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                                                  Help Your Child


                                                       Learn Math



╥American 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.╙


President George Bush



Your child probably loves games.  Puzzles, too.  That╒s why it╒s helpful to

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



You can help make ╥the math connection╙ 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 needn╒t be a teacher or a mathematical genius.  Just use the

╥helping╙ 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:



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

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

like.

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

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

Ñ    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.

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

more.


However, they do not have an adult╒s understanding of what numbers mean,

and they are easily distracted by irrelevant detail.  So don╒t be surprised if a

preschooler fails to see that the number of marbles in a row doesn╒t 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 child╒s ability to solve problems is based solely

on memorization without understanding, the ability won╒t 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.  It╒s 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 can╒t work

as many problems.)



What is counting?  It╒s 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 ╥One, two buckle my shoe...╙



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 child╒s

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 ╥in the ballpark.╙



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

use estimation in teaching arithmetic generally don╒t 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.  ╥How many marbles do you think are in the

jar?╙  ╥Who is taller, your father or mother?╙  ╥Which is wider--the door or the

table?╙



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 ╥too much╙ or ╥too little╙ of something and if an object is ╥too

short╙ or ╥too long.╙  A typical comparison might be:  ╥Which will require more

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



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 child╒s 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 ╥telling time.╙



╥It 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?╙



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.



Do╒s and Don╒t╒s



Do ask your child╒s 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 child╒s

own words will help clarify it.


Do make sure that ╥home╙ math has a noticeable problem-solving flavor.  It

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

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

cone?╙)


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

these things ╥manipulatives.╙  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

child╒s confidence in problem-solving.


Don╒t tell your child that some people are ╥no good╙ in math.  Never tell your

child you are ╥no good╙ in math, no matter how low your opinion is of your own

skills!


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



OERI╒s learning strategies are helping many parents help their children learn

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


╥The single most important predictor of a child╒s educational

achievement...is parental involvement.╙

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.