Talking Math With Your Kids #tmwyk
There are countless ways to promote numeracy in your everyday interactions with your child!
Your first stops for resources should be (1) TalkingMathWithKids.com, which is host to ideas as well as a store for books, blocks and tiles, and stickers. (2) YouCubed.org, from Stanford math education professor Jo Boaler StrategiesEstimate, Estimate, Estimate!
About how many minutes until we get home? About how many steps until we reach Driscoll? About how many cans of soda are in that giant display? About how many people are in the restaurant? Estimate and reason about quantities, framed with "about how many" questions. This will help students develop number sense, and deemphasize always using a procedure to get the "right answer." Use Mathematical Language at Home Describe the world around us! Describe quantitative characteristics like number, shape and patterns the way you would colors and textures. Celebrate Good Questions More than Good Answers Children generate fascinating questions! Talk about what your child notices and wonders more than the answer. Make Connections to Math in Everyday Life As you are measuring ingredients to bake cookies, weighing fruit at the grocery store, estimating the cost of gas as you pump, or counting out items in groups, involve your child. Find ways to incorporate math into your regular conversations. Speak Positively About Math Use math vocabulary when appropriate (e.g. "oh, that puzzle piece doesn't fit? What will happen if we rotate it?") and never say you weren't good at math or that it makes you anxious (even if you weren't successful as a student). It is okay to admit that a problem looks "tricky" or "challenging." Instead of modeling how to give up, model how to tackle it: say that you can figure out the problem together, and employ some of the strategies above (e.g. making connections, using a model, etc.). Make Connections to Math in Everyday Life... and ESTIMATE! As you are measuring ingredients to bake cookies, weighing fruit at the grocery store, estimating the cost of gas as you pump, or counting out items in groups, involve your child! Find ways to incorporate math into your regular conversations. In particular, show how you estimate and reason about quantities. This will help students develop number sense, and deemphasize always using a procedure to get the "right answer." -J. Laib, 2016 |
ArticlesTitle, author
published in the Sept 2016 edition of The Boston Globe Online Resources#tmwyk
This twitter hashtag stands for "Talking Math With Your Kid." People post examples of math talk and developing mathematical thinking. Talking Math With Kids.com This website, by author and math educator Christopher Danielson, is host to countless ideas! BooksWhich One Doesn't Belong?: A Shapes Book
by Christopher Danielson (Amazon) "Every colorful page of Christopher Danielson s children's picture book, Which One Doesn t Belong?, contains a thoughtfully designed set of four shapes. Each of the shapes can be a correct answer to the question Which one doesn t belong? Because all their answers are right answers, students naturally shift their focus to justifications and arguments based on the shapes geometric properties." Interested in continuing the conversation about ways to engage your child mathematically at home? Talk to Jenna Laib, math specialist, or your child's classroom teacher! |