Encourage your child to have a love for Math. There are so many things that can be utilized to spark the mathematician in your child. The following tips can help your child learn many math concepts.
Give your child many opportunities to count:
1. During various day to day activities count! For example: count steps, count the number of signs on the road, count the number of dishes, etc.
2. Utilize the calendar. Count the days until an upcoming event.
3. If you are shopping, count the number of items or have your child count the amount of money you need to pay for the items.
4. Have your child give out an equal amount of something to each family member. For example: Each person in the family gets two cookies for dessert.
Give your child opportunities to identify shapes and sizes:
1. While at the store, ask your child to find items that are triangles, circles, squares, etc.
2. Have your child help organize a household item by small, medium, and large.
3. Tell your child the name of a shape and they have to find an item that matches your description.
Find ways to organize and collect information:
1. Look around the house for groups of objects such as groups of 2, 3, 5, 10 etc.
2. Have your child help you sort clothes by color.
3. Use a ruler or measuring tape to measure things around the house.
4. Use different color paper and have your child make a pattern with colors.
5. Collect objects outside such as leaves, rocks, shells, etc. Sort them by size, type, or color.
Help your child use reasoning skills:
1. Use a lot of patterning and repetition it helps a child to develop mathematical thinking. For example: clapping patterns, movement patterns, or shape patterns.
2. Help your child think about sets. For example: collect a group of objects; would they belong together?
Great family games that incorporate math skills:
1. Card games
2. Dice games and dominos help your child learn to recognize groups of dots from 2 – 12.
3. Board games that involve counting squares, such as Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, and Trouble.
The more creativity you use with math concepts the more your child will be interested. Spark their curiosity, challenge their brain. In the end you will see the sense of accomplishment and pride on their face.