Helping your Child Learn Math

with activities for children
aged 5 through 13

By Patsy F. Kanter

Foreword

     "Why?"

     This is the question we parents are always trying to answer. It's good that children ask questions: that's the best way to learn. All children have two wonderful resources for learning--imagination and curiosity. As a parent, you can awaken your children to the joy of learning by encouraging their imagination and curiosity.

     Helping Your Child Learn Math is one in a series of books on different education topics intended to help you make the most of your child's natural curiosity. Teaching and learning are not mysteries that can only happen in school. They also happen when parents and children do simple things together.

     For instance, you and your child can: sort socks on laundry day--sorting is a major function in math and science; cook a meal together--cooking involves not only math and science but good health as well; tell and read each other stories--storytelling is the basis for reading and writing (and a story about the past is also history); or play a game of hopscotch together--playing physical games will help your child learn to count and start on a road to lifelong fitness.

     By doing things together, you will show that learning is fun and important. You will be encouraging your child to study, learn, and stay in school.

     All of the books in this series tie in with the National Education Goals set by the President and the Governors. The goals state that, by the year 2000: every child will start school ready to learn; at least 90 percent of all students will graduate from high school; each American student will leave the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades demonstrating competence in core subjects; U.S. students will be first in the world in math and science achievement; every American adult will be literate, will have the skills necessary to compete in a global economy, and will be able to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship; and American schools will be liberated from drugs and violence so they can focus on learning.

     This book is a way for you to help meet these goals. It will give you a short rundown on facts, but the biggest part of the book is made up of simple, fun activities for you and your child to do together. Your child may even beg you to do them. At the end of the book is a list of resources, so you can continue the fun.

Contents

Introduction

The Basics

Important Things To Know

Math in the Home

     Picture Puzzle
     More or Less
     Problem Solvers
     Card Smarts
     Fill It Up
     Haft Full, Haft Empty
     Name that Coin
     Money Match
     Money's Worth
     In the News
     Look It Up
     Newspaper Search
     Treasure Hunt
     Family Portrait

Mathland: The Grocery Store

     Get Ready
     Scan It
     Weighing In
     Get into Shapes
     Check Out
     It's in the Bag
     Put It Away

Math on the Go

     Number Search
     License Plates
     Total It
     How Long? How Far?
     Guess If You Can

Appendices

     Parents and the Schools
     What Should I Expect from a Math Program?
     Resources

Acknowledgments