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U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Educational Research and
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Doing Mathematics With Your Child
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Math is a very important part of life. We use math to set an
alarm
clock, buy groceries, keep score or time at a game, wallpaper a
room, or wrap a present. We all need math in the world of computers
and electronic communication. It is important to encourage children
to think of themselves as mathematicians who can reason and solve
problems.
Here are some things you can do:
- Show your children that you like numbers. Play number games and
think of math problems as puzzles to be solved.
- From the time your child is very young, count everything. When you
empty a grocery bag, count the number of apples. Count the number
of stairs to your home.
- Put things into groups. When you do laundry, separate items of
clothing: all the socks in one pile, shirts in another, and pants
in another. Divide the socks by color and count the number of each.
Draw pictures and graphs of clothes in the laundry: 4 red socks, 10
blue socks, 12 white socks.
- Tell your children that anyone can learn math. Point out numbers in
your child's life: in terms of weight (pounds and ounces),
measurements involving cooking, temperature, and time.
- Help your children do math in their heads with lots of small
numbers. Ask questions: "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?"
Math Activities
Fruit Graph
for young children
- Empty your grocery bag onto the kitchen table or counter and have
your child group the fruits by type: apples, bananas, oranges, etc.
- Have your child count each type of fruit.
- Have your child make a graph with the fruit by putting it in rows
on the table:
Money Match
for beginning mathematicians
- The object of the game is to be the first player to earn a set
amount (for example, 20 or 50 cents).
- Each player rolls the dice and gets the number of pennies of the
number shown on the dice.
- As each player gets 5 pennies, the pennies are replaced by a
nickel, and 10 pennies are replaced by a dime.
- The first player to reach the set amount wins.
List It
for more advanced mathematicians
- Give your child the grocery section of the newspaper.
- Have your child make up a grocery list that will feed the family
for a day and cost a specific amount of budgeted money.
- Have your child add up the prices of all the items.
- If the total for the groceries is too great, talk about what items
could be taken away.
- Talk about the nutritional balance of the items selected. What is
the ratio of sweets to vegetables?
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Credits
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Resources: Information was based on Helping Your Child Learn Math.
For more information, please contact the National Library of
Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20208,
telephone 1-800-424-1616.
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