Keeping Math Skills Sharp
By Frances Nankin, Executive Producer/Editorial Director, Cyberchase
Your child is at risk over the summer months of losing the skills she has developed during the year in math — and the risk is greater for losing math skills than reading skills. Help your child overcome the summer slump in math. Here are some fun things you can do to avoid this summer slump and give your child a leg up on math for the fall.
Money, Money, Money!
Kids are always on the lookout for ways to earn money during the summer months. Hone your child's math skills by helping her set a goal for the total amount she wants to earn and make a chart or graph to track weekly progress. Encouraging your child to budget an amount for saving as well as spending is another way to engage her with money math.
How Far? How Many? How Much?
As a parent, you probably get asked these questions often, but how often do you turn them back to your child and share a brief math moment? If you say, "About how far (how many, how much) do you think it is?" and then suggest ways to estimate, you can help your child recognize those times when an answer that is "close enough" is actually "good enough!" Estimation (or making an informed guess) is a useful math tool any time a precise answer isn’t necessary to solve a problem.
Going to the Game? Guess My Player!
Number puzzles are a fun summer pastime, and you can make them up on the spot at a ball game. Take turns picking a player’s number and making up clues to see if the other person can figure out who it is. For example: “My player’s number is an even number. It is more than 10, less than 15, and is a multiple of 3.”
Get Active!
Summer is a great time to help kids develop good habits around physical exercise. Help your child choose a type of exercise she enjoys (swimming, riding bikes, hiking), and then set performance goals — bike or hike a certain distance in a given amount of time or swim a set number of laps — to try to reach by the end of summer. The trick to success is to agree on an exercise schedule and use a chart or graph to keep track of progress after each session. Keeping track helps your child measure progress, keeps her motivated, and even helps her predict how long it will take to reach her goals.
The Waiting Game: What’s My Rule?
Everyone spends time waiting, whether it’s at the doctor’s office, in line at the supermarket, or sitting hungry at a restaurant. Before your child gets cranky, try this fun, simple math game that helps build algebraic thinking skills while beating the boredom! Player A picks a number between 0 and 10 and says it out loud. Player B silently picks a secret rule (plus 3, for example, or minus 2), applies the rule to the number, and says the new number out loud. Keeping that new number in mind, player A says another number, player B silently applies the same rule, and gives player A the new number. The play continues until player A has enough information to guess the rule.
What has your family done this summer to avoid the summer slump? Share your tips with other ParentLife readers by leaving a comment!
Cyberchase offers fun episodes, web games, and hands-on activities and events and free, fun resources to strengthen children’s math skills over the summer. Visit Cyberchase online at www.pbskidsgo.org/cyberchase or on Facebook to access sneak peeks at the new episodes, fan events, exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, photos, and more related to the Cyberchase Summer Challenge. Watch Cyberchase on your local PBS Station.
