How to help from home

Nowhere is the saying "Practice Makes Perfect" more true than in math. Help students practice the math facts and algorithms whenever and wherever possible. Practice on the way to and from after school activities in the car, or while waiting for the dentist or doctor. These are perfect little times to get in some practice without interrupting your daily schedule.

A great and fun way to practice addition and subtraction is to play games (card games, monopoly, etc) and let your child be the score keeper. To practice subtraction facts, change the rules for some games so that everyone begins with 500 points and the winner has some points taken away. This way the winner is the first to reach zero.

When working with your child on a math problem, be sure to use questions to help him clarify his thinking. A task that even the best mathematical thinkers can find difficult is to explain the thinking behind getting an answer (whether it is correct or not). Everyone can benefit from practice with explaining their thoughts. Please see the note on my e-board titled "The Art of Questioning" for examples of questions to ask your student.

Another great idea for having fun with your child and math is to let her see you working with math in everyday situations. When you are cooking, let your child help measure (and to figure out any doubles of recipes). If you are building a bench, or fixing a window, or checking your oil, etc that requires measuring, let your child help if possible-- or at least watch. Ask questions to get the student thinking about the math that they have just seen. For example: If our car needs 6 quarts of oil to be full, and it only has 4 quarts now, how much oil do we need to add?

One of the best ways to help is to let your child see you interact with math in a positive way whenever possible. When they see you enjoying working with math, and see that you use it everyday, they will be more likely to see themselves working with math everyday in a positive way. Have fun with your child and math.