Middle School Mathematics
updated February 11, 2021
Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!
This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.
Middle School Math Booklist
for Class 6, 7, 8
Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library
Without exception, I would recommend Jamie York's excellent book for Middle School Math.
 
Making Math Meaningful : A Middle School Math Curriculum for Teachers and Parents
I also REALLY like his super helpful online math workshops for grades 6, 7, and 8!
Jamie recommends math homework every night, two math main lesson blocks during the course of the school year, and an afternoon math class several times a week for further
reinforcement and practice.
I've compiled a page of FREE math worksheets which I have used and recommend.
I also really like these FREE Homework Scorecards which ask students to self-assess their work. (Mon - Thu)
6th grade Math MLB topics:
1. Business Math (including Percents, Formulas, and Graphs)
2. Geometry (geometric drawing)
7th grade Math MLB topics:
8th grade Math MLB topics:
1. Number Bases & Loci
2. Mensuration & Stereometry
On his
website Jamie York Press you will also find a student workbook for each grade level (consumable), a teacher guide/answer key for each workbook, and a webinar on 7th grade algebra, as well as
an assortment of free middle school downloads.
grade 6 workbook
sample worksheets
grade 6 teacher guide
grade 7 workbook
sample worksheets
grade 7 teacher guide
grade 8 workbook
sample worksheets
grade 8 teacher guide
Main Lesson Block daily plans & notes from Jamie York:
Eighth Grade Note:
Many Montessori math materials are an excellent fit with Jamie's curriculum. I especially like the Multi-Base
Bead Frame for 8th grade, working hands-on in base 2, base 5, base 8, and base 16!
Seventh Grade Note:
Becca had a hard time with the a + b whole square formula (page 95 of the workbook, part of the
Square Root Algorithm), so we watched this YouTube video. Montessori also
has hands-on materials to help students understand, visualize, assemble and disassemble puzzles like these:
Sixth Grade Note
Nice explanation of this sixth grade math trick (workbook Sheet 4)
Multiply Numbers Just Over 100 in 3 Seconds
Sample lessons from the Live Education! curriculum:
Actually doing the math, not just writing it, is an invaluable tool. There's a math teacher who I admire so very much that takes every single math problem in his students' books, acts it out on video, and has them watch it or make their own videos so that they are actually applying the concept in the real world. It's amazing! He says that if the students are to calculate how long it will take to fill a bucket with a slow hose, they should have to sit through how long it actually takes to fill that bucket and see if their answer makes sense. That once they have to do that, their work will have meaning to them. Granted, he teaches calculus and I'm teaching arithmetic, but I think the principal applies at every level.
My blog posts with pictures of all of our MLB pages:
There are many other Waldorf (and traditional) math books which I suggest for this age group.
They run the enrichment gamut: some are collections of fascinating
biographies, some show math concepts as they developed throughout time and in different cultures,
some contain practice exercises, some are books of puzzles and math games,
and some focus on applying math problem solving skills in authentic tasks.
All are wonderful.
I also strongly believe that math problem solving should be woven into real life, and homeschooling provides you with so many opportunities to do that!
On one occasion, after a family dinnertime discussion about college and the process of choosing a major, I asked my daughters
to figure out how many adults actually grow up to have a profession that matched their college
major. I had always wondered this myself; it was my impression through casual conversation that many many people end up in an
entirely different career. We developed a short two-question survey (What is/was your profession? What was your major in college?)
and wrote an interview script.
The children interviewed
50 people, tabulated the data, and came to the conclusion that approximately 56% of adults end up in careers
that do not match what they majored in in college. This allowed my girls to breathe a sigh of relief,
knowing that you do NOT have to know with complete certainty -- at the age of 20, mind you! --
what you want to be when you grow up. In fact, we enjoyed hearing the story of one woman who went into
business journalism after being told repeatedly that she wouldn't be able to make a living as an artist. Once
she began working in that field, she hated it! She ended up deciding to follow her heart and is now
successfully supporting herself and her family as a fiber artist. After dealing with quantitative data, creating tables and a pie
chart, we turned to qualitative data. Each of my children
chose someone to conduct a follow up interview on, after becoming curious about their widely varying career paths. One woman
started out in pre-law, then became a doula. Another majored in East Asian studies and is now a long haul
team truck driver with her husband. Our 10 follow up questions allowed the girls to delver deeper into their
research and provided even more reassurance that we each have our own unique path and there's no "right" or "wrong." It
was especially interesting that when we asked in question 10 if "you believe students should take a gap year between
high school and college," one person interviewed said DEFINITELY yes and the other said DEFINITELY no!
Activities such as these allow mathematics to come alive for your child as well as your whole family. I also believe that
middle schoolers should be involved as you create and revise your household budgets -- my 6th grader keeps track of our homeschool budget, adding up the receipts each month, and my 8th grader keeps track of our grocery budget -- and
that they should be present as you do your taxes. It is never to early to learn the maths of practical life.
Supplemental Booklist
 
The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures
by Malba Tahan
 
You Can Count on Monsters: The First 100 Numbers and Their Characters
by Richard Evan Schwartz
The Time Book: A Brief History from Lunar Calendars to Atomic Clocks
by Martin Jenkins
 
The Story of Clocks and Calendars
by Betsy Maestro
 
The History of Counting
by Denise Schmandt-Besserat
 
A Million Dots
by Andrew Clements
Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics
by Steve Jenkins (great for graphing)
 
The Story of Money
by Betsy Maestro
 
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments
by Richard Maybury
 
A Collection of Math Lessons: Grades 3-6
by Marilyn Burns
 
A Collection of Math Lessons: Grades 6-8
by Marilyn Burns
 
Math for Smarty Pants (A Brown Paper School Book)
by Marilyn Burns
 
The I Hate Mathematics! Book (A Brown Paper School Book)
by Marilyn Burns
 
Making Math Meaningful: Fun with Puzzles, Games, and More! (grades 4-12)
by Jamie York
 
Hands-On Math!: Ready-To-Use Games & Activities for Grades 4-8
by Frances Thompson
 
Math and Science Across Cultures: Activities and Investigations from the Exploratorium
by Maurice Bazin, et al.
 
Agnesi to Zeno: Over 100 Vignettes from the History of Math
by Sanderson Smith
 
Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians
by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
 
Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Vol. 2
by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
Mathematicians Are People, Too!
lesson plan ideas
 
String, Straightedge, and Shadow: The Story of Geometry
by Julia Diggins
 
How We Learned the Earth Is Round
by Patricia Lauber
 
The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up
by Alice E. Goudey
 
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
by Kathryn Lasky
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