'm telling you, are you going to figure it out yourself? But just something about, you know, the quiet and them reviewing it in their own way is, uh, sometimes they get it. And then, um,
Speaker: Another thing I like to do is like, if you're not getting it when I'm teaching it to you, maybe you can get it when the Khan Academy teaches it to you because sometimes they just say something in just enough different of a way that, you know, my kids can get it or pick it up from, you know, maybe different language that I'm using or explain it in a different order or something. And so whenever I have a kid really struggling on something, and this does especially work for my interpersonal
Speaker: solitary quiet learners. They're like, okay, I'm just going to go, you know, put some headphones on and listen to Khan Academy explain it to me. And usually they get it. So that's a good resource too. We can link it in the show notes.
Speaker: Yeah, smart. So to wrap up, we're going to share with you a few of the programs that we have tried, had success with and or didn't like. So you guys can have some ideas. Now, obviously, these are, you know, lend themselves to homeschooling because that's what we do. But they can also be used in addition to any, you know, public or private school curriculum if your kid needs extra help.
Speaker: All right, so some that we have used, we are currently using teaching textbooks and it has both a CD version or an online version. And what I really like about teaching textbooks, I mentioned that I love math and I love teaching math and I love correcting math and I love helping my kids with math.
Speaker: For me, it's kind of a student -teacher ratio thing. So if I have four or five different levels of math that I'm teaching, I just fall behind on keeping up on the corrections. So what I really love about an online -based or a CD -based program is that it's, especially teaching textbooks that we use, it's instant correction. So they do one problem and they know immediately if that problem is right or wrong. So then you don't end up with a kid that does an entire page
Speaker: And they do every single problem wrong because they weren't getting the concept and they got it wrong. And they have to go back and unlearn that and relearn. So I find that really valuable and a good use of my kids' time and my time for them to do teaching textbooks, even though I love math so much. I love teaching and I'm correcting it, but I just don't have time to keep up on the corrections. And then we use math. You see that we start out our kids on that.
Speaker: especially like we were mentioning, they kind of go through that physical kinesthetic hands -on stage at the beginning. And so we use Matthew C. for that. We'll link all this stuff we're talking about in the show notes. So we use Khan Academy definitely as not as a whole course, but just when there's a topic that we don't understand. And they've got a great search feature. We'll link those math facts mastery books. Say that fast 10 times.
Speaker: Oh, because those are really working right now and I'm really into those. And then we use time stills. It's those little stories and it's fun kids. And you can even get, I mean, you can even get a little two -year -old to memorize the story. And it's cute to have them say, hey, you know, so -and -so two -year -old, what's nine times six? And they blurred out 54 because they've got it memorized from the little story. OK, that's in the past. That's super fun and a great way to impress that doubting Thomas that doesn't think your kid's going to learn anything while being home. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah. In the past, we've used programs like Singapore Math. Really like that method of teaching math. Yeah, you know how Asian countries are really well known for their excellent math skills. They're teaching excellent math skills. And Singapore Math came from the Singapore, the country of Singapore, their Ministry of Education. And it's a really awesome program. I love it. And I love the way that my kids
Speaker: brains changed when we were using that program, like they really, really got fast at math.
Speaker: not because math has to be a fast thing, but it was just evidence that the methods that were being taught were making their minds work more mathematically. But again, like I was saying about the student -teacher ratio, I just don't have time to keep up on correcting four or five different levels of math at one time. And so we did switch to teaching textbooks because of the instant correction.
Speaker: And then we also have used programs like Life of Fred. That was good for my verbal linguistic learner who loved those stories. And yeah, those are some of our favorite ones that we've used. We'll link them all in the show notes.
Speaker: Yeah, we like a lot of those as well. We also have used Singapore Math for quite a few years and really enjoyed it. But same thing with Audrey, we got to the point where I'm like, oh, there's only one of me and way too many different levels. I need something where you guys can do it a little bit more independently. So right now we're doing all our math online. We use a program called CTC Math. It's out of Australia and they are this phenomenal family owned company.
Speaker: It's really easy to work with and a pretty affordable subscription rate. And so they have an explanation video and then a short little PDF about the lesson and then the kids go through and do questions. And what I love about that is that the kids can't cheat it, right? They can't be like, oh yeah, I got this done. And if they don't pass the question section with 80 % or whatever, then they have to repeat it.
Speaker: as many times as necessary. And only rarely do I have to sit down and help with the explanation a little bit. Usually they get it right on the first time because the videos are great. The other resource that I've used on and off with my little kids and any of the older kids that need a little bit more visual learning is called ST Math. I don't know why all our math programs are just...
Speaker: a bunch of letters, but it's actually kind of like a little adventure. It's like a little cartoon adventure of a penguin who has to go through these little obstacle courses and you do this math problem that makes the obstacle course, you know, pain -free. The penguin can get through. It's really cute. It's, you know, it goes as easy as preschool level where they're just matching shapes and all the way up to, geez, like at least pre -algebra we've gotten that far. So if kids need a little bit
Speaker: It's not a full comprehensive curriculum, but it is a great way to kind of solidify some things in a fun game -like way.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. You know, one thing I didn't even mention is I like to, um, download some math apps onto my phone and let my kids, when they've earned, you know, 30 minutes of screen time or something play a math game. Cause they think they're getting screen time and I think they're getting math done. So, uh, we can definitely link some of our favorites of that in the show notes too.
Speaker: Okay, we wanted to do a really quick rundown on talking to you guys about if you are one of those people who don't like math or feel kind of intimidated by your kids, you know, maybe they're getting ahead of you in math or maybe you don't feel like you can help them with their math, ways to improve your own math skills. So I definitely recommend Khan Academy for adults for any age. If there's something that you're not clear on, it's really good to go
Speaker: narrow it down to one of the videos and watch them and do some of the problems and just up your own math skills. And figure out your own learning style, which of these seven that we've talked through, which one or two or three, whatever, would work best for you. And then find a complementary math program or math app or something. But don't be afraid to take a little time for yourself and improve your own math skills too.
Speaker: If you set your mind to it, I believe that you can take yourself up a level in math just because you want to just not... It's not like because you've graduated from school, you're not allowed to learn any more math. I mean, hey, the world's your history. You want to learn math? Go learn math. Exactly. And I will say that, like we mentioned before, because math takes a specific type of skill set, it's very easy to get out of the practice of it.
Speaker: And, you know, I've got my multiplication facts memorized, but honestly, when I'm out of practice, I have to think for a second. Oh, yeah, that's right. What is nine times four? So I think it's always useful to be practicing these things. And then especially if you have kids around that are going to need help with homework or homeschool or whatever else. Yeah, I think the biggest tip, like you said, Audrey, is just figuring out the best way and think to yourself, what sounds like fun? Does it sound like fun for me to read a
Speaker: a storybook about math facts. It does not for me and that's okay. Does it sound like fun to play a little game on my phone with the math facts? Sure it does to me. Sure let's try that you know and just kind of play around with it and see how you can sharpen your skills and and make yourself a little bit more of a mathematician.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I've definitely said to my, my older kids when they come to me for help with a math program, a math problem, I'll say, you know what? At one time I did have that knowledge, but I'm a little bit out of practice from geometry right now. So you'll have to give me a little bit of time to catch up. Or if you really don't have time, you know, for me to catch up and bring this stuff back into my memory.
Speaker: you can go watch a Khan Academy video and they're sometimes they're like, you know, I'd really prefer that you help me or yeah, I'm gonna go watch the Khan Academy video or, you know, or whatever to help them or maybe read their lecture again or something.
Speaker: watch the solution if they're on teaching textbooks, watch the solutions to see if that helps them, you know, all sorts of things. But I'm not afraid of admitting to my kids that they're currently better than me at math. That's fine. I know my oldest this first year, this is the first year where he's brought me problems and I've gone, okay, let me go back a little bit and review and then we can work on it together. But it's good, it's good for both of us.
Speaker: All right, so we hope that this has been really helpful for you guys, if nothing else, to kind of make you unintimidated by math, like just kind of demystify some of the learning types and how to help your kids better. Most of all, I know I shared this in another episode. If your kids are struggling, when my kids are struggling, I'll say, hey, you know what? Let's take a break from this right now. This doesn't have to be tears and this hard. Let's go outside and play in the leaf pile for,
Speaker: 20 minutes or whatever, take a walk and come back and try it again later because, I mean, math isn't worth crying about. So, yeah, so anyway, yeah, we just hope that for you that math becomes a little bit easier by having listened to this episode. And we're going to link a whole bunch of resources that we talked about in the show notes. And I did want to mention, if you want to know more, like go
Speaker: in -depth on each type of learner, like you're not sure which one of these you talked about or you think it sounds like. I'm going to link a really good article from the timeforlearning .com website. It's about their learning styles and they give both an overview and then an in -depth breakdown and discussion on each type of learning. I'll link those free math songs from Demi Learning and then all those resources that I mentioned that we are currently and have used in the past.
Speaker: Thanks so much for tuning in. Did you know you can help the podcast in several ways? First up, we're on Patreon, and there are three different levels to support us there. Just head to patreon .com slash outnumbered. Next up, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a written review on iTunes. It helps other parents find the podcast and receive the help you're enjoying. And finally, you can follow us on Instagram at Outnumbered the Podcast. We're always having fun over there too.
Speaker: As usual, if you have any questions or ideas for future episodes, you can reach us at outnumberthepodcastatgmail .com. Thanks for all your support. We'll talk to you next week. Yes, exactly. So I have a child who's definitely ... Oh, there's another one. What? You can't come in. I'm recording. Go to the house. The one that always needs to go potty when she comes over here. You just walked past a potty to get here. Hold on.
