Teaching Measurements

April 19, 2023

Teaching Measurements

I still remember my second year of teaching. I enjoyed all the subjects that I taught to my fifth graders. That was back when fifth grade was still a self-contained classroom. Teaching Measurements in Math became a challenge. Most of my students had no idea about measurements, neither English nor Metric. Teaching metrics was new in the 1970’s, and there was little to be had curriculum wise. Our school had purchased the metric curriculum that went with our math book, and it turned out to be just a bunch of reproducible sheets with no real instruction.


My solution was to teach English Measurements and then teach Metrics separately. By doing this, the students weren’t constantly trying to compare the two measurement systems. It actually worked out well. I even learned the metric system.


One of the best ways to teach English measurements at home is to teach your child to cook. So many of the measurements needed are used in cooking. Children enjoy cooking simple things and it gives them a chance to learn about cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. I remember taking all the appropriate items to school and performing a demonstration to show how 2 cups = 1 pint, 2 pints = 1 quart, and 4 quarts = 1 gallon. So how many cups are in a gallon? They can do the math and then check it by pouring cups of water into a gallon milk jug. They can also practice fractions with various sizes of measuring cups. Measuring spoons provide a good way to practice fractions.

 

Understanding the practicality of using measuring cups and measuring spoons to ensure the food you are fixing comes out edible is a good incentive to pay attention to what you’re trying to teach. If a recipe says to use 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 Tablespoon gets dumped into the mixture, no one will want to eat the finished product. Remember uppercase “T” means Tablespoon and lowercase “t” means teaspoon.


Homeschoolers can practice using a measuring-tape by measuring their bedroom and furniture. If they are a little older, you may want to have them make furniture to scale on a piece of graph paper. The size of the actual room can use the same scale on a separate piece of paper. Next cut out each piece of furniture and practice moving the furniture around on the scaled drawing to see if there is room to give their bedroom a new look. This is a lot easier than moving furniture only to find out that it doesn’t fit.


When I was teaching in a self-contained classroom, I used this same method before pushing furniture. I liked moving desks around for a different look every few weeks.


Hint: If your classroom is small and the furniture only fits one way, try putting each student’s name on a 3”x 5” card. Shuffle the stack and place one face-down on each desk. When you say GO, each student can turn over the card, empty their desk, wash it out, and move to their new spot. I did this every 2 weeks with one of my 6th grade self-contained classes. Sometimes the students didn’t like who they would be sitting next to; however, they knew that it was only for 2 weeks and I didn’t accept complaints. The Extra Bonus to this method, was that all desks were washed out every 2 weeks.


It’s amazing how many different things can be found around the house or classroom to weigh. We have a scale for small things in the kitchen. It will measure in ounces and pounds, or with the push of a button, you can measure in grams. It’s helpful see what common items weigh. One of the things this has shown me is that many of the food items we buy in bulk include the packaging as part of the weight. (Not too happy with that).


When you get to Metrics, which is based on 10, do the same types of activities that you did with English measurements. I usually had a meter stick that I could replace for a yardstick.


Meters mean Length  Grams mean Weight        Liters mean Liquid

10 millimeters = 1 centimeter    10 milligrams = 1 centigram      10 milliliters = 1 centiliter

10 centimeters = 1 decimeter 10 centigrams = 1 decigram      10 centiliters = 1 deciliter

10 decimeters = 1 meter  10 decigrams = 1 gram        10 deciliters = 1 liter


Key to Remember: Teach English measurements and Metric measurements separately to begin with. When both are well learned, math equations can be used to convert if so desired.


No reason to confuse everyone.


Happy Teaching!

Ten Things to Help Your Child Be Prepared to Learn

August 6, 2025
Do you remember the beginning of each school year when you were young? I do! I loved school, or at least elementary and junior high. High school was not as much fun because of all of the drama probably due to raging hormones. During the summers, as kids, we would play school. Actually, it was a good thing. It helped us remember our math skills, and kept us reading throughout the summer. I’m of the age that home computers did not exist yet, and you were lucky if you had a wall phone without a party-line (when you share your phone line with someone else because there weren’t enough lines to go around). Obviously, we didn’t have cell phones to distract us. We played some of the standard games of that time period like Monopoly and Scrabble, but mostly we made up our own games to play outside. But today is much different. Hopefully our children are still excited about a new school year, but our children today face challenges that did not exist when I was in school. We have technology in most classrooms that can either be a huge blessing or for some a curse. But regardless of how our classrooms are structured, either at school or at home (for homeschool families), one thing remains the same, our children are there to learn. We, as the adults in the room, need to bring structure and the cohesiveness needed for the best learning outcomes. So, here are 10 things that parents can do to help their children be prepared to learn? Make sure they have enough school clothes that fit so that they are not self-conscious about how they look. If you can only afford one week’s worth of clothes that’s okay. Laundry can be done on the weekend, and the order in which they wear their clothes or the way they pair shirts and pants can change for new combinations. Get the most important school supplies ahead of time and have them in their backpack. Other supplies can be purchased as needed. (In many places the two or three weeks before school starts, all school supplies are really cheap comparatively, so if you can afford it, it’s nice to stock up on what you know will be needed.) Have a plan for an easy, healthy, high-protein, low-sugar breakfast they can eat each morning. If they take lunch, it’s helpful to fix it the night before and put it in the refrigerator to eliminate a lot of morning stress. Make sure homework or anything else that needs to go to school the next day is in the backpack the night before. Arrive at school a little early, so they won’t feel embarrassed by walking in late. You want them to get off to a good calm start every day. In the evenings, talk about what your child learned that day. Ask appropriate questions about each subject. If they need help, it’s okay to help them. Children learn in all different ways. Sometimes they may need some input from you to be able to do the assignment. If you feel they are struggling in school in general, schedule an appointment to meet with the teacher right away. If it’s just one subject that’s hard for them, I would personally schedule an appointment to meet with the teacher. Most teachers want to know if there is a struggle, so they can meet that individual need. Be aware of what your child is learning in school. If you have questions, ask the teacher, but don’t be a “helicopter” parent. The best place to do homework for a younger child is the dining room table. It helps them stay on track, and it lets you know what they should be learning. Actually, in my home we all did homework at the dining room table all the way through high school. It eliminates isolation and provides immediate help when needed. Happy New School Year!
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