Ms. Hydro's First Grade Smile

Math Tips

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Most families have a full schedule, and it can be hard to find time for that extra focus we want to have on math. Hopefully these suggestions will make it easier to find ways to work a little math fun into everyday family activities and keep it from becoming a chore.

 

 Math Fluency

"Educators and cognitive scientists agree that the ability to recall basic math facts fluently is necessary for students to attain higher-order math skills."  Research Foundation & Evidence of Effectiveness for FASTT Math 

 

 Give your child plenty of opportunities to count and measure

  • Read a recipe and have your child measure the amounts for the ingredients.  Use different measures such as teaspoons, cups, and pints.
  • Use a calendar to find the number of days until an upcoming event, ask how many Mondays are there in this month.  Try using the school’s activities or menu calendar (high interest & it pertains to them)…after all lunch is one of their favorite parts of the school day.  ;)
  • Find creative ways to measure:  how many paper clips long is this sheet of paper?  How many hands high is the dog?

Find ways to practice number operations

  • Pick a number between 1 and 20 (or between any 2 numbers up to 100).  Have your child guess the number, then you tell if your number was greater than or less than his guess.  Have your child keep revising his guess until he guesses your number.  Then trade roles.  This is great for long car rides or wait-time at a restaurant!
  • Practice skip-counting by twos, fives and tens.  The more comfortable your child is at doing this, the easier it will be for them to master counting money and telling time.

Find ways to collect and organize information

  • Read weather charts, movie schedules, and other common numerical information you find in the news.

Some family games that use math skills:

  • Dice, cards, and board games can help your child learn addition combinations.  
  • The card game “War” helps kids recognize which number is greater and which is less.
  • Yahtzee (practices adding, multiplication & strategizing)
  • Checkers (strategizing)
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