Everyone is a Reader AND a Problem Solver 

Have you ever heard someone say—or said yourself—“I’m just not a math person,” or “I did fine in math… except for word problems”?

Well, if you and your child love to read, you can be great at math, too! This summer is a wonderful opportunity to help your child build connections between math and reading. After all, both are ways we make sense of the world. Patterns, symbols, and meaning are at the heart of both literacy and mathematics.

Just like in a story, math word problems involve characters, situations, and a problem to solve. The more children read and think critically, the better equipped they are to tackle math with confidence.

This summer, build math muscles by doing word problems and reading great books. A fun resource for real-world word problems is bedtimemath.org.

When reading and solving problems together, use the chart below to guide your discussions and thinking: