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 Many homeschool families are using Brick Math: Teaching Math Using LEGO® Bricks for the math curriculum for their children ages 5 – 12, or in grades K – 6. We recently gave a short virtual presentation about Brick Math to interested parents associated with the Heartwood Charter School, a public charter school for independent study in California. Watch the video to see how Brick Math works for homeschool families. If you homeschool your child and are looking for math curriculum, this video presentation about Brick Math shows you the materials, explains how you can get started, and gives a short demonstration of a lesson. You can check the website for more information about how Brick Math can work for you and your child. Please feel free to contact us if you have more questions about Brick Math as a homeschooling math curriculum.
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 The August 2021 Lesson of the Month comes from the Decimals book. To get the August 2021 Lesson of the Month, plus a new lesson each month, click here. For the first time, we’re showing you Part 2 of a lesson, or “Show What You Know.” This comes after the teacher has demonstrated the skill in Part 1 of the lesson (“Show Them How”), with the students working along with their own bricks. In Part 2, the teacher poses a problem for the students to work out while the teacher observes and coaches.  In Part 1, students have learned how to model decimals in a 100 x 100-stud decimal grid. In Part 2, students are first asked to model 0.42 in a decimal grid with bricks. Next, they are asked to try modeling any combination of studs that adds up to 0.30. In the Decimals book, the example illustrated is 0.14 + 0.16. The 100 x 100 decimal grid is a very useful tool to explain the concept of decimals to the one-hundredth place. Author of the Brick Math series, Dr. Shirley Disseler, demonstrates how to teach this decimal addition lesson in a one-minute Brick Math video, which is also part of the August 2021 Lesson of the Month. Watching the videos on the website really helps a teacher or parent understand how to guide a student through the Brick Math curriculum. Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable. If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program.  Happy summer to everyone! It's been a looooong school year for teachers, students, and parents—not one we hope to repeat again! Here's a new Brick Math Lesson of the Month for you to try. We think the Brick Math program will be especially helpful in the upcoming school year for kids who have lost some math skills during the pandemic year.  The Brick Math Lesson of the Month for July 2021 is on Division Basics. It's a great way to introduce the concept of division to a student. The lesson uses LEGO bricks to model three basic division problems: 4 ÷ 2 = 2; 8 ÷ 4 = 2; and 6 ÷ 3 = 2. When a student builds the problems with bricks and counts the studs on each brick, the idea of division is made simple to learn. To get the July 2021 Lesson of the Month, plus a new lesson each month, click here. The lesson is accompanied by a short video that illustrates the brick building process for each problem. Watch it before you teach the lesson to your student(s), or watch it along with your student(s)!  Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable.
If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program.  To celebrate "The Year of Brick Math," we're adding a new feature to the free Brick Math Lesson of the Month -- video! Dr. Shirley Disseler, author of the Brick Math curriculum, demonstrates the April 2021 lesson in a five-minute video that shows the concepts for comparing and ordering 3 fractions with unlike denominators. To get the April 2021 lesson, "Comparing and Ordering Fractions," and a link to the video lesson, plus a new lesson each month, sign up here.  Elementary school math teachers know how tricky this skill can be for students to comprehend. When they look at the fractions 1/2, 3/8, and 3/4, many students will think that 3/8 is the biggest fraction of the three, since the denominator is the largest number. This lesson demonstrates the "fraction train" method of finding a common denominator using LEGO bricks to build the fraction models and model the equivalent fractions.  This lesson is from Chapter 7 of Basic Fractions Using LEGO Bricks in the Brick Math series. Students typically learn this skill in grades 3 - 4. Modeling the math with bricks makes it easy to learn. Try the free lesson with your students to see how much fun it is to learn with Brick Math! Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and are not shared between students. It adapts easily to online instruction.  If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program.
 While kids are learning from home, Brick Math helps to make math fun! Dr. Shirley Disseler (aka "Dr. D") has launched a series of videos for students that help them learn K - 6 math using LEGO® bricks!
In the "Brick Math with Dr. D" videos, Dr. Disseler teaches Brick Math directly to students, showing them the brick modeling techniques and explaining the "why" behind the math. "It's a great way for kids to start using LEGO® bricks to learn math concepts while they're home," says Dr. Disseler. "The lessons are really fun for kids to do, and they feel a great sense of satisfaction when they learn by building along with me as they watch the videos." "Brick Math with Dr. D" videos have lessons in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Basic Fractions. New videos are being added all the time to cover more math subjects. Says Dr. Disseler, "And parents are welcome to join us—Brick Math is fun for everyone!"  Learning multiplication is NOT memorizing times tables! The rote process of repeating multiplication tables over and over, taking speed tests, and writing math facts ten times each— these instructional methods are not supported in educational research. Students learn the concept of multiplication best through the process of modeling with manipulatives. And that’s where Brick Math can help students learn multiplication. The Brick Math program uses LEGO® or LEGO®-compatible bricks as the manipulatives. With Brick Math, students create models that help them understand the concepts behind multiplication. Students begin with the basics—understanding the meaning of multiplication as it relates to repeated addition. This understanding usually begins in grade 2 with the introduction of sets and its relationship to skip-counting. Students then learn basic facts of multiplication through modeling, arrays, and word problems, typically in grade 3. They work on one-digit multiplication problems and later learn how to multiply two-digit numbers and beyond in grades 4 and 5. In Brick Math, students learn multiplication through an integrated program. They create models using the bricks. They then draw the models they’ve created. Finally, they explain in writing how and why they created the models. These three different ways of interacting with bricks lead to a deep understanding of how multiplication works. When students model the action of multiplication using bricks, they have the opportunity to create multiple solutions to problems instead of looking for the one right answer. Watch the video below to see a Brick Math lesson in action. This one is about multiplication fact families. Then click here to download a lesson plan about finding factors from the Brick Math book Multiplication Using LEGO® Bricks—Teacher Edition. Brick Math is fun! Students love playing with bricks, and Brick Math helps them discover that math can be entertaining. As one Brick Math student said: “Why doesn’t everyone learn math this way?”  Some students who have mastered the concepts of addition and subtraction lose their way when they try to learn division. Many math textbooks don’t help students learn division. Students learn the concept of division best through the process of modeling with manipulatives. Brick Math uses manipulatives that kids love: LEGO® bricks! With Brick Math, students create models that help them understand the concepts behind division. Brick Math helps students learn division through an integrated program. The teacher uses the step-by-step lesson plan to show students each concept. Then students create brick models of the math as they learn. They draw the models they’ve created and explain in writing what the models mean. These three different ways of interacting with bricks lead to a deep understanding of division. The Brick Math Division book uses a step-by-step approach to break down these division concepts into learning modules:
Watch the video below to see a Brick Math lesson for teaching division basics. Click here for a FREE preview of the Brick Math book Division Using LEGO® Bricks—Teacher Edition. When students model the action of division using bricks, they have the opportunity to create multiple solutions to problems instead of looking for one right answer. Brick Math is fun! Students love learning math with bricks. A teacher said: “My students would rather do Brick Math than go to recess! They love it!”  Learning fractions is difficult for many elementary school students. Even those who have succeeded in learning other math concepts may come up against a roadblock when they start to learn fractions. Research shows that the best way to learn fractions involves modeling fractions with manipulatives. Brick Math is the perfect way to learn fractions, because the manipulatives used in Brick Math are LEGO® bricks! Brick Math helps students learn fractions through its integrated program. The teacher leads students through step-by-step lesson plans. Using the bricks, students create models of the math as they learn. They then draw the models they’ve created and explain in writing how the models work. These different ways of interacting with the bricks lead to a deep understanding of fractions. Brick Math gives students the opportunity to create multiple solutions for problems instead of looking for only one right answer. Students who haven’t been able to understanding fractions before will learn fractions with Brick Math. The video below shows a Brick Math lesson about adding fractions with like denominators. Brick Math is fun! Students love using bricks to learn math. One student said it all: “I finally understand fractions. I can see them!” To see more fractions lesson plans, click here to get a FREE preview of the Brick Math Basic Fractions book. We've begun a fun series of videos designed to show how easy it is to teach the lessons provided in The Brick Math Series. Whether you're teaching division, multiplication, or fractions, these hands-on, easy-to-follow lessons can help engage students and help them grasp math concepts.
For many students learning math can be a frustrating endeavor. LEGO® bricks to the rescue in this easy-to-learn, ground breaking new book series by Dr. Shirley Disseler. |