Helping Your Child Learn Math Fayetteville Elementary School November 17, 2011

Helping Your Child
Learn Math
Fayetteville Elementary School
November 17, 2011
Why is math important?
• At home
– We use math in many ways – from cooking
meals and making repairs to checking the
weather forecast so we’ll know what to
wear.
• At work
– Math is used in almost every job – from
counting change to designing machines.
• At play
– Math is used in lots of fun ways – from
solving puzzles to keeping score.
Parents can help children
succeed in math.
• Have a positive attitude about math – even if
you didn’t like it in school. Children need to
feel good about math. If you say, “I hated
math” or “I can’t do math,” your child may
start to feel the same way.
• Point out examples of how people use math in
daily life.
• Show interest in your child’s math homework
– and be on hand to help. (Try not to worry
about your math skills – you probably know
more than you think.
• Encourage activities that make math
interesting and fun!
Put out the welcome mat
for math!
• Have these on hand in your home:
– Games
• Board games, dice, cards, bingo, dominoes,
etc., can help children learn math while
having fun.
– Toys
• Construction sets, blocks, puzzles and other
toys can help younger children explore
shapes, area and volume.
• Have these on hand in your home:
– Small objects
• Children in primary grades can sort, count,
stack or arrange these by shapes. Some
objects they can use are:
–
–
–
–
–
Buttons
Coins
Checkers
Dried beans
Toothpicks.
These objects can also help older children
solve math problems.
– A ruler and tape measure
• Let your child have fun measuring familiar
objects.
• Have these on hand in your home:
– A calculator
• Your child can use it for solving more
complex math problems. An inexpensive
model is usually fine.
• Read the instructions together and try out
the functions. If sample problems are given,
practice them to get comfortable with the
calculator.
– A computer
• Your child can use it to access math Web
sites on the internet, and to use math
software to learn math skills. If you don’t
have a computer at home, visit the local
library where access is available.
Math Websites
http://www.coolmath4kids.com
Cool math 4 kids is a math site specially designed for what kids like and how they learn! Math really CAN
be fun and really CAN be easy to learn. There are lots of lessons and games on the site(s) to make math
fun!
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
"The Web's most extensive mathematics resource" will help you remember all the algebra, geometry,
trig, statistics, calculus, and diffie-Q that you left behind years ago! And you'll probably learn a lot you
never knew along the way.
http://www.multiplication.com
This site contains the techniques, tips, and secrets used by master teachers!
http://www.mathcats.com/index.html#contents
Math Cats is a land of creative, open-ended, math explorations.
http://ww.harcourtschool.com/activity/that_a_fact/english_K_3.html
Math website to practice math facts.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
A wonderful collection of virtual manipulatives that span grade levels from Pre-K to 12 and cover numbers
& operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis and probability.
School teaches math in new
ways.
• Using hands-on experience
– such as drawing pictures to “see the problem or
moving cubes that represent numbers.
• Estimating
– making an “educated guess.” Estimation is used
more than any other math skill in daily life.
• Using probability and statistics
– gathering and interpreting numbers to predict
the chances that something will happen. For
example:
• How many days will it rain this month?
• What are your favorite team’s chances of making the
playoffs?
• Measuring
– using different ways to measure all
sorts of things, such as:
• an object’s height, weight, volume or area
• time
• temperature.
• Applying logic
– using reason to figure out a way to solve
a problem.
• Understanding patterns
– recognizing, describing and figuring out
what comes next in a sequence of
objects or numbers.
• Exploring shapes
– Learning about circles, ovals, squares,
triangles, spheres and other shapes.
The magic of math is
everywhere!
•
•
•
•
•
In the store
While managing money
In sports
In the kitchen
In the car
Some test-taking tips
• Remind your child to:
– Bring supplies.
• Having his or her own supplies can make your
child feel more relaxed. (#2 pencils)
– Follow directions.
• Tell your child to listen carefully to the teacher
before the test begins. Your child also needs to
read all directions on the test itself.
– Write neatly.
• Sloppy work can lower test scores. Tell your
child to fill in circles completely.
– Keep an eye on the clock.
• To complete the entire test, your child will
need to budget his or her time. If there’s
time at the end, your child should check his
or her answers.
– Avoid getting stuck on any one
question.
• Your child can mark that question and go
back to it later. Remind your child to leave
a blank space for it on the answer sheet.
– Tell your child it’s OK to guess if they
do not know an answer.
3rd and 4th grade tests dates:
• February 23rd
– Spring Math Benchmark Test
• April 10th and 11th
– ARMT+ Reading
• April 12th and 13th
– ARMT+ Math