Ideas for Maths at Home
(from Ministry of Education)
Talk together and have fun with numbers and patterns
Help your child to:
- find and connect numbers around your home and neighbourhood
- name the number that is 10 more or 10 less than before or after a number up to 100
- make patterns when counting in groups (skip counting) forwards and backwards, starting with different numbers (eg 13, 23, 33, 43…, …43, 33, 23, 13)
- try making different types of patterns by drumming, clapping, stamping, dancing or drawing patterns that repeat
- find out the ages of family or whānau members
- do addition and subtraction problems in their heads using facts to 20 eg 10 + 4, 15 – 7
- use groups of 10 that add to 100 eg 50 + 50, 30 + 70.
Here's a tip - being positive about mathematics is really important for your child’s learning – even if you didn’t enjoy it or do well at it yourself at school.
Use easy, everyday activities
Involve your child in:
- telling the time – o’clock, ½ past, ¼ to
- learning their 2, 5 and 10 times tables
- repeating and remembering telephone numbers they use a lot
- reading and sharing a book. Ask them questions about numbers in the story – use the number of pages as a way to practise number facts, too
- doing a shape and number search when you are reading a book or looking at art (like carvings and sculpture)
- helping at the supermarket – ask your child to get specific items (medium-sized tin of red beans, 2 litres of milk, 250g of mince).
Here's a tip - talk a lot to your child while you are doing things together. Use the language that works best for you and your child.
For wet afternoons/school holidays/weekends
Get together with your child and:
- play games – board games, card games and do jigsaw puzzles
- make your own advertising pamphlet – cut out and sort images to go on it, make pretend money to spend
- grow seeds or sprouts – measure the growth each week
- fold and cut out paper dolls and other repeating shapes
- trace over repeating patterns (eg kōwhaiwhai patterns)
- go on a treasure hunt – make a map with clues and see who can get to the treasure first
- dance to music and sing/clap to favourite songs – make up a dance sequence each – can you copy each other?
- both take turns closing your eyes and describing how to get from the front gate to the kitchen, from the kitchen to their bedroom, from home to school
- do timed activities. You hold the watch and they count how many times they can bounce a ball in a minute
- play guess and check games (use different shaped jars) – how many beans, buttons, pegs in the container?
Here's a tip - the way your child is learning to solve mathematics problems may be different to when you were at school. Get them to show you how they do it and support them in their learning.