While young children are often able to apply mathematical concepts to everyday activities, elementary-age children often find math to be too abstract to understand fully. Your child might make simple arithmetic errors, or she might not understand the reason for regrouping or how long division really works. Even if you do not consider yourself a math wiz, you can help your child learn math by working with her at home and by supporting her teacher's math instruction.
Step 1
Start introducing math terms when your child is at around 3 years of age. Nearly every 3-year-old knows that if he has two cookies, but his sister has three, he needs one more to make it fair. Take the opportunity to verbalize the problem: "You only have two cookies. I will give you one more so that you have three. Two plus one equals three." He might not understand the terms at this point, but they will be familiar to him by the time he needs to use them in kindergarten.
Step 2
Play math games with your child. Games such as Heigh Ho Cherry-O and Chutes and Ladders encourage counting in young children. As she grows, add in games like Yahtzee and Monopoly, which can improve multiplication, adding and logic skills. Children of all ages often enjoy the card game War, which teaches kids to compare numbers quickly.
Step 3
Show your child how you use math in the home and while running errands, suggests Math.com. Explain that you are using 2/3 cup of sugar instead of 1/3 because you are doubling the recipe. Let her see you balancing your checkbook or checking your banking balance online. When you have several errands to run, show her how much cash you have at the beginning of your trip, and keep a running tally as you pay for postage stamps, the dry cleaning and fresh bread. Challenge her to add up the price of the groceries as you put them in the carriage to see how close her estimate is to the actual total.
Step 4
Contact your child's teacher to see how you can help. This is especially important in middle school and beyond, explains the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Find out which math classes are available, and what curriculum the school uses. Find out what grading system the teacher uses, and how you will be alerted if your child is struggling. If your child has a hard time understanding a mathematical concept, it might affect his math performance in the future, so find out what special help is available.
Step 5
Give your child an allowance, suggests the Credit Union National Association. Being able to hold her own money allows a child to learn addition, subtraction and budgeting. Decide ahead of time how much money you will give your child each week, and what she will be responsible for paying for.
Tips and Warnings
- If your child is in middle school or high school, her guidance counselor will be able to help choose what type of math classes she should take. Involve yourself in this decision to make sure that your child is well-prepared for the future.
