One advantage of home schooling is that you can use the world as your classroom. Math class can involve many things we do every day. Concrete examples of why everyone needs math skills are lessons children remember. Here are some ideas.

Measurement is boring if all you do is memorize tables and formulas. However, if you have a reason to measure things, it becomes interesting. If you are in the market for a rug or floor tile, let the kids measure the room and figure out how much you need. When you are baking, let them measure ingredients. When they get comfortable with this, give them a recipe and let them do it themselves. Ready for fractions? Have them make half the recipe! Having a party? Have them double or triple the recipe.

Rearranging the furniture? Give them graph paper and show them how to lay out the floor plan of the room. Then have them measure all the furniture and cut out pieces of graph paper to scale. It's a whole lot easier to move pieces of paper around to find a good furniture arrangement, and then do the hard work of moving everything. Painting a room? Have them figure out the square footage of wall to be painted and then how much paint it will take.

The grocery store is another good math classroom. Tell them you have a certain amount to spend and as you go through the store, have them keep track of what you are spending. Yes, you can let them use a calculator to do this. It's kind of difficult to write it all down while walking around the store! When you get to having only a few dollars left, let them help decide how to spend those last few dollars.

As children get older and are learning more, they can use their math skills on even more real world projects. On a diet? Have them figure out the calorie count of a meal. Go even further and have them figure out the amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat in the same meal.

Children can learn to figure out how much lumber it takes to build something and then figure out how much it will cost to build it. How much fencing will it take to make a pen for an animal?

Have each child make a budget. Whether you give them an allowance, the money comes from gifts, or they work for it, all children end up with some money of their own. It is useful to teach them to save and to plan ahead for expenses. Doing this in a math workbook isn't nearly as good a lesson as doing it in real life. If they borrow money from you, set up a payment schedule complete with coupons and insist they pay it back! It won't be many years until they have rent, car payments, and bills of their own. Teaching them to manage money now is one of the best gifts you can give them.

There are games that involve math. Play Monopoly or Yahtzee. Play any card game and have them keep score. My grandparents taught me to do math when I was little by having me keep score playing Rummy. They had me count each card with its face value and add it up in my head! Another good math game is Dominoes.

The next time you go on a trip, show them how to figure distances on a road map. How many miles per gallon does your car average? How much gasoline will it take to go to your destination and get home? What will it cost? What is the speed limit on the road? If you travel the speed limit, how long will the trip take? Of course, you have to explain to them that traffic conditions, weather conditions, etc., will affect this and not to expect to go 60 miles in an hour every time!