Welcome to my website! If you're thinking about integrating games into your math lessons, I hope you'll find some useful ideas in the following pages.
We began home-schooling three years ago. Having volunteered to take on the math instruction, I began looking for ways to make the dreaded math hour a little more fun for everyone.
Since I'm also a board game enthusiast, and since most kids like games a lot more than worksheets, I decided include games as part of our daily math lessons. I was looking primarily for games that 1) were fun, 2) included arithmetic, and 3) could grow as we progressed from grade to grade.
There were a few commercially produced games that fit the bill, but I soon decided to make my own games.
There are a number of books on the subject, but I frankly didn't find them helpful. I just didn't find their game ideas all that interesting. After reading a few of these books, I started creating my own games, based on board games that I like and have been playing for decades.
These have been absolute life-savers in our math classes, and I also feel that they've made me grow as a teacher.
Anyway, I thought I'd put up some web-pages explaining how to make your own games. The "Philosophy" section contains background about the importance of play in learning, different types of games, and some practical aspects of making your own game. "Game Materials" discusses different components, and "Games" will give you some specific examples to work from.
Hope you find something here to interest and inspire you!
If you
have comments about this website,
I'd like to hear them!
Please send them to: battles@hanover.edu