Be positive and help your child develop confidence in math

The 5 keys to unlock math understanding:

1. Conceptual Understanding: Students need to be able to see that math makes sense and connects to the real world; that is learning to think through big mathematical ideas. Math activities to do with your child:
Play games and do puzzles. (eg. Crazy Eights, Cribbage, Yahtzee, Dominos and board games with dice) Count everyday items, like buttons, pennies or shells. Sort these objects into groups or collections. Do building projects that require accurate measuring. Create patterns with blocks like Lego or Tinker Toys and beads, chains and necklaces. Use or draw simple maps. Make maps of your house or neighbourhood, or find a friends house on a street map. Drill basic math facts every day. Cook or bake together. Allow them to measure or count the ingredients. Read number books together. When out grocery shopping, compare prices and volumes, calculate change and weigh bulk items. Use language like less, most, lightest, heaviest. If your child has a bank account, count money to deposit and check the balance. Model math by doing everyday mental math out loud. When planning a party, ask your child to count, sort and organize party items. When planning a trip, work out distances, time and costs.

2. Procedural Fluency: Students need to use math skills quickly, automatically and efficiently. 3. Strategic Competence: Students need to demonstrate their abilities to solve problems in creative and varied ways. 4. Adaptive Reasoning: Students need to reason, think and talk about math. 5. Productive Disposition: Students need to be confident, positive and creative with their math work.

Strategies to Solve Math Problems

Guess and check Use a list, chart or table Work backward Model using objects Identify patterns Role play Simplify the original problem

Opportunities:
When setting the table, count, match and order items needed. Look for and read numbers in your everyday environment. Regularly measure your childs height and chart their growth. Use clocks and calendars to plan events and schedules. Talk about fractions when they arise (ie. half a cake).

Estimating Fun
Cost - What could you buy with your allowance? Volume - How m any glasses of water will fill this bowl? Length/width - How much paper to wrap a gift? Weight - How much does your pumpkin weigh. Height - How tall is your Dad or Mom? Area - How many pennies will it take to cover a book? Time - How long will it take to clean your room or get ready for school?

Be Positive
Students need to feel that they can do math,
even when its hard. Encourage their curiosity and creative solutions. Use phrases like Good thinking or That was a good thought

Tell me how you know that? How did you get that answer? Is there another way to solve this?

Ask your child

10 Math Habits
As part of Math 44, students are learning math using the following 10 habits: 1. I explore and investigate math ideas.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7 . Exploring math ideas and investigating problems using concrete materials helps with understanding. I connect new math ideas to what I already know. Connecting to other math concepts helps with understanding (i.e. relating addition to multiplication). I figure out the big ideas in math. Understanding big ideas helps students learn new concepts. An example of a big idea is that patterns repeat. This helps students see the patterns in multiplication. I do computations quickly and accurately. Quick recall of basic facts improves students ability to do more complex math. I make reasonable estimates. The ability to make reasonable estimates enables students to produce approximate answers to self-monitor and is a valuable life skill. I use mental math. Doing math in their heads helps students to develop an understanding of numbers, solve problems and be flexible thinkers. I make sense of problems. Extracting the important information helps students to choose the most appropriate strategies for solving a particular problem.

9. I explain and give reasons for my math thinking. Thinking and talking about math concepts and ideas helps increase understanding and personal connections to what has been learned. 10. I work hard at math. Students need to be curious, confident and persistent with new math experiences. Students need to feel that they can do math, even when its hard.

M AT H AT H O M E

Math Resources
If you would like to have more details about the information presented here, your childs teacher is your best resource. Check the following books and web sites or more information to help you assist your child with Math: A Familys Guide Fostering Your Childs Success in Mathematics (NCTM ISBN 0 -87353-577-4) www.discoveryschool.com www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/math/index www.nea.org/parents/math www.kidsource.com www.mathforum.org www.math.com www.camberwellps.vic.edu.au www.illuminations.nctm.org www.nctm.org/families www.figurethis.org This booklet is a cooperative project of the Parent Advisory Council, the School Planning Council and the Educators at Eastview Elementary School in North Vancouver, B.C. 2006

Tips for Parents Student Success using the

10 Math Habits

8. I use a variety of strategies to solve problems. Flexible use of problem solving strategies improves the students likelihood of success. *