Helping Your Child Prepare for the State Test Part 3: The Math Problem

Now we shall embark on math. I waited to discuss math strategies until last because, as a Literacy Coach, and brief Common Core Fellow in ELA, math is not my strongest academic area to teach, or should I say “preach.” However, like ELA, there are many wonderful strategies you can employ at home to help build your child’s skills and confidence in math.

1. Get professional help

It is very important to reach out and communicate with your child’s teacher with what they need help with in math, as well as what work is priority at this grade level, and understanding the fluencies they must have. Math builds across grade levels, so it is important to know if what your child didn’t master last year will effect learning this year, or next. If your child doesn’t understand a math concept, and you have been unable to help, advocate for your child, and ask your child’s teacher for help and support with these “gap” skills.

2. Practice makes perfect

There are certain skills that your child needs to be fluent in. This means that they need to know the answers quickly and precisely in order to continue on with more difficult work. These skills include adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. Unfortunately, in many cases, rote memorization of these basic building blocks of mathematics may be necessary. Interactive online games and smart phone/tablet apps can help make such work enjoyable. Some great ones suggested on www.engageny.org are:

http://resources.oswego.org/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html

http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/granny-prix

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/addition/diaperadd.html

http://pinterest.com/mikefisher821/math-apps-for-the-ipad/

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk/

Also suggested:

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivitySearch.aspx

http://www.ixl.com/math/grades

3. When will I ever use math in real life?

Live as an example to your child, pointing out all instances in their day-to-day life where you use math. Use estimation in the grocery store to add up what the bill will be. Getting change from the grocery store, ask them to estimate how much you are owed back. At dinner, the possibilities are endless. “We have 21 nuggets for the three of you. How many do you each get? How do you know? What did you do to find that answer?” “If we have a fork and knife out for each person, and there are 7 people eating tonight, how many do we need in all? What if we add spoons for soup? How did you get that answer?”  Use fractions while eating pie or pizza, or dividing up cookies as snacks. Using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in daily life will give meaning to math, as well as provide practice for fluency.

4. Explain, please

Another key shift in math this year is to not only find the solution, but also explain how they came to the conclusion. The explanation can be as simple as “I counted how many there were in all,” but the ability to express their strategy is vital. Push your child, while doing homework, to know and understand the work. Ask questions while reviewing the homework to see whether your child understands and can express how and why they came to the answer. This will lead to a deeper understanding of all math facts.

 There are many great parental resources on the Internet, especially at http://engageny.org/parent-and-family-resources#toolkit. Have fun playing the math games online, and make everyday math fun, and your child will learn to love math!