Math Tips
  • Give children rulers and let them measure different things around the room.
  • Have them play with number puzzles.
  • Read and discuss number and counting books.
  • Encourage the children to make their own counting picture books by cutting and pasting pictures of objects on pieces of paper or by using stickers. The children can count the objects that have similarities and write the totals down of each.
  • Encourage the children to make lists.
  • Use words such as same, different, more than, less than, and one more as you compare groups of objects.
  • Using location words: in back of, beside, next to, between.
  • Measuring things first with measures such at string or strips of paper and then with measures such as rulers, scales, and measuring cups. Discuss why we need to measure things.
  • Arranging groups of objects according to size - from largest to smallest.
  • Teaching them to copy patterns and to predict what will come next.
  • Matching objects that are alike.
  • Describing similarities and differences among objects.
  • Sorting objects into groups by a given feature (the same color, the same shape) or by class (animals, cars, buildings). Discuss why the groups of objects are the same.
  • Encourage your child to use a daily math assignment book.
  • Follow the progress your child is making in math. Check with your child daily about his homework.
  • If you don't understand your child's math assignments, engage in frequent communication with his or her teacher.
  • If your child is experiencing problems in math, contact the teacher to learn whether he or she is working at grade level and what can be done at home to help improve academic progress.
  • Request that your child's teacher schedule after-school math tutoring session if your child really needs help.
  • Advocate with the principal for the use of research-based peer tutoring programs for math. These tutoring programs have proven results, and students really enjoy them.
  • Use household chores as opportunities for reinforcing math learning such as cooking and repair activities.
  • Try to be aware of how your child is being taught math, and don't teach strategies and shortcuts that conflict with the approach the teacher is using. Check in with the teacher and ask what you can do to help. Ask the teacher about online resources that you can use with your child at home.
  • At the beginning of the year, ask your child's teacher for a list of suggestions that will enable you to help your child with math homework.
  • Set out a number of groups of objects e.g. a cup of paper clips, a pile of books. Ask the children to estimate/guess how many paper clips in the cup. Have them write down their estimation, the actual number and whether the guess was too many, too little etc. The children can also estimate measurements (length, volume, capacity), as well as quantity.
  • Each child works individually or they could work with a partner. Get them to make up 4 or 6 teams for their favorite sport (one which has results in double or triple figures, e.g. basketball.) They could use real teams. Work on round 1. Get the kids to work out which teams are playing each other. Then they roll 2 die to find out the scores. They times, add or read the numbers together. Now they should know who has won the games of round 1. They write up a ladder, the top team being the team, which won with the highest score. List the winning teams in order and then the losing teams in order of score. They also list games won and lost and their score next to the teams. Now it's round 2! Work out who is playing whom. Work out the scores and who won. Now adjust the ladder. Add the scores to their old scores. Add up how many games they've won and adjust the ladder accordingly. Of course, if 2 teams have won the same amount of games, the team with the highest points is higher on the ladder. Keep going for as many rounds as you like, or until all teams have played each other. Then have finals and a grand final!
  • Choose a child to be 'on'. They then go and stand behind another child's chair. Then you call out a times table question e.g. 2 x 5. The child who is 'on' and the child in the chair have to shout out the answer to the question as quickly as they can. Who ever wins can move onto another child. The losing child sits down/stays seated. You can keep a tally of how many chairs a particular child can get round without having to sit down.
  • It is a competition between the children and you. You ask quite hard Math questions (which can cover a variety of topics/concepts and be suitable for the children's age/ability). If the children get the answer right, they get one point. If they get it wrong, you get a point. The first to score 5 points gets a permanent point on a scoreboard.
  • The strategy works well when children are sitting together in a group. You should ask the children a question (based on the subject / topic being studied at the time). When the children have an answer, they should indicate this to you by nodding their head. When the children have an answer, you should choose one of the children to say their answer. When the child has stated his/her answer, you should call out "Thumb Up! Thumbs Down!" The rest of the children should put their thumb UP if they think the answer is correct, and their thumb DOWN if they think it is incorrect. If the answer is correct, congratulate the child and quickly fire another question at the children. If it is incorrect, ask another child for their answer (repeat until the correct answer is found), and again ask another question. You could of course, stop after the answer has been given, to explain or discuss the question/answer with the children. Once the children are used to this questioning technique, you can begin to speed up the process. They will enjoy the faster pace of the questioning, as it requires them to quickly recall facts and information, or use mental strategies to work out the answer.
  • The children stand in a line and answer differentiated multiplication questions. They sit down when they have answered a question correctly. The last person standing has to do a forfeit. Forfeits can include being your slave for the morning, helping to tidy the house or anything silly.
  • Make a mat from 20 A4 pages joined together with the numbers 1-20 clearly written on them (I placed them in 4 rows of 5). The children are then told instructions such as " Put your left foot on the answer of 3 add 5" and so on just like the game Twister! Repeat until the child has 2 feet and hands on the numbers. I got the rest of the children to do "Thumbs up and thumbs down" if the child's answers were correct (Also helps children learn their right from their left!).
  • Set up 2 teams put a box at the other end of the room and mark a line about 2-3 meters (yards?) away. Choose a member of team A to stand on the line. The child must underarm a fluffy toy/teddy bear/frog/duster into the box. If the child gets it in, his/her team asks them an easy question, e.g. 3x2. If they get it right they win a point for their team. BUT, if they missed the box, the other team asks them a 'hard' question, e.g. 7x9. If they get it right they win the point. Then it is the other team's turn for a shot. Choose a member to have a turn. Go back and forth until all children have had a turn.
  • Ask your children to stand up. Pick 2 children and ask a times table question (or a Math question based on the topic you are teaching at that time). Whoever gets the question wrong, sits down. If they answer correctly, they stay standing. Keep going around until only one child is left standing. This person is the Math Champion!
  • Make simple patterns of a person on cream and brown colored paper. Reproduce it four times. Make paper doll clothes (shirts, shorts, pants, boots, etc.) to fit the people. Put outfits in sets of four. On each piece of the four-piece outfit write one each of the facts in a family (i.e. 2+4=6, 4+2=6, 6-2=4, 6-4=2). Make as many "sets" of math fact clothes as you desire. Lay all the clothes on the table. Children have to find the clothes that dress his or her person in a complete math fact family. You can check the child's first outfit and then the child is free to put together another correct math fact family outfit.
  • For the mental math part of your lesson instead of chanting numbers or the times table why not have a conga line? For example, call out: '5 times 5 is' and the children call '25'. It is a lot of fun and I have found that children learn their times tables easier. This activity can be changed for addition and subtraction, and adapted to suit your objective. Note that it is wise to set your ground rules first and you will find children respond because they want to do it.
  • Put about 6 chairs on the carpet. Ask the children a question, if they get it right they can sit on one of the chairs. When the chairs are full, children must ask another child if they can have their chair. It encourages manners, and sharing as well as getting the children thinking about Math - they want to get the answer right so that they can sit on those chairs!!!
  • 'Stay Standing' is a game, which could be played with any age group and to reinforce any mental agility strategy. I use it with finding fractions of whole numbers. These are printed on cards and displayed in front of two players at a time. The game begins with one child standing behind his neighbor who is seated. The first child to answer correctly (1/5 of 75, 1/3 of 66 etc) stands behind the next child and so on until he is beaten and has to sit down in the place of the child who beat him. His score can be the target to beat for that day.
  • Visit your child's school. Meet with your child's teacher to see if your child is actively involved in math. Find out how you can help your child to better understand math problems.
  • Set high standards for your child in math. Make sure your child is mathematically challenged and encourage his or her interest and pursuit of math. By the end of the 10th grade, your child should be expected to have studied algebra and geometry.
  • Help children see that math is very much a part of everyday life. From statistics in sports to the sale price of clothing, from the calories in food to the amount of gas needed to travel from one city to another, math is important to us every day. Help your child make these connections to math.
  • Point out that many jobs require math. From the scientist to the doctor, from the plant manager to the newspaper salesman, from the computer programmer to the hardware store owner, many jobs require a strong foundation in math. Help your child see that math leads to many exciting career opportunities.
  • Stimulate your child's interest in technology. Encourage your child to use calculators and computers to further learning.
  • Play games that help children develop decision-making and mental math skills. There are many games sold commercially, such as board games, which involve patterns and probability. Play games from your own family traditions such as counting games and games that keep score. Try schoolyard games such as jump rope, hopscotch, and jacks. Games require children to use strategies to make decisions, solve problems, and develop an understanding about numbers and how to use them (number sense) and computational skills.
  • Positive attitudes about math will reinforce encouragement. Your feelings will have an impact on how your children think about math and themselves as mathematicians. Positive attitudes about math are important in encouraging your child to think mathematically.
  • Children will be expected to know their math facts: Children will be learning their math facts with an understanding of how facts relate to each other.
  • Children will be doing more than arithmetic: Children will be seeing that math is much more than arithmetic (knowing the facts and number operations); it involves estimation, geometry, probability, statistics, and more.
  • Children will be striving to achieve high goals: Children will be achieving high standards of understanding, complexity, and accuracy set for them by their parents, teachers, schools, and states.
  • Children will be actively involved in the study of mathematics: Children will be doing tasks that involve investigations. They will be talking and writing explanations for their thinking.
  • Children will be working with one another: Children will be collaborating to make discoveries, draw conclusions, and discuss math.
  • Children will be evaluated in a variety of ways: Teachers will use many different ways to determine if children know and understand math concepts. Some of these will include writing samples, projects, or written tests. Not all evaluations will be the same for every classroom or every child.
  • Children will be using calculators to solve problems: They will be using calculators not as crutches but as tools to solve more complex problems with bigger numbers than they could do otherwise. Children with good knowledge of math facts, number sense, and reasoning about math will be able to use the calculator most effectively.
  • Children will be using computers: They will be developing databases, spreadsheets and computer graphics, while solving problems.