Kids are eager to learn, from the minute they wake up in the morning until they hop into bed at night. Some kids may resist schooling, but they rarely resist learning – especially if they can see the relevance of a subject to their own lives. A discussion about how math is used every day can help them to see that it is worth their while to learn. As you are driving, ask your carschoolers to spot ways math is used for road signs, mileage markers, in advertisements on billboards, at fast-food restaurants, at gas stations, and so forth. These observations help kids to see that math is everywhere and that everyone needs or uses it at some point in their lives. Make it as fun as possible and learn together by playing games. Math really lends itself to this idea.
As you drive from place to place, encourage your kids to look around and find numbers – they are everywhere! You will find them on houses, buildings, street signs, buses, trucks, taxis, license plates, speedometers, clocks, outdoor thermometers, and so many more places. Encourage your kids to count, add, subtract, multiply, and divide the numbers they see. Not only is this a practical way to learn and practice math skills, but it reinforces the message that learning math is useful and fun.
