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Best of the Blog


[Photo by samchurchill.]

Over the years, Let’s Play Math! blog has grown into a sprawling mess of nearly 800 posts, pages, and handouts. That’s still small by Internet standards, but it’s large enough to make it hard to find what you’re looking for.

I write primarily about math, but I have other interests as well, and sometimes those sneak through onto the blog — a bit of fiction, some Shakespeare, and of course, stories about my kids. On this page, I’ve collected my top 10 (more or less) favorite blog posts from each category.

Skim. Click. Explore. Have fun!

“Table of Contents” Quicklinks

Mathematics Sub-Categories

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Activities Sub-Categories

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Best Let’s Play Math! Games

Take a break from textbook math and enjoy yourself. I like to use games as a warm-up at Math Club meetings. Some homeschoolers make every Friday a Game Day.

More posts tagged ‘Games’

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Top Let’s Play Math! Puzzles

My students love puzzles and will work much harder at such a challenge than they ever would do on a textbooky worksheet. Try your hand at a few of these, and let me know what you think.

More posts tagged ‘Puzzles’

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Favorite Math Club Activities

My Math Club students enjoy the above games and puzzles, of course, but we also have fun with projects that are not so easy to categorize. So grab a group of kids, and let’s play some math!

More posts tagged ‘Math Club’

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Let’s Play Holiday Math

I’ve been surprised by the popularity of these posts. I suppose we all like to take a break from the daily grind and try something different, and holidays give us an excuse for it.

More posts tagged ‘Holiday math’

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By Grade Level Sub-Categories

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Top Ideas for PK-1st Grade Children

Young children love to explore patterns, shapes, and numbers. Let them play around with math, and leave the more formal written lessons for later.

More posts for the PK-1st grade category

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Best Posts on Middle Elementary Math

Beware! As concepts get harder, pushing your student could lead to math anxiety. Instead, make math a cooperative effort by using Buddy Math. Or intersperse your textbook math lessons with fun, low-pressure games and activities.

More posts tagged ‘Elementary school’

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Mastering Math in Grades 5+Up

This category takes in a wide range of math, from the middle school Math Monsters to more advanced number theory topics that show up on MathCounts and other contests — anything that counts as arithmetic beyond the basics. I love this level of math!

More posts tagged ‘Middle school’

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Let’s Play with Algebra & Beyond

Algebra, geometry, pre-calculus and more… I don’t tend to write as much about high school math, because my kids are mostly independent learners by that stage. They also take classes at the local community college, which gives them a few grades on their transcripts from somebody other than Mom. (Mom is a tough grader!)

More posts tagged ‘High school’

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How & Why Sub-Categories

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Understanding and Teaching Elementary Arithmetic

As you study, remember the PUFM goal: “Know HOW, and also know WHY.” Most of us already know the “how” of these topics, but we are constantly learning new things about the “why” (and the “how to explain”).

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Math Monsters Sub-Categories

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Fiddling Around with Fractions

Fractions can confuse anyone! Don’t believe me? Well, can YOU explain the answers to my fraction quiz?

More posts tagged ‘Fractions’

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Let’s Play with Ratios, Proportions, & Percents

Tough topics like decimals, ratios, percents, and proportions are all specialized forms of fraction. Try to help your student understand how each new idea connects to the basic fraction concepts.

More posts tagged ‘Ratios’

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Exploring a Few Other Tough Topics

The Math Monsters are the things that make students afraid of math. What is the scariest math topic you can think of?

More posts tagged ‘Math monsters’

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Word Problems Sub-Categories

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I Wonder about Solving Word Problems

Why do so many people hate word problems (aka story problems)? My children have always preferred their math to be “about something,” rather than working with abstract numbers. Word problems are like little puzzles or mini-mysteries to solve — what fun!

More posts tagged ‘Word problems’

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Use Bar Diagrams to Think Through Word Problems

I love the problem-solving tool called bar diagrams (or Singapore math models), which I learned about from Singapore Primary Mathematics but which can be easily applied in any math program. A visual form of algebra, these diagrams will help all students learn to reason their way through word problems.

More posts tagged ‘Bar diagrams’

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Let’s Play with Math History

The story of mathematics is the story of interesting people. They faced the normal challenges of daily life as well as the creative challenges of mathematical imagination. It’s a shame that our children see only the dry remains of these people’s passion.

More posts tagged ‘History’

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Explore the Math Carnivals

A blog carnival is a collection of blog posts loosely related to a given topic. Carnivals give bloggers a chance to reach a wider audience than just their regular readers, and they give readers interested in the topic a chance to access a wide variety of articles at once. Here are the math carnivals I’ve hosted, plus a couple of hodge-podge “carnivals” of my own.

Posts for the Math Carnival category

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Best Bits of Let’s Play Math! Humor

In the process of making this Best of Blog page, I’ve enjoyed the chance to explore long forgotten posts, including these old treasures. If you’d like a laugh, check out…

More posts tagged ‘Math humor’

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A Few of my Favorite Books (and Other Reviews)

Like many homeschoolers, I’m a book fanatic. Our family collection has grown to fill 11 tall bookshelves, and I’m trying to figure out where we can squeeze in another. I’d like to develop a habit of posting book reviews on a regular basis, but so far I haven’t followed through on my good intentions…

More posts for the Reviews category

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The Mathematical Adventures of Alexandria Jones

Just before the turn of the century, I tried my hand at fiction writing for a short-lived newsletter. A few years ago, I dusted off my newsletter issues and began to republish the adventures as blog posts. Check out my index page:

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Education Sub-Categories

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My Thoughts on Teaching Math

Many teachers are concerned about the amount of material they must cover in a course. One cynic suggested a formula: since, he said, students on the average remember only about 40% of what you tell them, the thing to do is to cram into each course 250% of what you hope will stick.

— Paul Halmos

More posts tagged ‘Teaching’

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Hooray for Homeschooling

Homeschooling is a daily adventure in learning. Here are a few posts directly related to homeschool strategies and planning or to our local homeschool co-op.

More posts tagged ‘Homeschooling’

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In the Mood for Something Other than Math?

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the chance to relearn and finally understand the topics I hated when I was in school. And what greater adventure could there be than to introduce your child to all the wonderful things in God’s world?

Posts for the Other than Math category

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Life in General Sub-Categories

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Assorted Posts about Blogging

You won’t find any “Get Rich Blogging” posts here, but I hope you’ll find something of interest…

More posts tagged ‘Blogging’

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My Family’s Adventures

Meet my children: Moonlight, Niner, Chickenfoot, and Princess Kitten. (The Computer Geek grew up and moved away before we started blogging together.) I admit, I’ve chosen way more than 10 posts in this category — but you wouldn’t expect a mother to play favorites, would you?

Yet more posts tagged ‘My family’

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Let’s Play with Quotations

I love quotations, don’t you? Anything I might possibly want to say, someone else has already said — and usually better than I ever could!

My Quotations page

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Have you and your students enjoyed a project, game, or handout from my blog? If you would like to say “Thank you,” you can buy me a cup of coffee.
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Archives: Organized by Month, Year

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