Playing Cards To Teach Math

One of the greatest things about homeschooling in Washington is that I am free to teach my children any way I choose.

Today my 5 year old saw me playing Solitaire (like with real cards and everything) and wanted to play. As solitaire is by its very name a solitary game, I decided to let her play war with me. The concept of war is simple. All the cards are dealt equally among the players and you simply lay down the card from the top of your pile. The player who lays down the largest card takes them all. To win, you get the whole deck in your hand.

I saw a perfect opportunity to teach my daughter some math! Each hand I asked her what numbers each card was and which one was larger. Many of them required counting and some discussion about which was larger and which was smaller, but she was practicing math skills and all she knew was that she was playing (and winning) a fun game.

This is what homeschooling looks like in our house!