How we incorporated real-world math into our 3rd and 5th grade homeschool curriculum

Three years into homeschooling my 3rd and 5th graders, I realized my kids could solve math problems but couldn't tell me which size pizza was the better deal. I realized that math wasn't connecting to their real lives at all.... so, we put the textbooks aside one day a week for what we call "Math in Action" projects. Last month, the kids planned our vegetable garden - measuring the yard, calculating seed spacing, and writing down how much soil to buy 😊 My 5th grader, who used to groan at the sight of fractions, spent two hours happily calculating how to double and halve recipes for our neighborhood bake sale (yes!)

Yesterday, I overheard my son explaining to his 3rd grade sister how to calculate the tip at a restaurant. These moments make all the homeschool struggles absolutely worth it.