How Parents Can Help Their Child with Mathematics
School is not the only place children learn math concepts and skills!
Math can be fun and young children enjoy solving math problems. They begin solving mathematical situations long before they come to school. They use real objects that can be manipulated to develop understanding of numbers as they learn to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Once understanding with real objects occurs, they naturally move to paper and pencil practice and memorization of basic facts. Parents and teachers can provide the encouragement for children to apply their knowledge to more challenging problems.
It is important to encourage your children to think of themselves as mathematicians who can reason and solve problems. Calculators and computers are used in school and have changed the way math is taught, but these machines are tools just like pencil and paper. A calculator can compute, but it cannot think. Therefore, parents and teachers must help our children to become thinkers and to recognize which answers are reasonable and which are outrageously large or small.
A positive attitude about math is also important if our children are to be successful. Encourage your child to be a good mathematician. Don't share your math phobias. Children use this as an excuse to not succeed.
Most parents will agree that it is a wonderful experience to cuddle up with their child and a good book, but how many of us would say the same thing about flash cards or pages of math problems? For that reason, we have included math activities which you and your child can easily do as you go about your normal daily activities. These activities will help your child explore relationships, solve problems, and recognize that math is an important - and enjoyable - part of our daily lives. We have also included the quarterly skills that will be taught in each grade level.
- Quarterly math challenge K-5
excerpts from Bakersfield City School District - Education Center, Kern County Superintendent of Schools.