As a parent, you want the very best for your children. You love and care for your children and are always looking for ways to help them learn and grow.

Math is everywhere! Cooking, shopping, paying bills, doing laundry: all of these everyday activities depend on good math skills. For example, if you let your children measure ingredients while you are cooking, you will help them understand one way fractions and measurements are used in their daily lives. What a relief for your children to know that math isn't just homework or marks on a blackboard! Learning experiences like this can give your children positive feelings towards math that will last a lifetime.

Involving your children in everyday math activities takes plenty of patience, practice, and support. Being positive about math, staying in touch and working closely with your children's teacher, and talking regularly to your children about math will help your children become excited and involved in learning.

So how can you and your children make math a family affair? Try some of the activities and tips included in the guide. The suggested activities are simple and can be done indoors, in the car and/or outside. Use the activities in any way that works for you. You know your children best.
 

Be positive about math. Your own attitude toward math can influence your children's desire to learn it. Assure your children that they can learn math. All children can learn math.

 

Make a game out of figuring out simple problems, like determining how many bowls of cereal are in one box. Have your children estimate the number first and then keep track of the number of bowls until the box is empty. Have them compare their estimates to the actual number of bowls.

 

Discuss with your children the importance of math for their future. for example, talk with them about what they want to be when they grow up. It is likely that they will need to have some skill in math for many careers they might choose.

 

Maintain contact with your children's teachers. Ask about what your children are learning, how they're doing, and how you can help at home.

 

Ask your children to share with you some new and exciting things they are learning in math at school.

 

Encourage your children to use necessary tools to solve a problem, like calculators, rulers, or tape measures.

 

Encourage your children to talk through math problems while solving them and to describe to you how they solved a particular problem.

 

Encourage your children to draw pictures to explain how they would solve a math problem.

 

When your children are solving problems, encourage them to be sure their answers are reasonable. For example, if they are adding single-digit numbers, it is not likely that the total would have three digits.

 

Think of household items you could use to make your own math activities. For example, cook with your children and have them measure ingredients. Or, have them help you sort laundry into different categories: whites and darks, tops and bottoms, dress and casual.

 

If a math activity seems too hard for your children, encourage them to put it aside and try again later.

 

Visit the library with your children and encourage them to select books about math and problem-solving. The librarian can help you find interesting books.

 

Math takes practice. Reassure your children that it is okay to make mistakes because we can learn from them.

 

Teach your children that sometimes there may be more than one way to solve a problem and more than one right answer.

Encourage your children to explore math problems that relate to their own lives.

Play games with your children that involve problem-solving, like dominoes, checkers, or puzzles.

Talk to your children about the value of money and its role in everyday life. For example, take them with you to the grocery store and have them estimate the cost of the items you buy. Compare their estimates with the actual costs.

Try to do a math activity with your children once a day. Even 15-20 minutes a day will set a pattern in their lives.

Praise your children for their self-confidence in math at school.

Encourage your children to study math every year they are in school.

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