Math Resources
Tips to keep your child up to speed in first grade math...........
*Toss a handful of items (cereal, noodles, nuts, teddy grahams, beads, etc.) in front of your child, and have him or her guess how many without counting-then count to see how close. Keep a ziploc bag of beads in your purse to play with for those times you are kept waiting at a store, office, etc.
*Find double digit numbers in a magazine or newspaper and ask your child to count backward or forward.
*Make addition and subtraction flashcards; see how many your child can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Eventually decrease the time to 1.5 minutes, and then 1 minute to pick up speed.
*Use snack items to create growing patterns. For example, 1 cheerio-2 fruit loops, 1 cheerio-3 fruit loops, 1 cheerio, 4 fruit loops.....and so on-great to do with the sugar packets while waiting at restaurants.
*Put some double digit numbers in a bag and let your child pick one out. Ask her to tell you 10 more or 10 less than that number. Keep the bag with you for when you have an extra few minutes while waiting in the drive-thru.
*Put any number of items out on the table to begin with (start with 10). Have your child close his or her eyes while you take some away and hide them in your hand. Can he guess how many you took away? Work up to using 20 to begin with. This is a great way to increase number sense and whole to part.
*Waiting in the dentist/doctor office? Have your child find examples of flat shapes-squares, rectangles, triangles (any size), pentagons (5 sides), octagons (8 sides) and 3-dimensional shapes-cubes, cones, cylinders, pyramids, spheres, rectangular prisms.
*Toss a handful of items (cereal, noodles, nuts, teddy grahams, beads, etc.) in front of your child, and have him or her guess how many without counting-then count to see how close. Keep a ziploc bag of beads in your purse to play with for those times you are kept waiting at a store, office, etc.
*Find double digit numbers in a magazine or newspaper and ask your child to count backward or forward.
*Make addition and subtraction flashcards; see how many your child can answer correctly in 2 minutes. Eventually decrease the time to 1.5 minutes, and then 1 minute to pick up speed.
*Use snack items to create growing patterns. For example, 1 cheerio-2 fruit loops, 1 cheerio-3 fruit loops, 1 cheerio, 4 fruit loops.....and so on-great to do with the sugar packets while waiting at restaurants.
*Put some double digit numbers in a bag and let your child pick one out. Ask her to tell you 10 more or 10 less than that number. Keep the bag with you for when you have an extra few minutes while waiting in the drive-thru.
*Put any number of items out on the table to begin with (start with 10). Have your child close his or her eyes while you take some away and hide them in your hand. Can he guess how many you took away? Work up to using 20 to begin with. This is a great way to increase number sense and whole to part.
*Waiting in the dentist/doctor office? Have your child find examples of flat shapes-squares, rectangles, triangles (any size), pentagons (5 sides), octagons (8 sides) and 3-dimensional shapes-cubes, cones, cylinders, pyramids, spheres, rectangular prisms.