As a parent, you can help your child want to learn in a way no one else
can. That desire to learn is a key to your child’s success, and, of course,
enjoyment is an important motivator for learning.
As you choose
activities to use with your child, remember that helping him to learn
doesn’t mean that you can’t laugh and have a good time. In fact, you
can teach your child a lot through play. And you can play with and
make games out of almost any math skill or concept. I hope that you
and your child enjoy these activities and that they inspire you to think
of additional activities of your own.
Mathematics in the Home
Your home is a great place for you to begin to
explore and “talk” mathematics with your
child. Incorporating math activities and
language into familiar daily routines will show
your child how math works in his everyday
life and provide him with a safe environment
in which to take risks by trying new things.
So let's look at some home ways to make child familiar with mathematics as a newbie.
Number Hunt
By counting, using number names and learning to recognize differences in
number values, children build a foundation for the development of
number sense and mathematical reasoning.
What You Need
★ 3 plastic eggs that come apart (or similar containers)
★ Buttons
★ Plastic netting
What to Do
★ In pieces of netting, loosely wrap different
numbers of buttons and place one bag of
buttons in each egg. With your child out
of the room, hide the eggs.
★ Call your child into the room and tell
her that you’ve hidden three eggs and
that you want her to find them. As she finds
each egg, have her count aloud—“1,” “2,” “3.”
★ When she’s found all the eggs, have her open each one and take out
the bag of buttons (but not open it). Ask her to count how many
buttons are in each bag.
Find It
Preschool–Kindergarten
Young children may not recognize that numbers are all around them.
Pointing out numbers on everyday items increases their number sense.
What You Need
★ Boxes, cans and bottles of food and other
household supplies
What to Do
★ Place several boxes, cans and bottles on the
kitchen table. You might use a cereal box, a can of soup and a bottle
of dishwashing soap. Sit with your child and point out one or two
numbers on each item. (Numbers can be found in the names of
some products, as well as in the list of contents and in addresses.
However, rather than pointing to a very large number, such as a ZIP
code, point to one digit in that code—a 6 or 3 or 8.)
★ Point to one of the items and say a number that is easy to see. Ask
your child to find it. Then have him look for that number on the
other items.
★ Have your child choose a number for you to find on one of the
containers.
Shape Up
Preschool–Kindergarten
Using objects that are familiar to young children can be a good way to
introduce them to differences in shapes and to classification.
What You Need
★ Snack crackers in the shape of circles, squares, triangles
★ Bread cut into different shapes
What to Do
Here are some simple things that you can do to focus your child’s
attention on different shapes:
★ Fill a bowl with snack crackers in
shapes such as circles, triangles and
squares. Point to a cracker and say,
for example, “Look, this one’s round.
This one has three sides. See, 1-2-3.
This one has four sides. Let’s count
them—1-2-3-4.”
Place a circular
cracker on the table and ask your child to find other crackers that
have the same shape. Continue with the other shapes.
★ As you make sandwiches, cut the bread into circles, squares and
triangles so that you have two each of each shape. Ask your child to
match the pairs of shapes to make Shape Sandwiches.
★ Have your child search for and point out different shapes on his
clothes or in the room.
Sort It Out
Preschool–Kindergarten
Sorting and matching activities introduce young children to many mathematical operations, including classification and measurement.
What You Need
★ Pairs of socks of different sizes and colors
★ Laundry
What to Do
★ When you’re sorting and folding clean laundry, have your child join
you and do such things as the following:
—Hold up a pair of matching socks that belong to her and say, for
example, “These socks go together because each sock is red and
each one fits the same size foot—yours!”
—Pick up another sock and ask your child to look through the pile
for the sock that matches it. When she chooses a sock, have her
tell you how she knows that it’s the right one.
—Continue holding up socks until your child has paired them all. If
she mispairs any socks, gently correct her by asking her to tell the
color of each sock and to put the socks together to see if they are
the same size.
—After you’ve done this activity several times, let your child choose
the socks for you to pair. (Occasionally choose a wrong sock to
give her the chance to help you correct your mistake!)
★ Have your child help you sort the laundry to be washed. Ask her, for
example, to put all the blue things together, all the whites, all the
towels and so forth. You might also have her count as she sorts.
How
many towels are there?
How many shirts? Try saying, “I count five
shirts. Is that right?”
Then have your child count aloud the number of
shirts.
From time to time, give an incorrect number so that she can
count the items one by one and show you that you’ve made a mistake.
I believe this article is helpful and in the next chapter I will be talking about some easy home calculations you can engage your child in other to be very familiar with mathematics.