Homeschool Lessons from the Class- A New Way to Teach Math - The Magic Numbers

There is a story, one of several stories, which actually changes how a student looks at math. Although is it an easy story to learn, it is very specific in design. It reaches auditory, kinesthetic and visual learners and includes mnemonic devices to make easy to remember. It can reach students that have struggled with math for years. It is actually more effective with younger students as it helps creates an understanding of math before bad habits like finger counting develop.

The story is simple: Your mother is chasing a spider around the house when she swings and accidentally breaks the window.

This story is one you can teach to a student anywhere such as in the car on your way to soccer practice, in the living room during a commercial or while taking a walk to the corner store. You can embellish the story and make it more personal, laughing about how much Mom freaks out about the spider. You can even have the student imagine the story in great detail, talking about how big the spider is and how loud it is when the window shatters. Although the core of the story can't be changed, it is a story that will taught uniquely by each individual teacher who will add their own style and energy.

This story includes several mnemonic devices. Each image represents a specific part of a math fact, for example the number eight is represented by a spider which has a body that looks like and eight and eight legs. It includes personal connections (Mom), imagery (black spider), and actions (breaking window) which will make the story stick in both the short term and long term memory. It also uses tangible images like a golf club and a spider that can be remember more easily than abstract concepts. In short, it is a story that can be easily remembered.

The usual way for a student to learn eight times nine is to add nine together eight times. Not only is this time consuming, it is also boring. By nature this method creates confusion with other math facts as none are distinct from the others. It is easy to mix up seven times eight with six times nine. The traditional method of drill and practice takes many hours and often only reaches a few of the students in a class.

In contrast teaching math by using a vivid image of a memorable story will produce markedly different results. When asked what eight times nine is a student will recall the image for eight (a spider) and nine (golf) and the story that goes with them. They will easily remember that the house (the bigger image) represents seventy as the roof is shaped like a seven and the window (the smaller image) represents two. This connects all the numbers, making it easy to remember that eight times nine is seventy two. It will work for the reverse (division) just as easily. With less than twenty unique but specific stories to learn, learning the times tables can be a fun adventure.

With all due respect to the traditions that have been successful for many students, there is a way to reach those it hasn't worked for.