At-Home Math Practice

Practice 5-10 minutes a day in a fun, upbeat manner works best. Frequency of practice is more important than the quantity.

Addition and Subtraction

NOTE: Addition and subtraction facts can be taught together. This helps students see how these two operations are related.

• Practice with just one fact on a given day. For example, several times in the morning, repeat together "11 subtract 4 equals 7." Then suggest to your child that the same number sentence be repeated whenever possible all day long. In the evening, with a SMILE, ask your child several times again. Repeat the fact of the day in different voices (low, high, rumbling, etc). If your child has particular trouble with a fact, take several days to practice that fact. Review learned facts to ensure they are remembered.
• Practice "fact families" for understanding the relationship between addition & subtraction. For example, 6 + 2 = 8, 2 + 6 = 8, 8 - 2 = 6, 8 - 6 = 2. This is particularly helpful if your child has mastered addition but is finding subtraction difficult.
• Look at an addition/subtraction table and cross out all the facts that are already known. Also cross out those shown twice but in a different order (e.g. 3 + 5, 5 + 3). If you look at what is left to be learned, it doesn't look quite so difficult.
• Teach your child to use known facts to find unknown.
• Use double. If your child knows 3 + 3 but not 3 + 4, point out that 3 + 4 is just one more than 3 + 3.
• Use the closest fact your child knows. If your child doesn't know 9 - 4, does s/he know to just add one to 8 - 4.
• Use flash cards, but with caution. Students should not make "wild guesses." if certain facts are causing a problem, teach them using the fact-a-day approach. Then add that fact back in the deck for review and increasing speed. Put aside facts your child knows. Put ones missed back in the pack. Be aware that pressurized fact practice using only flash cards day after day can cause frustration. Use other methods as well. Remember to make cards with facts going both horizontally and vertically. Children need to learn them both ways.
• For the facts 0-6, play a dice game in which you roll two dice and add or subtract the two numbers. Octagonal dice go 0-9 and can be helpful for facts 0-9. Or use dominoes similarly. Take turns and keep a tally.
• Do mental arithmetic as you are driving to after school activities. Ask your child how s/he figured out the answer. Encourage multiple strategies.
• Play "Top It." Shuffle flash cards which have facts your child is learning. Deal all cards out face up. In turn, each player takes off his/her top card and places it in the middle, giving the answer. The player with the highest answer takes all the cards. (On a different day, change that rule and have the lowest answer be the winner.) If any answers tie, tied players draw another card and answer to break the tie.
• Have your child drill you some facts. Deliberately get some wrong, and see if your child can find you out.
• Some children enjoy using a software package that provides drill, Many allow you to customize the specific facts your child works on.
• Try using a variety of materials for practice, to add a new twist to the practice. Your child might like to answer with magnetic numbers on the fridge, by writing with chalk on the sidewalk, etc.
• Play "Tic-Fact-Toe" by using a tic-tac-toe board with the answers to problems that your child has been working on. Take turns drawing cards with the problems. Cover the correct answer with a marker. The first with a complete row covered wins.
• Play commercial and card games that require addition and subtraction, e.g. Twenty-One, Sorry, Knock/Knock, etc.

Computation Procedures

• Be aware that there are other ways to learn basic procedures besides the ways we were traditionally taught. They are used around the world and work perfectly well. Some children may need another approach. Or you may need to break the task down by breaking the numbers apart. (e.g. When we add 14 + 16 we can make a 10 by adding the 4 + 6, then 10 + 10 = 20, so we have 10 + 20 = 30)
• The Math Trailblazers Program introduces and reinforces the use of a number of strategies for addition and subtraction. The ultimate goals are understanding and memorization. (Learn more about Math Trailblazers from the Kendall Hunt Publishing Company).
• Teach your child to check his/her own work by using the reverse operation.
• Let your child check his/her own work using a calculator.
• Teach your child to estimate to see if his/her answer makes sense. e.g. If the problem is 52 + 48, the answer should be around 100, because 50 + 50 = 100. Also, relate numbers to money whenever appropriate, .50 + .50 = $1.00.

Counting Money & Making Change

• Counting money and understanding how we write money are important skills. A firm understanding of money also helps many children when it comes time to work with decimals.
• Begin with only pennies and nickels and work up to dimes, quarters, and dollars. Practice trading 10 pennies for one dime, etc.
• Let your child make small purchases with cash. Ask him/her to decide how much money is needed to pay for the purchase. Giving a child a weekly allowance also helps give needed practice counting real money.
• Teach your child to "count up" in order to check that the change they have received is correct. For example, if your child receives .15 change after giving a quarter to buy a .10 item, s/he should say "10 cents plus a nickel makes 15 cents plus a dime makes 25 cents.
• There are some board games that deal with money, such as the Allowance Game.

Telling Time

• If your child is just learning to tell time, put an analog clock (the old-fashioned type!) next to the digital clock. Have your child look at and read both clocks several times a day.
• Practice counting by 5's when your child is just learning to read the minutes.
• Children can be confused when the hour hand is between two numbers. (For example, when it is twelve thirty, the short hand is between the twelve and one.) Teach your child that if the hand is between numbers it is called twelve thirty because the hour hand has gone past the twelve, not the one.

Estimating

• Teach your child to estimate rather than do exact computation when appropriate. Estimating is an essential life skill, and it will help your child's computation. By estimating, your child will be able to tell if an answer "seems right." If you're checking homework problems, ask your child if the answer seems about right and how they know this.
• Estimate real quantities and measurements, for example, when figuring how many pieces of fruit to buy if everyone eats at least one piece a day.
• Problem Solving Using Word Problems: (check out this web site for challenging problems: www.eduplace.com/math/brain
• Ask your child to make up and solve word problems related to what you are doing. For example, when baking, the problem might be, if we doubled the recipe, how much flour would we need?
• Write a "problem of the day" on a piece of paper in an interesting location each day for your child to find (on the mirror, in the fridge). Encourage your child to tell you how s/he might solve the problem.