Role of Parents in Promoting Math Skills

You can help your child to learn math’s skills by playing simple games around the house. Everyday situations offer opportunities for exploring mathematics.
1. Enhance your child’s mind with challenging mathematical questions

Parents should ask their children interesting questions to develop their mathematical skills, for e.g. you could ask the child to count “How many are taxis passing by”, “How many one rupee coins you require make 100 rupees”. “If there is one pastry and there are four people to share it, how would share it?”

 
2. Play games with your child:

Simple board games like snakes and ladders give your child a chance to develop math’s skills. Chess and Checkers help develop visual thinking and strategy skills.
3. Play a lot of sorting games:

While doing your laundry ask your child to sort the clothes by ways of colour, size and texture.
4. Food could be used to cultivate mathematical interest:

 Cut sandwiches in different shapes e.g. circles, triangles, squares, etc. Talk about the shapes as you eat them. Biscuits could also be used.
5. Weight watching:

At the grocery shop estimate the weights of different vegetables and fruits. Compare the weight of all your family members. This will help in teaching the concept of more and less.
6. Travel time:

Bring maths into the family for e.g. time taken to travel to a particular destination, number of taxis passing by, number of red cars, etc.
7. Make graphs with your child:

Construct a bar graph showing how many bowls of rice each family member consumes in one month. Drawing a line graph indicating the amount of money in piggy bank. Create a pie graph showing how the cricketer has scored his runs, be it square leg, silly point, etc.
8. Family Finance:

 Let your child open up a small bank account where he operates his account. He can check his balance; make deposits, withdrawal, etc. Do the following above activities with your child. It is not the right answers that are important but it is the process. The new way of doing maths is what counts. Participate in all the games with a playful spirit.
How to tell whether your child needs extra help with maths.

If you feel that your child needs extra help with maths, you could talk to your child’s teacher. A teacher sees a child in various situations and can compare him with other Children. The teacher is in a good position to notice any problem.

Early warnings of a math problem

1. He forgets numbers.
2. Gets troubled working with numbers.
3. Has trouble distinguishing left from right?
4. Finds trouble identifying shapes, even after much training.
If your child is having any problem with math, it does not necessarily mean he has a learning disability. It could be possible that he is being pushed too much before he is  developmentally ready. Consult his class teacher who may suggest that more maths practice should be done at home or that you talk to a learning specialist.

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