Math Journals

Math journals have been an important addition to our homeschool. A few years ago, before I started using a boxed curriculum, we used journals for every subject. It was a combination of notebooking, lapbooking, and journaling, and it worked extremely well. However, it was very time-consuming for me to find all the resources I needed and pull together a curriculum. I was also worried my children were "missing something" or getting behind. {They weren't... I enrolled them in public school last year, and they all scored excellent on the testing. They also kept honor roll the entire time.}

I have missed the journaling aspect of homeschooling, as I now know it is very effective. So we started keeping math journals a few weeks ago. They look different for each child. I will show examples of each of their journals for their grade and skill level.

Silas is in kindergarten. His journal consists of activities that I have glued or put in his journal in advance. I try to do a week at a time. He loves coloring, cutting and gluing, so I try to include several of those a week. We are working on letter recognition and writing from 1-10, shapes, and patterns.

{He had to glue the missing numbers on.}

{ He had to roll the 2 die, count the dots, and write the number in a pumpkin.}

{Making patterns with star and animal stickers.}

Mercie's consists of both printables I have glued in or her own things she creates. She is learning multiplication, so she glued flaps for the fact families she is learning. I printed out some skip counting and multiplication sheets for her to complete each day. She also works in her Singapore book every day according to the plans in Bigger Hearts for His Glory. The journal doesn't take her but five to ten minutes, and she loves doing it.

{She had to color the problems with correct answers.}

{Skip counting.}

{She made flaps with the multiplication facts.}

{She wrote her own word problems using multiplication.}

Eli's journal is a little different. He is learning about angles and lines, so he has been writing the definition of each and drawing an example. He also has some division vocabulary words and crossword puzzles in it. He enjoys doing his. Writing the definitions and drawing examples helps him to remember. After he completes his journal, he either works in Singapore 5 or Spectrum 5. I like alternating!

{It's hard to see, but he drew a protractor and examples of angles.}

{He had to do a division terms crossword and write his own word problems.}

We will continue to use these math journals. There are so many things we can put in them! I hope this helps someone who isn't sure how to use a math journal.