Concluding our focus on supporting academic areas over the summer, this blog will focus on how to support mathematics. If you missed our previous posts you can find links about how to support academics in general, how to support reading, and how to support writing in fun ways over the summer. This blog will also focus on fun and easy ways to encourage your student to practice and maintain their math skills over the summer. Consistent with our previous blog posts, our goal is to highlight easy and fun tips to add math into your summer schedule.
Math Over the Summer
Incorporate math into everyday activities. Look for ways to add math to what you’re already doing. Cooking? Ask your child to help measure the ingredients. Gardening? Ask your child to help count the plants or calculate how much mulch you will need to cover up the weeds. Grocery shopping? Ask your child to estimate how much the total bill will be. As a bonus, whoever gets closest to the total gets to choose a family treat.
Find Math Outside
Explore math in nature. Take a walk around your neighborhood or into nature. Encourage your child to observe patterns, shapes, and numbers in the natural environment. They could count the number of different types of flowers they spy or identify geometric shapes in leaves or estimate the number of steps it will take to get back home.
Play Math Games
Play board games. Many games include counting moves and involve strategic thinking (e.g., Yahtzee). In addition, games like chess, Sudoku, or even classic games like old maid can help develop logical reasoning and problem solving abilities.
Use math apps and games. There are many apps and online games that make practicing math fun and entertaining. You may have already received a list from your child’s school for summer math practice. If not, or if you are looking for new options, a brief list of online games can be found below.
Prodigy is a free math game that adapts to your child’s level.
Math Playground has a free version that includes math games, logic puzzles, and problem solving activities.
Khan Academy Kids includes math lessons, interactive activities and games.
Practice Math Facts
This could be done within a math app or game. Reviewing and practicing basic math facts that your child has learned can help them complete math problems more easily. You could create or find math flashcards or create 1-minute math worksheets. Below are resources with already created flashcards.
Math-Aids.com offers customizable math flashcards that you can generate and print for free. You can select specific operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) and customize the range of numbers.
K5 Learning provides free printable math flashcards and worksheets covering many different math areas. Materials are categorized by grade level.
Quizlet is a platform for flashcards and study tools. Users create and share flashcards for various topics, such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and more. You can search for specific topics or create your own flashcards.
Encourage Math Curiosity
Encourage curiosity and problem solving. Welcome your child asking questions and exploring different approaches to solve problems. Thinking critically and flexibly is an important skill that translates easily to solving mathematical problems. Helping them explain their reasoning and sharing different approaches to solve problems. For example, if they are baking a cake, they could use four ¼ cups to create 1 cup or use two ½ cups. Either option will result in 1 cup and a delicious treat.
Including some of these math tips into your summer schedule can help support and strengthen your child’s mathematical development in ways that feel fun.
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