Sunday, September 22, 2019

Providence St. Mel Parent Enrichment Workshop, Saturday, October 12, 2019

Parent Resources for Encouraging and Enriching Math at Home

from Ways a Parent Can Help with Math


Websites and Readings for Parents



Strength in Numbers | National Numeracy Challenge helps adults learn the math needed for everyday life. A good place to start if you yourself are not comfortable with math.

High School Math Review Tutorials Problems - a free resource with examples, problems, explantions and exercises.  Parents can use these free resources and problems to help your child learn math.

Maths activities for children | Family Maths Toolkit has collections of activities for age ranges 3-13. Topics include: around the house, math and money, games, out and about, books and TV. From UK.

Prekindergarten Mathematics Family Newsletters | EngageNY

Maths Genie - 1-9 GCSE Specification Revision  British page with links to videos explaining all the major mathematics topics from grades 1-9. There are some language differences, but helpful nevertheless. More British videos, lessons, and exercises here: The Maths Teacher










Technology

ONLINE


Here's an example of an app that's available online from NCTM. It's pitched at grades 3-8, but I wouldn't hesitate to share this with much younger children--it provides an exploration of algebraic thinking about equations using a balance scale:

Pan Balance – Shapes

Here's a screenshot:




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you remember LOGO or Turtle Geometry from the early days of home computing, you'll like Turtle Pond. This introduces children as young as pre-K to rudimentary coding.

I also like Pick-a-Path (one of my favorites--plays fanfare for correct solutions! Suitable, at the higher levels, for grades 3 and up), Isometric Drawing ToolTessellation Creator.



Several good online games are available at PBS Kids Odd Squad Games. In particular, I liked "Down the Tubes." The underlying math includes number stuff (different sums to make a particular target length of tube) and geometric transformations (turns and flips). The levels build slowly, but eventually get mathematically interesting. The graphics are sufficiently eye-catching so your child will have the patience to continue to a challenging level.

MOBILE DEVICES

NOT free:

DragonBox - Discover the game of Math 

The game claims it "secretly teaches algebra," which is true, but I think there are advantages to having a parent or teacher ask the occasional question or suggest recording what is happening in the game on paper so the algebra can be made more explicit. A good description of the game variations can be found here: DRAGONBOX ALGEBRA - The game that secretly teaches algebra.







Get both:  DB Advanced Math Pack on the App Store $9.99 and worth it. 

Mystery Math Museum  $3.99 on iTunes.  (It has occasionally been offered at no charge. I was lucky that way!)  My granddaughter asks to return to this one. I'll show you why I like it enough to spend $ on it.


Greater Gator on the App Store $.99 Currently (as of Sept. 22, 2019)

Math Puzzles - Room 703

Math Puzzles - Room 703
              

Math Puzzles - Room 703




*Links to free mobile device versions of pick-a-path, equivalent fractions, and others from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics here.

Big Seed is one of my favorites. It develops visual-spatial skills as you flip shapes to cover the presented puzzle. I find it much more challenging than my granddaughter does!


LetsTans Classic presents an outline to fill in, the seven tangram pieces in rich colors, and a mechanism (tapping a piece) for rotating. Many puzzles and many play options. I think this is the winner in the category. 
$ .99. iPad and iPhone. 
There are variations: Classic 2, Contours, Kids ("for the youngest solvers only"), and Silhouette (challenging! the shape you must create is NOT presented at the full size) are available as separate downloads.

Khan Academy Free.

GeoGebra on the App Store  Free. Dynamic geometry and algebra.



Collections












Games







Maths bingo (mobile app)


Everyday Activities




Cooking helps counting!

Act like an architect: Draw your bedroom | GreatKids




Math and Literature

mathmarsha blog: Math and Literature: Books and Suggestions/Links for How to Use Them

Math and Children's Literature -- a GREAT resource!

Math Read-aloud Books

List of recommended titles

Fruit fractions | GreatKids

Good Books for Problem-Posing Extensions


BOOKS


Please, read stories written by me and illustrated by my granddaughter. They have been "published" online by the website freekidsbooks.org.

A Fractionated Fairytale – A maths lesson story

Steps of Wonder – Advanced Maths Story

Yes, That’s My Mother! – Maths stories for elementary school

And one more available on this blog:

Not Your Average Halloween



Stuart J Murphy has written a plethora of easy readers for young children that address math topics. I'm not wildly enthusiastic about them, but they do contain pages of activities and games for parents to use to go beyond the stories. His website has free pdfs.

A popular title is:


Math Curse hardcover about $10 from amazon; also a video on amazon prime, "free" for subscribers.
















How to access Math Expressions online:  start here and follow the directions for your child's grade level book and resources.


Holidays and Seasonal





Pumpkin Math Estimates (grades 8 or 9)

Halloween Math Worksheets, Exercises for Preschool, Kindergarten, First to Sixth Grades

Christmas Math Worksheets, Exercises for Preschool, Kindergarten, First to Sixth Grades

Note: Alway open and look over each page before sharing with your child. When I checked the links on Sept. 22, 2019 the ads on some of the pages were for underwear!



Skill Practice

























Problem Solving and Puzzles















Links verified on September 22, 2019.