Supporting Numeracy at Home

Numeracy is about being able to understand and use numbers in a range of situations, for example when solving problems or making decisions in situations involving numbers.

How can I help?

A child or young person’s everyday routine offers many opportunities and experiences to practise and apply their numeracy skills in real and meaningful ways.

There are many ways that you can build learning activities into everyday routines to support your child’s numeracy skills.

Below are some simple ideas to build numeracy skills into everyday activities from early years to secondary.

Early Level

• Look out for all numbers you see around the house.

• Count how many steps there are from the gate to the front door or around the garden and talk about the differences in the size of your steps.

• As you tidy up, encourage your child to arrange toys and books in order of size.

• Count how many things are in the fridge or the cupboard.

• Count how many star jumps or hops you and others in your household can do.

• Investigate different coins and talk about their value.

• Play board games which need the use of dice e.g. ludo or snakes and ladders.

• Point out the time on the clock, particularly at breakfast, dinner or bedtime.

First and Second Level (Primary)

• Estimate and take their own, your and other family members measurements – height, weight, shoe size.

• Play games which involve calculating scores e.g board games or online games.

• Calculate the cost of a home delivery or take away.

• Explain how to work out the value of the graduations on the scales on measuring equipment.

• When baking, encourage your child to explain how they would work out quantities to make the recipe for more or less people. e.g for making 18 cupcakes from a recipe for 6.

• Allow your child to be in charge of setting the timer while you cook together, this will develop skills in estimating time and provide opportunities for calculating time durations.