Help Your Child


                                                       Learn Math



ÒAmerican children must be ready to learn from the first day of 

school.  And of course, preparing children for school is a historic 

responsibility of parents.Ó


President George Bush



Your child probably loves games.  Puzzles, too.  ThatÕs why itÕs helpful to 

connect the games and puzzles played at home with the math taught in school. 



You can help make Òthe math connectionÓ so that your child will find it easier to 

learn and like math.



What to do?



The Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) believes the most 

important thing you can do is to reinforce the math lessons your child receives 

in school.  You neednÕt be a teacher or a mathematical genius.  Just use the 

ÒhelpingÓ strategies described in this leaflet.



These strategies are best for helping first-, second-, and third graders, but they 

may be useful also for an older child who has difficulty with math.



Math is learned naturally by the inventive, curious mind.  Pre-schoolers are 

easy and confident with numbers.  They love to count and use counting a 

number of ways.  By the time they enter kindergarten, they have many practical-

-but informal--math skills.  For example:



¥	They can deal comfortably with situations requiring an idea of what is 

largest, smallest, tallest, longest, inside, outside, closest, farthest, and the 

like.

¥	They can do simple addition and subtraction by counting and looking at 

actual objects--apples, pencils, books, etc.

¥	They can estimate proportions for groups of objects--for example, they can 

tell that a group of 10 marbles is closer in size to a group of 12 marbles than 

a group of 12 is closer to 20.

¥	They can correctly count to 10 and beyond and many can count to 14 or 

more.


However, they do not have an adultÕs understanding of what numbers mean, 

and they are easily distracted by irrelevant detail.  So donÕt be surprised if a 

preschooler fails to see that the number of marbles in a row doesnÕt increase 

when the row is spread out...or decrease when the marbles are crowded 

together.



Essentials


Three things are essential for a child to learn math and all three are things you 

can help reinforce.



Understanding.  The child must understand the steps involved in working and 

solving a math problem.  If the childÕs ability to solve problems is based solely 

on memorization without understanding, the ability wonÕt carry over from one 

problem to another.



Practice.  This means practicing the base skills--addition, subtraction, 

multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals--so that the child can learn and 

remember them and then use them correctly.



Seeing Patterns.  Children need to see patterns and regularity in math and 

ways of organizing mathematical information.  Math builds and extends simple 

ideas into more general concepts.



Good problem-solvers have certain things in common:  They are quick to 

understand the important features of a problem; they approach a problem with 

confidence, and they can transfer their learning from one problem to another.  

When they get an answer to a problem, they know whether the answer is 

reasonable because they estimate well.





Counting



Counting is a mixed blessing.  ItÕs essential for learning addition and 

subtraction.  It becomes a detriment only for children who rely on it too heavily--

especially, on fingercounting--so that they never adopt more efficient ways of 

doing math.  (For one thing, they are slower than other students and canÕt work 

as many problems.)



What is counting?  ItÕs not just reciting a string of numbers.  It includes such 

things as matching objects and arriving at totals.  Research has identified six 

stages that a child must go through in counting, beginning with rote-counting 

(1,2,3,4, etc.) and becoming progressively more sophisticated (for example, 

counting up 7 from 44 to 51 or counting back 3 from 12 to get 9).  Following this, 

the child is ready for open addition problem such as 13 + ? = 19.



To help your child develop confidence in counting, use concrete objects and 

examples.  Drop 5 marbles in a jar and have the child count as you drop 

additional marbles in the jar:  6, 7, 8, 9, etc.  Use rhymes and songs like the one 

that begins ÒOne, two buckle my shoe...Ó



If the child has trouble keeping mental tally when counting from one number to 

another, suggest reciting the first number in a soft voice and the next numbers in 

a progressively louder voice.



Use familiar, repetitious situations to reinforce counting.,  Encourage the child to 

count with the secondhand as it sweeps around the clock.  Count the dishes on 

the table.  Count the number of cookies in a box...the bikes in a bike rack...the 

leaves on a plant.



Have the child touch each object as it is counted.  Arrange the objects in various 

positions--in lines, in rows, in circles, and randomly.  This will assist the childÕs 

understanding of numbers.




Estimating & Measuring



Estimation is one of the cornerstones of math.  It can enrich counting, 

measurement, and problem-solving abilities.  A child who can make a good 

estimate of the answer to a problem clearly understands the problem.  Children 

who can estimate are able to reject unreasonable answers and know when they 

are Òin the ballpark.Ó



Despite the importance of estimation, few schools stress it.  Those schools that 

use estimation in teaching arithmetic generally donÕt introduce it soon enough.  

Yet even children in kindergarten can correctly estimate relative sizes and 

proportions.



You can help your child develop estimation skills by helping him/her practice 

rounding numbers to the nearest 1, 10, 100.  This is a strategic step in acquiring 

this skill.



Practice estimation with your child.  ÒHow many marbles do you think are in the 

jar?Ó  ÒWho is taller, your father or mother?Ó  ÒWhich is wider--the door or the 

table?Ó



Measurement is another essential, and many children are weak in this area.  

You can help your child with measurement by making comparisons.



Ask if the child has Òtoo muchÓ or Òtoo littleÓ of something and if an object is Òtoo 

shortÓ or Òtoo long.Ó  A typical comparison might be:  ÒWhich will require more 

paper to cover, the bulletin board or the door?Ó



Help your child practice measuring things that are longer than the measuring 

instrument--such as a meter stick.  Include measurements that involve fractions 

other than one-half.



Make a floor plan of your house or apartment with your childÕs help.  Have the 

child take the measurements with a tape measure while you write down the 

dimensions.  



Time is among the things to be measured.  Discuss time with your child rather 

than Òtelling time.Ó



ÒIt takes Mother 45 minutes to get to work.  When should she leave the house to 

get to the office by 9:00?   When should she leave the office in order to get 

home by 6:30?Ó



Age is another measurement.  Ask how old the child is in months...weeks...  

days...hours...minutes.  (Many experts suggest practicing exercises of this kind 

with a calculator.)



Correcting Mistakes



Find out what kinds of mistakes your child makes in arithmetic.  Use an 

arithmetic book to find easier problems of the same type, and have the child 

rework those problems.  Make sure your child understands a simpler problem 

before going to a more difficult one.



Ask the child to describe how to work a problem, step-by-step.  Doing this may 

help the child to identify the error.  While the child is doing this, look for patterns 

in errors because one misunderstanding may cause others like it.



If a child consistently makes a subtraction error (25-16=19) and you are not sure 

whether this is from carelessness or lack of understanding, use objects to work 

with the child.  Place 25 marbles in a jar and ask the child to remove 16.  Make 

sure that the child checks the subtraction with addition (19+16=?)



If your child has difficulty with word problems, remind your child to concentrate 

on the information that is essential to solving the problem.  Sometimes a 

problem includes irrelevant information that confuses the child.



DoÕs and DonÕtÕs



Do ask your childÕs teacher about the kinds of help that you as a parent can 

provide.  Your role is to reinforce and help your child practice the things taught 

at school.


Do encourage a child to restate what a mathematical word problem is all about-

-the information it gives and the information it asks for.  Putting it in the childÕs 

own words will help clarify it.


Do make sure that ÒhomeÓ math has a noticeable problem-solving flavor.  It 

should contain a challenge or question that must be answered.  (ÒHow many 

nickels do you have in your bank?  How many do you need to buy an ice cream 

cone?Ó)


Do use objects that your child can touch, handle, and move.  Researchers call 

these things Òmanipulatives.Ó  They can be any familiar objects such as soft toys, 

blocks, marbles, drinking straws, fruit, etc.


Do reward your child with praise for the correct answers.  This helps build the 

childÕs confidence in problem-solving.


DonÕt tell your child that some people are Òno goodÓ in math.  Never tell your 

child you are Òno goodÓ in math, no matter how low your opinion is of your own 

skills!


DonÕt think that girls aren't as good in math as boys.



OERIÕs learning strategies are helping many parents help their children learn 

math.  We hope they will be helpful to you and your child.


ÒThe single most important predictor of a childÕs educational 

achievement...is parental involvement.Ó  

Lauro F. Cavazos, Secretary of Education



This material is taken from the pamphlet Help Your Child Learn Math prepared 

by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.  U.S. Department of 

Education, Washington, D.C.  20208.