Helping your child learn math.

"Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you that mine are still greater."
- Albert Einstein

Everyone struggles with math, whether learning the multiplication tables or trying to figure out how to stretch the monthly income to pay bills. Some find mathematics easier than others, just as some find spelling easier. Some use mathematics extensively in their work, just as some make more use of hammers. Everyone, though, uses mathematics daily, and limited math proficiency leads to limited success with the daily challenges of our society. As Sutton has said, "one of the most significant things parents can do is to help their children understand the normalcy and the value of struggle in mathematics" (1998, p.9).

WHAT ARE CHILDREN LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS?
Math programs reflect five general goals: (1) that all students learn to value math, (2) that students become confident in their own abilities to do math, (3) that they learn to solve mathematical problems, (4) that they learn to communicate mathematically, and (5) that they learn to reason mathematically.

Students must learn basic math skills and concepts. Schools give increased attention to connections and applications of math to the workplace and the demands of daily life. Today, children learn that mathematics is a tool that can help them understand the world around them.

HOW CAN PARENTS HELP?
Research shows that the level of parent involvement in a child's education is strongly related to the degree of success in school (Henderson & Berla, 1994). "Families play a vital role in educating children. What families do is more important to student success than whether they are rich or poor, whether parents have finished high school or not, or whether children are in elementary, junior high, or high school" (Robinson, in Paulu, 1995).

SET THE EXAMPLE.
One of the most important ways parents can help a child in math is by exhibiting attitudes and values supportive of learning.

• Accept the struggle as a normal part of doing math, just as you accept the struggle to become better in sports. Help uncover difficulties, and offer suggestions for overcoming them.
• Encourage Mastery. Just as it is important to repeat fundamentals again and again in sports until performed automatically, it is important to see practice in mathematics as developing mastery, not a chore or form of punishment.
• Help focus on understanding and being able to identify specific difficulties.

HELP CHILDREN SEE THE MATH AROUND THEM.
Help children recognize the use of math around them in daily life, and engage them in games and activities that foster familiarity with numbers and mathematical thinking. A guide, "Helping Your Child Learn Math," is available online at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/index.html. The guide suggests many activities that parents can do with children at home, at the grocery store, or in transit. The activities generally make use of playing cards, coins, containers, or other simple materials around the house. Here are some other ideas that the guide offers:

• Wrong answers can help!
• Be patient; incorrect answers tell you that you need to look further, ask questions, and figure out what you do not understand.
• Sometimes a wrong answer is the result of misunderstanding the question.
• Ask your child to explain how they solved a problem; responses may clarify whether help is needed with a procedure, the "facts" are wrong, or a crucial concept is not understood.
• You may learn something that the teacher would find helpful. A short note or telephone call will alert the teacher to possible ways of helping your child.
• Help your children become risk takers. Help them examine wrong answers, and assure them that right answers come with understanding.
• Problems can be solved in different ways. Though a problem may have only one correct solution, there are often many ways to get the right answer.
• Doing math in your head is important. Increased use of calculators and computers makes it increasingly important that people be able to determine whether an answer is reasonable.

PROVIDE A PLACE AND RESOURCES TO STUDY.
Provide children with convenient, quiet, and comfortable work areas, along with whatever resources are needed to study math and complete assignments. Encourage the use of reference materials (such as dictionaries and encyclopedias), and provide a computer and calculator if possible. The computer has become a common and essential tool in learning many school subjects, particularly mathematics and science. You and your children can use the computer to:

• Produce reports and assignments using word-processing programs, spreadsheets, and other software.
• Find information from reference materials on CD-ROMS. Many are typically available from public libraries.
• Use commercial software packages that teach math skills in interesting and enjoyable ways.
• Access the abundant math and homework resources and assistance freely available on the Internet.

For help in selecting mathematics software, seek recommendations from one or more of the many websites that provide software reviews. The Educational Software Review page at the SuperKids website (see http://www.superkids.com) provides monthly features, annual software awards, an index of all software reviewed, and pertinent articles.

HELP WITH HOMEWORK.
Teachers assign homework for a variety of reasons: to help students review what has been learned; to help them prepare for the next class session; to extend student exploration of topics more fully than class time permits; or to help students gain skill in self-directed learning and using resources such as libraries and reference materials. Parents can help children get the most out of homework by:

• Encouraging them to take notes about homework assignments when they are given.
• Limiting after-school activities to allow time for homework and family activities.
• Planning a homework schedule with each child that allows some free time when assignments are completed.
• Monitoring television viewing and other potential distractions.
• Doing some problems or questions together with a child when he or she asks for help.
• Staying nearby-reading, writing, studying or catching up on paperwork.
• Checking completed assignments, and reviewing homework that has been marked and returned.

GOOD MATH SITES ON THE NET
www.aplusmath.com
www.counton.org/games/
www.kidsdomain.com/games/
www.primarygames.com