Opportunities to explore math with your child pop up everywhere. Going to the grocery store, cooking dinner, or even watching the news together are some of the ways these opportunities present themselves. However, having your child help you in the kitchen not only offers the benefit of an extra pair of hands but also involves math. From measuring and sequencing to estimation and multiplication, the kitchen is a real-life school for kids of all ages. A game called license plate math requires participants to pretend to be spies breaking codes to turn letters into numbers. That’s only one of many ways to drive home math while you’re driving away from home. Other ideas include teaching them about budgeting meal money, calculating the cost of gas, and figuring out distances on maps. The store provides wonderful opportunities to practice estimating cost, creating and sticking to a budget, and using the scale to weigh produce. As your child starts to put their business plan into action, they’ll need some help figuring out proportions, understanding capital investment, and settling on a price that will bring in some profit. Look for opportunities to teach your children about making a budget, rounding to the nearest price, and learning about sales taxes. The begging for the bigger half offers the chance to teach your children about fractions, equal shares, and division with and without remainders. Cleaning up a room is a good time to introduce the concept of estimation as well. For example, they can guess how many toys are piled on the bed or how long it will take to put all the clothing away or strip the sheets. You can also give them a real-life experience of time by setting a timer and challenging them to beat the clock. The subject contains many teachable moments. Explaining the concept of debt as it pertains to borrowing and sharing is one lesson you can share, as is helping your child understand what interest is and how it’s calculated. You can even use stuffed animals or treats as examples of items to lend or borrow to help your child better understand these concepts.
