Wrap-Ups!

Have you ever used Wrap-Ups? They are a painless (almost) way of getting the kids to practice math facts. I have three sets--fractions, multiplication and addition. I thought I had a set of subtraction wrap-ups, but I guess not--or maybe my leprechauns hid that set. Here's what you do: wrap the string around the little board from the notch on the left to the correct notch on the right. For instance, if you are doing the x5 board above, you start on 5, then wrap the string to 15 on the right. Then go to the second notch on the left, and continue. When you are done, pull the string up through the notch on the bottom and turn it over--it will look like this:
If you got the answers correct, the string matches up exactly to the lines on the back. You can see the lines on this pink board. Here's JT working on his multiplication tables. I have a little chart to keep track of how fast each boy does each wrap-up. They are in competition with themselves (not each other) to see if they can beat their old times.

Yes, we are officially done with school but the kids need lots of extra practice on their multiplication tables. I got a book with lots of practice in it from the convention last week, so the guys have some learnin' to do before we hang it up for a month or two.
Just had to show this. Last night while John was watching a DVD with Luci, and as the boys were working on their multiplication tables, I was working on the puzzle page in the paper. I did the 5-star Sudoku! So I carried on and did all the other puzzles without even a mark-out. Hooray!