Fun Ways to Introduce Math to Your Children

Is this a familiar scene? You are sitting at the kitchen table, helping your child with homework, and struggling to help him memorize math facts and formulas. Learning feels like a chore instead of a joy.

While 80 percent of traditional mathematics teaching relies on drilling and memorization, it can also be boring, frustrating and discouraging for children. Parents can help to make math fun and approachable by linking it to real-world examples.

Memorization of math facts and formulas is an important part of math instruction. In order for children to really understand even basic math facts, they must discover them in the world around them.

Encourage your children to learn the value of math by using fun games and activities to help them apply what they’ve learned. The following are some examples recommended by Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels:

• Play popular board games that require basic math skills. Chutes and Ladders® and RackO® develop number sense. “24” and Yahtzee® help computation speed and accuracy. Problem solving skills are developed through games like TriOminos® and Connect Four®.

• A deck of cards can be a valuable math tool. Card games begin to teach the lesson of probability. Using a deck of cards is also a great way to reinforce addition and subtraction memorization for children learning basic math facts.

• Relate math to your child’s favorite sport. Ask her to calculate the number of points needed for her favorite team to win. Encourage her to create multiple point combinations to reach that score.

• Use driving time as math game time. Invite children to figure out how long it will take to get to your destination or estimate how much it will cost to fill up the gas tank.

• Dominoes are a great game for children of all ages. Smaller children can use them to organize similar quantities, while older children can explore the concepts of probability.

Find more suggestions for enjoyable educational programs and activities for parents and children by visiting the “Parent Resources” area of www.SylvanLearning.com.

Sylvan offers programs to help your student become a math star. Learn more about our Math Tutoring and Math Edge programs.

For more educational resources for children in grades pre-K through 12, please visit www.SylvanLearning.com, call (888) 789-7958, or like us on Facebook.

Susie Hill is the Director at the Snellville Sylvan Learning, the leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels. With 30 years of experience and more than 900 centers located throughout North America, Sylvan’s proven process and personalized methods have inspired more than 2 million students to discover the joy of learning. Sylvan’s trained and Sylvan-certified personal instructors provide individual instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and test-prep for college entrance and state exams. Sylvan helps transform kids into inspired learners with the skills to do better in school and the confidence to do better in everything else. Visit www.DrRickBlog.com to share your personal academic experiences and comment on academic trends. For more information, call 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit www.SylvanLearning.com.