Invite your child to estimate the lengths of different objects and to share her reasoning and benchmarks. For example, “I estimate that the table is about one meter high because it is a little bit lower than the doorknob, which I know is about one meter high!”
Visit the website Estimation 180 for fun visual estimation challenges.
Play “Which is Shorter?” with your child. Partner A says two lengths (e.g., 6 centimeters and 10 centimeters). Partner B tells which length is shorter (6 centimeters). For an added challenge, ask your partner to compare different units (e.g., 6 meters and 10 centimeters). Take turns being Partner A and Partner B.
Count by 10s in centimeters with your child. When you reach 100 centimeters, change to meters and centimeters; for example, “ ...70 centimeters, 80 centimeters, 90 centimeters, 1 meter, 1 meter 10 centimeters, 1 meter 20 centimeters, 1 meter 30 centimeters, 1 meter 40 centimeters,” and so on.
Look for practical opportunities for your child to use measurement skills at home. For example, ask, “Will the rug fit in this room?” or “How far away should we put the basketball hoop?”
Encourage your child to measure by placing nonstandard units, such as shoes, end to end with no gaps or overlaps. As an alternative, your child might use a standard measurement tool such as a ruler or yardstick.
Shapes & Telling Time
Give your child a handful of toothpicks or straws and encourage her to create two-dimensional shapes (e.g., triangle, parallelogram, pentagon). As she creates each shape, ask her to identify it and describe its attributes. For example, she might make a triangle and say, “This is a triangle because it has 3 sides and 3 angles.”
Go on a shape hunt around the home and around town. Challenge your child to spot as many shapes as she can and to prove she is correct by naming the attributes that define the shape. For example, she might spot a street sign and say, “I see a rectangle! It has 4 sides and 4 right angles!”
Encourage your child to skip-count by fives to prepare for telling time to the nearest five minutes. If your child shows mastery of skip-counting by fives, challenge him to skip-count by threes and fours in preparation for Grade 3. You might start the skip-counting and then encourage your child to join in.
Help your child make connections between fractions and telling time. You might ask questions such as, “Why is 15 minutes called a quarter hour?” “How do you know that 3:45 and a quarter to four represent the same time?” “Why is it called the half hour when the minute hand points to the 6?”
Encourage your child to be on the lookout for clocks in stores, in restaurants, or around the home. Ask him to tell the time to the nearest five minutes, to the quarter hour, or to the half hour.
Encourage your child to relate various activities to a.m. and p.m. by asking questions such as, “When you sleep at night, are you sleeping during the a.m. or p.m.?” “What might you be doing at 2:00 p.m.?” “Would you eat breakfast in the a.m. or p.m.?”