'Helping Your Child Learn math' is one in a series of books on different education
topics intended to help you make the most of your child's
natural curiosity. Teaching and learning are not mysteries
that can only happen in school. They also happen when parents
and children do simple things together.
For instance, you and your child can: sort socks on laundry day -- sorting is
a major function in math and science; cook a meal together
-- cooking involves not only math and science but good health
as well; tell and read each other stories -- storytelling
is the basis for reading and writing (and a story about
the past is also history); or play a game of hopscotch together
-- playing physical games will help your child learn to
count and start on a road to lifelong fitness.
By doing things together, you will show that learning is fun and important. You
will be encouraging your child to study, learn, and stay
in school.
This book will give you a short rundown on facts, but the biggest part of the
book is made up of simple, fun activities for you and your
child to do together. Your child may even beg you to do
them.
"The first teachers are the parents, both by example and conversation. But don't
think of it as teaching. Think of it as fun."
So, let's get started. I invite you to find an activity in this book and try
it.
3: What We Can Do To Help Our Children Learn
Most parents will agree that it is a wonderful experience to cuddle up
with their child and a good book. Few people will say
that about flash cards or pages of math problems. For
that reason, we have prepared this book to offer some
math activities that are meaningful as well as fun. You
might want to try doing some of them to help your child
explore relationships, solve problems, and see math in
a positive light. These activities use materials that
are easy to find. They have been planned so you and your
child might see that math is not just work we do at school
but, rather, a part of life.
It is important for home and school to join hands. By fostering a positive attitude
about math at home, we can help our children learn math
at school.
It's Everywhere! It's Everywhere!
Math is everywhere and yet, we may not recognize it because it doesn't look like
the math we did in school. math in the world around us
sometimes seems invisible. But math is present in our
world all the time -- in the workplace, in our homes,
and in life in general.
You may be asking yourself, "How is math everywhere in my life? I'm not an engineer
or an accountant or a computer expert!" math is in your
life from the time you wake until the time you go to sleep.
You are using math each time you set your alarm, buy groceries,
mix baby food, keep score or time at an athletic event,
wallpaper a room, decide what type of shoe to buy, or
wrap a present. Have you ever asked yourself, "Did I get
the correct change?" or "Do I have enough petrol to drive
20 miles?" or "Do I have enough juice to fill all my children's
flasks for lunch?" or "Do I have enough bread for the
week?" math is all this and much, much more.
How Do You Feel About math?
How do you feel about math? Your feelings will have an impact on how your children
think about math and themselves as mathematicians. Take
a few minutes to answer these questions:
- *
- Did you like math in school?
- *
- Do you think anyone can learn math?
- *
- Do you think of math as useful in everyday life?
- *
- Do you believe that most jobs today require math skills?
If you answer "yes" to most of these questions, then you are probably encouraging
your child to think mathematically. This book contains
some ideas that will help reinforce these positive attitudes
about math.
You Can Do It!
If you feel uncomfortable about math, here are some ideas to think about.
math is a very important skill, one which we will all need for the future in
our technological world. It is important for you to encourage
your children to think of themselves as mathematicians
who can reason and solve problems.
math is a subject for all people. math is not a subject that men can do better
than women. Males and females have equally strong potential
in math.
People in the fine arts also need math. They need math not only to survive in
the world, but each of their areas of specialty requires
an in-depth understanding of some math, from something
as obvious as the size of a canvas, to the beats in music,
to the number of seats in an audience, to computer-generated
artwork.
Calculators and computers require us to be equally strong in math. Their presence
does not mean there is less need for knowing math. Calculators
demand that people have strong mental math skills -- that
they can do math in their heads. A calculator is only
as accurate as the person putting in the numbers. It can
compute; it cannot think! Therefore, we must be the thinkers.
We must know what answers are reasonable and what answers
are outrageously large or small.
Positive attitudes about math are important for our country. People are quick
to admit that "I am not good at math." We need The workplace
is rapidly changing. No longer do people need only the
computational skills they once needed in the 1940s. Now
workers need to be able to estimate, to communicate mathematically,
and to reason within a mathematical context. Because our
world is so technologically oriented, employees need to
have quick reasoning and problem-solving skills and the
capability to solve problems together. The work force
will need to be confident in math.
Build Your Self-Confidence!
To be mathematically confident means to realise the importance of mathematics
and feel capable of learning to
- *
- Use mathematics with ease;
- *
- Solve problems and work with others to do so;
- *
- Demonstrate strong reasoning ability;,
- *
- See more than one way to approach a problem;
- *
- Apply mathematical ideas to other situations; and
- *
- Use technology.
You may have noticed that we are talking about "mathematics" -- the subject that
incorporates numbers, shapes, patterns, estimation, and
measurement, and the concepts that relate to them. You
probably remember studying "arithmetic" -- adding, subtracting,
multiplying, and dividing -- when you were in primary
school. Now, children are starting right away to learn
about the broad ideas associated with math, including
problem solving, communicating mathematically, and reasoning.
Teachers are nursery schools are building bar graphs of birthday cakes to show
which month has the most birthdays for the most children
in the class. Pizzas or cakes can be used to learn fractions,
and measurements can be taken using items other than rulers.
What Does It Mean To
- *
- Be a Problem Solver,
- *
- Communicate Mathematically, and
- *
- Demonstrate Reasoning Ability?
A problem solver is someone who questions, investigates, and explores solutions
to problems; demonstrates the ability to stick with a
problem for days, if necessary, to find a workable solution;
uses different strategies to arrive at an answer; considers
many different answers as possibilities; and applies math
to everyday situations and uses it successfully.
To communicate mathematically means to use words or mathematical symbols to explain
real life; to talk about how you arrived at an answer;
to listen to others' ways of thinking and perhaps alter
their thinking; to use pictures to explain something;
to write about math, not just give an answer.
To demonstrate reasoning ability is to justify and explain one's thinking about
math; to think logically and be able to explain similarities
and differences about things and make choices based on
those differences; and to think about relationships between
things and talk about them.
This book is divided into introductory material that explains the basic principles
behind the current approach to math, and sections on activities
you can do with your children. The activities take place
in three locations: the home, the supermarket, and in
transit.
The activities are arranged at increasingly harder levels of difficulty. The
ones you choose and the level of difficulty really depend
on your child's ability. If your child seems ready, you
might want to go straight to the most difficult ones.
Each activity page contains the answer or a simple explanation of the mathematical
concept behind the activity so that you can explain when
your child asks, "Why are we doing this?"
With these few signs to follow along the way, your math journey begins.
It is highly likely that when you studied math, you were expected to complete
lots of problems accurately and quickly. There was only
one way to arrive at your answers, and it was believed
that the best way to improve math ability was to do more
problems and to do them fast. Today, the focus is less
on the quantity of memorized problems, and more on understanding
the concepts and applying thinking skills to arrive at
an answer. To develop "transferable skills".
Wrong Answers Can Help!
While accuracy is always important, a wrong answer may help you and your child
discover what your child may not understand. You might
find some of these thoughts helpful when thinking about
wrong answers.
Above all be patient. All children want to succeed. They don't want red marks
or incorrect answers. They want to be proud and to make
you and the teacher proud. So, the wrong answer tells
you to look further, to ask questions, and to see what
the wrong answer is saying about the child's understanding.
Sometimes, the wrong answer to a problem might be because the child thinks the
problem is asking another question. For example, when
children see the problem 4 + ___ = 9, they often respond
with an answer of 13. That is because they think the problem
is asking, What is 4 + 9?", instead of "4 plus what missing
amount equals 9?"
Ask your child to explain how the problem was solved. The response might help
you discover if your child needs help with the procedures,
the number facts, or the concepts involved.
You may have learned something the teacher might find helpful. A short note or
call will alert the teacher to possible ways of helping
your child.
Help your children be risk takers: help them see the value of examining a wrong
answer; assure them that the right answers will come with
proper understanding.
Problems Can Be Solved Different Ways Through the years, we have learned that
while problems in math may have only one solution, there
may be many ways to get the right answer. When working
on math problems with your child, ask, "Could you tell
me how you got that answer?" Your child's way might be
different than yours. If the answer is correct and the
strategy or way of solving it has worked, it is a great
alternative. By encouraging children to talk about what
they are thinking, we help them to become stronger mathematicians
and independent thinkers.
Doing math in Your Head is Important
Have you ever noticed that today very few people take their pencil and paper
out to solve problems in the grocery, fast food, or department
store or in the office? Instead, most people estimate
in their heads.
Calculators and computers demand that people put in the correct information and
that they know if the answers are reasonable. Usually
people look at the answer to determine if it makes sense,
applying the math in their heads to the problem. This,
then, is the reason why doing math in their heads is so
important to our children as they enter the 21st century.
You can help your child become a stronger mathematician by trying some of these
ideas to foster mental math skills:
- Help children do mental math with lots of small numbers in their heads until
they develop quick and accurate responses. Questions
such as, "If I have 4 cups, and I need 7, how many more
do I need?" or "If I need 12 drinks for the class, how
many packages of 3 drinks will I need to buy?"
- Encourage your child to estimate the answer. When estimating, try to use numbers
to make it easy to solve problems quickly in your head
to determine a reasonable answer. For example, when
figuring 18 plus 29, an easy way to get a "close" answer
is to think about 20 + 30, or 50.
- As explained earlier, allow your children to use strategies that make sense
to them.
- Ask often, "Is your answer reasonable?" Is it reasonable that I added 17 and
35 and got 367? Why? Why not?
All jobs need math in one way or another. From the simplest thought of how long
it will take to get to work to determining how much weight
a bridge can hold, all jobs require math.
If you took a survey, you would find that everyone uses math: the school teacher,
the cook, the doctor, the petrol station attendant, the
solicitor, the housewife, the painter.
This section provides the opportunity to use games and activities at home to
explore math with your child. The activities are intended
to be fun and inviting, using household items.
Remember,
- *
- This is an opportunity for you and your child to "talk math," that is to communicate
about math while investigating relationships.
- *
- If something is too difficult, choose an easier activity or skip it until your
child is older.
- *
- Have fun!
Using symbols to stand for numbers can help make math fun and easier for young
children to understand. What you'll need Paper Pencil
Crayons What to do
- Choose some symbols that your child can easily draw to stand for 1s and 10s
(if your child is older, include 100s and 1,000s).
- A face could 10s, and a bow could be 1s.
- List some numbers and have your child depict them.
Playing cards is a fun way for children to use numbers. What you'll need Coin
2 packs of cards Paper to keep score What to do
- Flip a coin to tell if the winner of this game will be the person with "more"
(a greater value card) or "less" (a smaller value card).
- Remove all court cards (jacks, queens, and kings) and divide the remaining cards
in the stack between the two players.
- Place the cards face down. Each player turns over one card and compares: Is
mine more or less? How many more? How many less?
This game for young children encourages number sense and helps them learn about
the relationships of numbers (more or less) and about
adding and subtracting. By counting the shapes on the
cards and looking at the printed numbers on the card,
they can learn to relate the number of objects to the
numeral.
What you'll need
Pack of cards
Paper
Pencil
What to do
- Super sums. Each player should write the numbers 1-12 on a piece of paper. The
object of the game is to be the first one to cross
off all the numbers on this list.
- Use only the cards 1-6 in every suit (hearts, clubs, spades, diamonds). Each
player picks two cards and adds up the numbers on
them. The players can choose to mark off the numbers
on the list by using the total value or crossing off
two or three numbers that make that value. For example,
if the player picks a 5 and a 6, the player can choose
to cross out 11, or 5 and 6, or 7 and 4, or 8 and
3, or 9 and 2, or 10 and 1, or 1, 2, and 8.
- Make 100. Take out all the cards from the pack except ace to
- Each player draws 8 cards from the pack. Each player decides whether to use
a card in the tens place or the ones place so that the
numbers total as close to 100 as possible without going
over. For example, if a player draws two 1s (aces),
a 2, a 5, two 3s, a 4, and a 6, he can choose to use
the numerals in the following way:
30, 40, 10, 5, 6, 1, 3, 2. This adds up to 97.
These games help children develop different ways to see and work with numbers
by using them in different combinations to achieve a goal.
What you'll need
Pack of cards
Paper
Pencil
What to do
1. How many numbers can we make? Give each player a piece of paper and a pencil.
Using the cards from 1 (ace)-9, deal 4 cards out with
the numbers showing. Using all four cards and a choice
of any combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division, have each player see how many different
answers a person can get in 5 minutes. Players get one
point for each answer. For example, suppose the cards
drawn are 4, 8, 9, and 2. What numbers can be made?
4 + 9 + 8 + 2 = 23
4 + 9 - (8 + 2) = 3
(8 - 4) x (9 - 2) = 28
(9 - 8) x (4 - 2) = 2
- Make the most of it. This game is played with cards from 1 (ace) to 9. Each
player alternates drawing one card at a time, trying
to create the largest 5-digit number possible. As the
cards are drawn, each player puts the cards down in
their "place" (ten thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens,
ones) with the numbers showing. One round goes until
each player has 6 cards. At that point, each player
chooses one card to throw out to make the largest 5-digit
number possible.
- Fraction fun. This game is played with cards 1 (ace)-10, and 2 players. Each
player receives one-half of the cards. Players turn
over 2 cards each at the same time. Each player tries
to make the largest fraction by putting the 2 cards
together. The
players compare their fractions to see whose is larger. For example, if you are
given a 3 and a 5, the fraction 3/5 would be made; if
the other person is given a 2 and an 8, the fraction is
2/8. Which is larger? The larger fraction takes all cards
and play continues until one player has all the cards.
Players can develop strategies for using their cards, and this is where the math
skills come in.
Children enjoy exploring measurement and estimation. Empty containers can provide
opportunities to explore comparisons, measurement, estimation,
and geometry.
What you'll need
Empty containers in different shapes (yogurt cups, margarine tubs, juice boxes
with tops cut off, pie tins) Rice, popcorn kernels, or
water Marker Masking tape Paper What to do
- Have your child choose an empty container each day and label it for the day
by writing the day on a piece of masking tape and sticking
it on the container.
- Discover which containers hold more than, less than, or the same as the container
chosen for that day by filling the day's container
with water, uncooked rice, or popcorn kernels; and
pouring the substance from that container into another
one. Is the container full, not full, or overflowing?
Ask your child,
- "Does this mean the second container holds more than the first, less, or the
same?"
- Ask your child questions to encourage comparison, estimation, and thinking about
measurement.
- Put all the containers that hold more in one spot, those that hold less in another,
and those that hold the same in yet another. Label the
areas "more," "less," and "the same?
- After the containers have been sorted, ask, "Do we have more
The process of predicting, filling the containers, and comparing how much each
will hold, gives your child the opportunity to experiment
with measurement without worrying about exact answers.
It is helpful to explore whole numbers and fractions through measurement and
estimation. Children can see relationships and the usefulness
of studying fractions.
What you'll need Clear container with straight sides, that holds at least 4 cups
Masking tape Marker Measuring cup with 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8
cup measures on it Uncooked rice, popcorn kernels, or
water Other containers with which to compare What to do
- Have your child run a piece of masking tape up the side of the container so
that it is straight from the bottom to the top.
- For younger children, use a 1-cup measure. For older children, use a 1/2, 1/4,
and 1/8 cup measure. Pour the chosen amount of a substance
listed above into the container.
- Mark the level of the jar on the masking tape by drawing a line with a marker
and writing 1 for one cup or 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 on the
line.
- Follow this procedure until the container is full, and the tape is marked in
increments to the top of the container. Now, the jar
is marked evenly to measure the capacity of other containers.
- While filling different containers, ask your child "thinking" questions.
How many whole cups do you think this container will hold? How many 1/2, 1/4,
or 1/8 cups do you think the container will
hold? How many 1/2 cups equal a cup? How many
1/4 cups equal a 1/2 cup? A cup? How many 1/8 cups
equal a 1/4 cup? A 1/2 cup? A 1/8 cup? This activity provides a "hands-on" opportunity
for children to experience fractions while making connections
to the real world.
Children love to look at coins but sometimes cannot identify the coins or determine
their value. What you'll need Penny Nickel Dime Quarter
What to do
- Look at the coins and talk about what color they are, the pictures on them,
and what they are worth.
- Put a penny, nickel, and dime on the floor or table.
- Tell your child that you are thinking of a coin.
- Give your child hints to work out which coin you are thinking of. For example,
"My coin has a face on one side, a building on the other."
- Let your child think about what you have said by looking at the coins.
- Ask, "Can you make a guess?"
- Add another clue: "My coin is silver."
- Keep giving clues until your child guesses the coin.
- Add the quarter to the coins on the table and continue the game.
- Have your child give you clues for you to guess the coin.
This guessing game helps young children learn to recognize coins and develop
problem-solving and higher level thinking skills.
This game helps children count change. Lots of repetition will make it even more
effective. What you'll need A die to roll 10 of each coin
(penny, nickel, dime) 6 quarters What to do
- For young players (5- and 6-year-olds), use only 2 different coins (pennies
and nickels or dimes and quarters). Older children can
use all coins.
- Explain that the object of the game is to be the first player to earn a set
amount (25 cents or 50 cents is a good amount).
- The first player rolls the die and gets the number of pennies shown on the die.
- Players take turns rolling the die to collect additional coins.
- As each player accumulates 5 pennies or more, the 5 pennies are traded for a
nickle piece.
- As each player accumulates 2 nickels or more, the nickels are traded for a dime.
And so on.
- The first player to reach the set amount wins.
- Add the quarters to the game when the children are ready.
Counting money, which involves counting by 1s, , 5s, and 10s, is a challenging
skill and usually does not come easily to children at
first.
What you'll need
Coins
Coupons
What to do
- Coin clues. Ask your child to gather some change in his or her hand without
showing what it is. Start with amounts of 25 cents or
less. Ask your child to tell you how much money and
how many coins there are. Guess which coins are being
held. For example, "I have 17 cents and 4 coins. What
coins do I have?"
- Clip and save. Cut out coupons and tell how much money is saved with coins.
For example, if you save 20cents on detergent, show
how this amount could be made up using different coins.
Ask your child what could be purchased using the savings
from the coupon. Sweets? A pencil? How much money could
be saved with 3, 4, or 5 coupons? How could that money
be counted out in coins? What could be purchased with
that savings? A notebook? A magazine? How much money
could be saved with coupons for a week's worth of groceries?
How would that money be counted out? What could be purchased
with that savings? A book? A movie ticket?
Counting money involves thinking in patterns or groups of amounts: 1s, 5s, 10s,
25s. Start these activities by having your child first
separate the coins or coupons by types: all the pennies
together, all the nickels, all the dimes, all the quarters;
the coupons for cereals, the coupons for cake mixes, the
coupons for soap, etc.
Young children love to look at the newspaper. It is fun for them to realize that
there are things for them to see and do with the paper.
What you'll need
Newspaper
Glue
Paper
Scissors
Pencil or crayon
What to do
- Newspaper numbers. Help your child look for the numbers 1-100 in the paper.
Cut the numbers out and glue them in order onto a large
piece of paper. For children who cannot count to 100
or recognize numerals that large, only collect up to
the number they do know. Have your child say the numbers
to you and practice counting. Collect only numbers within
a certain range, like the numbers between 20 and 30.
Arrange the numbers on a chart, grouping all the numbers
with 2s in them, all the numbers with 5s, and so on.
- Counting book. Cut out pictures from the newspaper and use them to make a counting
book. Page one will have one thing on it, page 2 will
have 2 things that are alike, page 3 will have 3 things
that are alike, and so on. All the things on the pages
have to be the same. At the bottom of each page, write
the number of items on the page and the word for the
item. Have your child dictate a story to you about what
is on the page.
Being able to read and understand the newspaper involves more than just the ability
to read the words and understand what they say. It also
involves the ability to read and understand numbers.
What you'll need
Newspapers
Paper
Scissors
Glue
What to do
- Section selection. Show your child that the papers are divided into different
sections and explain that each section serves a purpose.
Show how the pages are numbered.
- Ad adventure. Provide your child with supermarket ads from the newspapers. Help
him see how many items are listed and the prices. Compare
the prices at different stores. Ask which store has
the best bargain and why. Talk about the difference
in prices between items bought at regular price, items
at sale prices, and items bought with money-off coupons.
What happens when an item is bought at sale price and
bought with a coupon?
- Solid search. Look at the ads or coupons for pictures of all the cylinders,
boxes, or cubes you can find. What are their different
uses? Paste the pictures on paper and make a "book of
geometric solids." Have one page for each solid.
Understanding that there is a logical order to the way things are arranged in
the newspaper, and in the book of solids, helps show that
math skills can be used in organizing written material.
Comparing information, such as the sale prices at stores,
also helps children see logical relationships that can
be applied to writing.
Search through the newspaper for mathematical data. What you'll need Newspaper
What to do
- Numbers in the news. Find the following things in the paper: a graph a number
less than 10 something that comes in 2s, 3s, 4s a
number more than 50 the days of the week a number
more than 100 a number that is more than 100 but less
than 999 a symbol or word for inches, feet, or yards,
or centimeters and
- meters a schedule of some kind a triangle a weather symbol a percent sign sports
statistics
- List it. Provide your child with supermarket advertisements in order to make
up a list of food that will feed the family for a week
and meet a budget of a certain amount of money. Have
your child make a chart and use a calculator to work
out the cost of more than one item. If the total for
the groceries is too great, talk about which items can
be eliminated. Could the list be cut down by a few items
or by buying less of another item? What will
- For a fraction of the cost. Give your child a few coupons and supermarket ads
from the paper. Help your child match the coupons to
some of the items in the advertisement. What fraction
of the cost is the coupon? For example, if an item costs
79 cents and the coupon is for 10 cents off, what fraction
of the cost can be saved? (About 1/8.) What percentage
are you saving on the item? (About 12 1/2 percent.)
One of the main ways people use numbers is for planning. Knowing how to plan
how much things will cost before going to the shop and
how to read schedules and weather information from the
paper will help your child understand the world.
Everyone's house has hidden treasures. There is a lot of math you and your child
can do with them. What you'll need Buttons Screws Washers
Bottle caps Old keys Sea shells Rocks or anything else
you can count What to do
- Find a container to hold the treasures.
- Sort and classify the treasures. For example, do you have all the same sized
screws or keys? How are they alike? How are they different?
- Use these treasures to tell addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
stories. For example, if we share 17 buttons among three
friends, how many will we each get? Will there be some
left over? Or, if we have 3 shirts that need 6 buttons
each, do we have enough buttons?
- Organize the treasures by one characteristic and lay them end-to-end. Compare
and contrast the different amounts of that type of treasure.
For example, there are 3 short screws, 7 long screws,
and 11 medium screws. There are 4 more medium screws
than long ones. This may also provide an opportunity
to talk about fractions: 7/21 or 1/3 of the screws are
long.
Finding a container to hold the treasures gives your child practice in spatial
problem solving. The treasures may help you to explain
the concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division because they can be moved around and grouped
together so your child can count the items.
Have your child get to know members of your family by collecting information
and picturing it on a graph. What you'll need Paper Pencil
Crayons What to do
- Choose an inherited family characteristic: hair colors, for example.
- Count how many people in the family have the different hair colors.
- Make a graph. For example, if 5 people have brown hair, draw 5 heads side by
side to show these five people. Do the same for the
other hair colors.
Graphs help everyone, including adults, understand information at a glance. By
looking at the lengths of the lines of heads, your child
can quickly see which hair color, for example, is most
common.
The supermarket is one of the best examples of a place where math is real. Since
food shopping trips usually affect everyone in the family,
the following activities include various levels of difficulty
within the activity. All of these activities can take
place over many visits to the store.
Get Ready
Getting ready to go shopping can help parents and children share their thinking
strategies about math with one another. What you'll need
Paper Pencil Coupons (if you use them) What to do
- Involve the family in making a list. List each item and mark each item to indicate
the number required.
- Look at the price of an item you bought last week and intend to buy this week.
How much did it cost last week? How much does it cost
this week? Do you want to:
- Pay this week's price? Wait until the price comes down? Or, stock up if it is
reduced?
- Involve the group in deciding how much milk or juice will be needed for a week.
You might decide to estimate by cups. Use a liter drink
container to show how many cups it contains.
- If you collect coupons, organize them. Choose the coupons that match the items
on the grocery list. Discuss how much money will be
saved on various items by using coupons.
Shopping is a part of life which really necessitates our being mathematically
informed to be good consumers. What you'll need Prices
What to do
- Notice whether the supermarket has prices on the items or whether the pricing
is dependent on scanners.
- If there are no prices on the items, notice the prices listed on the shelves.
- Assign each child the job of remembering the price of a few items, particularly
those listed as being on special offer.
- Being aware of the prices of items will help you verify that the scanners are
working properly and that the total is accurate when
you go to the check-out.
The ever-increasing use of technology in the supermarket puts the burden on you
to beware. Your protection lies in having strong mental
math skills.
One fun place to try out estimation and measurement skills in the supermarket
is the produce section where everyone can have the opportunity
to participate.
What you'll need
The grocery scale
What to do
- Help your child examine the scale. Explain that pounds are divided into smaller
parts called ounces and 16 ounces equal a pound.
- Gather the produce you are purchasing, and estimate the weight of each item
before weighing it.
- Use sample questions to foster thinking about measurement and estimation. You
might Want to ask your child:
How much do you think 6 apples will weigh? More than a pound, less than a pound,
equal to a pound? How much do the apples really weigh?
Do they weigh more or less than you predicted? How about
the potatoes? Will 6 potatoes weigh more or less than
the apples? How much do potatoes cost per pound? If they
cost ___ cents per pound, what is the total cost?
Some grocery stores have scales that tell all the answers to these questions,
so in that case, estimate using the same procedure to
make sure the machines are accurate.
Activities like this help children develop number sense for weight and foster
the ability to compare items when measuring.
The supermarket is filled with geometric shapes. What you'll need Items from
the supermarket What to do
- Show your child pictures of the different shapes -- cubes, rectangles, squares,
cylinders, etc., -- before going to the supermarket.
This will help to identify them when you get to the
shop.
- At the supermarket, ask your child questions to generate interest in the shapes.
Which items are solid? Which are fiat? Which shapes
have fiat sides?
- Which have circles for faces? Rectangles? Do any have points at the top?
- Point out shapes and talk about their qualities and their use in daily life.
Look to see what shapes stack easily. Why?
Try to find some cones. How many can you find?
Look for pyramids.
Determine which solids take up a lot of space and which ones stack well.
Discuss why space is important to the shopkeeper and why the shopkeeper cares
about what stacks well.
Boxes, cans, rolls of toilet paper or paper towels, ice cream cones, plus produce
such as oranges, grapes, and tomatoes are all geometric
shapes. Recognizing these shapes helps children connect
math to the real world.
The check out counter is where we commonly think about math in the grocery store.
It's where the total is added up, the money is exchanged,
and the change is returned.
What you'll need All the items you intend to buy What to do
- Have your child estimate the total.
- Ask, if I have 10 one dollar bills, how many will I have to hand over at the
check-out? What if I have a 20 dollar bill ? a 10 dollar
bill ? How much change should I receive? What coins
will I get?
- Count the change with your child to make sure the change is correct.
One way to make estimating totals easy is to assign an average price to each
item. If the average price for each item is 25 cents and
if you have 10 items, the estimate would be about 2.50
What you'll need
Bags of groceries
What to do
- Have your child guess how many objects there are in a bag. Ask: Is it full?
Could it hold more? Could it tear if you put more in
it? Are there more things in another bag of the same
size? Why do some bags hold more or less than others?
- Estimate the weight of the bag of groceries. Does it weigh 5 pounds, 10 pounds,
or more? How can you check your estimate? Now, compare
one bag to another. Which is lighter or heavier? Why?
This activity exposes children to the experiences of counting items and comparing
qualities, as well as to judging spatial relationships
and capacity. It shows how to estimate weight by feeling
how much the bag weighs, comparing it to a known weight
(such as a bag of sugar), or weighing it on a scale.
Now, the sorting begins as you put away the groceries. What you'll need Your
bags of groceries Counter top or table to group items
on What to do
- Find one characteristic that is the same for some of the products. For example,
some are boxes and some are cans.
- Put all the items together that have the same characteristic.
- Find another way to group these items.
- Continue sorting, finding as many different ways to group the items as you can.
- Play "Guess My Rule." In this game, you sort the items and invite your child
to guess your rule for sorting them. Then, your child
can sort the items, and you can guess the rule.
Sorting helps children develop classifying and reasoning skills and the ability
to examine data and information.
In this busy world, we spend a lot of time in transit. These are some projects
to try while you are going from place to place.
While you're moving, have your children keep their eyes open for:
- *
- house numbers;
- *
- phone numbers on the sides of taxis and vans;
- *
- dates on buildings and monuments; and
- *
- business names that have numbers in them.
The object is to look for numbers around you: on cars, buses, and on foot. What
you'll need Some type of transportation or A place from
which to observe Paper Pencil Ruler What to do
- Create a chart that lists the numbers from 1-50.
- Write down each number as family members locate that number on a car, a sign,
a building.
- Write down phrases that have numbers in them such as "one-stop shopping," "two-day
service," or "open 24 hours."
This is a great challenge for family members of all ages, because even young
children can learn to recognize numbers.
License plates have numbers and are fun to use to play games while on the go.
What you'll need License plates Paper Pencil What to do
- Copy down a license plate. Read it as a number (excluding the letters). For
example, if the license is L706 KKY, the number would
be seven hundred and six.
- Find other license plates and read their numbers. Is the number less than, greater
than, or equal to yours?
- Estimate the difference between your number and another license plate. Is it
10, 20, 50, 100, 200 or more?
- Record the initial letters of as many different license plates as you see. Which
letters do you see the most? Which has the fewest? Prepare
a chart or graph to show your findings.
These activities encourage reading, recognizing numbers, noticing symbols, writing,
counting, and graphing.
This is a good game for practicing quick mental computation. What you'll need
License plates What to do
- Call out the numbers on the license plate.
- See who can add the numbers up correctly. What strategies were used? (Were the
numbers added by 10's like 2 + 8; were doubles like
6 + 6 used?)
- Try different problems using the numbers in a license plate.
For example, if you use the plate number L706 KKY, ask, "Using the numbers on
the plate, can you: make a 1 using two numbers? Yes, 7
- 6 = 1. make a 1 using three numbers? Yes, 7 - (6 + 0)
= 1 make 13 using 2 numbers? Yes, 7 + 6. Adapt the calculations
necessary according to the license plates,
and the child's ability. The problem solving and computation going on in your
child's head is very important. It helps your child be
creative with numbers.
What you'll need Information about how far you're traveling and how long it will
take
What to do
- Ask your children how far they think you are traveling. Metres? Kilometres?
Miles?
- Talk about how long it takes to get there. If it is 3:15 now, and it takes 45
minutes to get there, will we make it for a 4:15 appointment?
How much extra time will we have? Will we be late?
These types of questions help children see the usefulness of understanding distance
and time.
When children practice asking questions about numbers, they can develop an understanding
of the characteristics and meanings of numbers.
What you'll need Questions about numbers What to do
- Let your child think of a number between a stated range of numbers while you
try to guess the number by asking questions. Here
is a sample conversation.
- Child: I am thinking of a number between 1 and 100. Parent: Is it more than 50?
Child: No. Parent: Is it an even number? Child: No.
Parent: Is it more than 20 but less than 40? Child:
Yes. Parent: Can you divide this number up into 3
equal parts? And so on ...
- After you have guessed your child's number, let your child guess a number from
you by asking similar questions.
The questions asked demonstrate many different levels of math. They can serve
as learning tools for explaining concepts. For example,
you can take the opportunity to explain what an even number
is if your child does not know.
1. Visit the school and see if the children:
- *
- Are actively engaged in math;
- *
- Are talking about mathematics;
- *
- Are working together to solve math problems;
- *
- Have their math work on display;
- *
- Use manipulative's (objects that children can touch and move) in the classroom.
2. Explore the math program with your child's teacher or head. Here are some
questions you might ask:
- *
- Are there manipulatable objects in the classroom?
- *
- How are the national curriculum standards being applied in this school?
- *
- What can I do to help foster a strong math program where children can explore
math concepts before giving the right answer?
3. If you would like to help out, here are some suggestions for parent groups:
- *
- Make games for teachers;
- *
- Help seek out sponsors who believe in a strong math program for the school and
who might provide materials and resources;
- *
- Support math classes for families at your school.
- Keep a positive attitude even if you don't like what you see. Work to improve
the math curriculum by doing some of the things mentioned
throughout this book.
- Share this book with your child's teacher.
The National Curriculum and current educational thinking make certain assumptions
about the way math should be taught and what parents might
see when visiting the classroom. Here are some examples:
- Children will be engaged in discovering mathematics, not just doing many problems
in a book.
- Children will have the opportunity to explore, investigate, estimate, question,
predict, and test their ideas about math.
- Children will explore and develop understanding for math concepts using materials
they can touch and feel, either natural or manufactured.
- The teacher will guide the students' learning, not dictate how it must be done.
- Children will have many opportunities to look at math in terms of daily life
and to see the connections among math topics such as
between geometry and numbers.
- Children will be actively involved in using technology (calculators and computers)
to solve math problems.
