Allowance
I guarantee kids will learn how to add and subtract when they are keeping track of their money! We have what we call "quarter chores" which are simply short, easy chores (taking out the trash, for example) that any of the kids can do to earn a quarter. At the end of the week, they come to us with what they think is the amount they have earned, and we compare it to the amount we think they have earned. This opens up the opportunity for such questions as "If Alex earned $4.00 and Ethan earned $5.50, how many more chores did Ethan do?" and "How many more chores do you need to do to have enough to buy that $5.00 widget you want?"
Organize a Math Fair
When I first read this in "Growing Without Schooling" I thought "Gee, a bunch of kids sitting around adding and subtracting. How fun can that be?" And then I read it. David Mantell organized a Math fair (after successful History and Science fairs) for his local homeschooling support group. Here are some of the projects the kids came up with: Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Ratio; Math in Art: Scale and Proportion; Hexaflexigons; and even Everyday Math, where a family produced a pamphlet with pictures and examples showing how they use math everyday. No boring adding and subtracting here, thank you!
Bake a batch of cookies
Every so often, we bake a huge batch of cookies and deliver them to people we haven�t seen in awhile. I would love to report that it happens weekly, which was my original intent, but it doesn`t. Now of course, we could just use the recipe in the cookbook, but that isn`t much fun! We double, triple, halve, and quarter the recipe. We pick a number of cookies we would like to make, and adjust the recipe based on the yield. If we over estimate (something that I am sure happens on purpose!) we can always eat the difference!
Math Olympiad
Math Olympiad was Created in 1977, to (among other things) "foster Mathematical creativity and ingenuity." Students compete in teams, and every participant receives a certificate. You can win up to a Bronze Medallion. Last year 120,000 students from 5,000 teams worldwide participated. All 50 states and 25 other countries were represented. Each team can be up to 35 kids, so if the $85 fee is shared, it is very reasonable!
Math Games
Give a kid a deck of cards, and they will *invent* math games. Oh course, they won`t call them math games, and we will never tell! Some of our favorite math games (card and board) are: Addition and Subtraction Go Fish "Do you have a 7+2?" "Do you have a 10-4+2?", UNO, and even Monopoly.
Mathcounts
Mathcounts is the nationwide math coaching and competition program for middle school students. Students compete in one of 500 local competitions, and the top teams and individuals progress to state competitions, where the top four individuals advance to the National Competition. To get started, you request a free school kit. (There is a fee to register a team.)