How We Use Family Math at Home

Photo credit: COFI

How We Use Family Math at Home Have fun. Talk to your child. These are the two things that are the foundation of every piece of this Toolkit. If you can have fun with math and talk to your child about it, you ll be setting them up to be willing to engage with math concepts, to try, explore, and figure out how to solve problems using math. They may not figure it out right away, but they re learning to try and to keep at it. And great news - math is everywhere! Once you start to see it in your life, it ll be easy to have fun and talk to your child about it. We re going to start with math at home, exploring different areas of the house. But don t stop there! Once you get started having fun with math and talking about it, the sky s the limit. You ll find opportunities everywhere. Please make this Toolkit your own. Every family has their own culture, routines, traditions and values. Take the ideas in this Toolkit and adapt them to what works best for you, the children in your life, and your families. Math Concepts There are so many ways to engage with children about math! As we explore math at home, we ll refer to two simple ways to engage with children: through categories, including sorting and comparison, and with number concepts. But these are not the only ways to do math with your child. Find more options through the resources included throughout the Toolkit and in the Appendix. Categories Sorting. Math concepts rely on sorting. We can sort by color, size, shape, type, quantity just to name a few. Talk to your child about items that are the same and different and describe what makes them the same or different.

Comparison. Comparing one item to another is math. That can sound like questions like these: Is that tree taller or shorter than the flowers? Is the car bigger or smaller than the bus? Does the ladybug have more or less legs than the spider? Talking through comparisons helps to develop your child s logical thought, a foundation for math. Cardinality. Cardinality explores how many in all. For example, when counting, the last number said is the total amount. After your child counts a set of objects, ask, How many do you have in all? If they state the total number, that s an understanding of cardinality. Hand gestures can also help your child understand cardinality. Numeral knowledge. Numeral knowledge means seeing a 4 and understanding that means the quantity of four. For example, writing the number 4 and asking, Can you bring me this many of the markers? and your child brings four. Magnitude. Magnitude helps us compare amounts. When children have a good sense of magnitude, they know that 7 is more than 5, and also that 15 is a lot more than 5. We ll give examples throughout this Toolkit of ways to have fun and talk to your child about categories and number concepts. Attitude matters! Children can sense how adults feel about math. The good news is that you don t need the right answer! It s totally fine to simply talk about it. Questions that start with phrases like, I wonder or What would happen if are a great place to start: I wonder how many chairs are at the table? I wonder what would happen if we put one away? Talking with your child about math concepts shows them that it s okay for them to talk about it, too, even if they don t know the answer yet. If we can help

kids understand that math is about thinking, and not just about right answers, they ll be better math learners. Throughout this Toolkit, we offer suggestions for I wonder? questions that you can ask your children and also places where you can write your own I wonder? questions. We encourage you to find the answers alongside your child. Additionally, you could ask the question and your child might not have an answer right away. They might need a few extra seconds, minutes, days or even weeks to answer. And that s great! We all process questions differently and at our own pace. How we feel about math impacts the way we develop our skills in math. I know because my kid, who is now 13 years old, is really good at math. But every times he does an exam, he fails. I didn t know why! We were struggling with that, but now he s feeling more confident. I block when I m in front of the computer; I can t remember anything. He feels the pressure of trying not to fail. And he fails. Now we have a social and emotional learning literacy program. He learned to stay calm, control his emotions, so I m able to help him. We need to find a way to put this two things together. To learn math, you need to learn to manage your own emotions. -Zully We love games! Games are a great way to have fun and talk to your children about math. Games can be as formal as board games or as informal as Who can count to ten the fastest? Games are fun and math is fun! Math is for the whole family Many of the ideas in this Toolkit are aimed toward preschool and early elementary-aged children. But math is for everyone! As children get older, there are plenty of ways to engage with your child about math. The same two rules apply: Have fun, and talk to your child about math. As children get older, that can look like playing games, having older siblings help younger ones with math, or working with your child s school on current math concepts and lessons. Photo credit: COFI

Find Math at Home Kitchen There is so much math in the kitchen! Shapes, counting, fractions and volume, just to name a few. We use math every time we prepare food. Start here with early learners. Have your child help put away the silverware. Ask, Why do the forks go together? Have your child describe the dishes. Why is a bowl different than a plate? Which pot is the biggest? Which pan is the tallest? Then add on! Which pot can hold the most water? Use water to find out. How does ½ cup relate to ⅓ cup to 1 cup? Talk about measurements. Start here with early learners. Practice counting items 1-5. Count items on a plate. You have three carrots on your plate. Ask your child to set the table using numbers. Please place this many plates on the table, and hold up your hand to show five fingers. Then add on! Increase the numbers to include 1-10, then 1-20. Include magnitude. If someone else comes to dinner tonight, how many plates would we need? Are there more pieces of silverware or plates on the table? How are you already doing math in the kitchen with your children? What are some of your I wonder questions to ask your child? For example: I wonder how many carrots you have? I wonder how many you would have if you ate two?

Additional resources for Family Math in the Kitchen: Dishing up the Math: Tasks at Home Can Become Math Time. See how emptying the dishwasher can be a math activity. https://earlymath.erikson.edu/dishing-up-the-math-tasksand-chores-can-become-math-time/ Two Parts Chocolate. This is a cooking and ratios activity. http://s7657.pcdn.co/wpcontent/pdfs/twopartschocolate-2020-04-05.pdf Trail Mix and Munch. Make trail mix, try math riddles. http://s7657.pcdn.co/wpcontent/pdfs/trailmixmunch.pdf I love to bake, it s part of my culture, and baking is a lot of measurement. From a cultural respect, my mom measured nothing! But then what I did with my kids, I did sometimes pulled out the measuring cups. Took the measuring cups for my daughter, taught a lesson on halves, quarters, what makes a whole. Got a whole pitcher of water, explained one cup measuring cup, ⅓ cup, quarter cup, fill it, what made a whole. If she had half a cup, she needed two to make a cup. If a quarter cup, have her explain, how she got a whole. She was able to get the concepts so well to do it hands on, and not just think about it. Physically do it. It made a world of difference. She poured it herself instead of writing it down on a piece of paper. Let people participate in math. -Toyin Photo credit: PBS SoCal

Bathroom The bathroom is a great place for volume, comparison and counting. Start here with early learners. Is the soap bigger or smaller than the washcloth? Is your toothbrush longer or shorter than my toothbrush? Look at how the sink curves. Where else do you see curves? Then add on! I wonder which container can hold the most water? Help me sort towels and washcloths. Why do they go together? Who needs more soap, you or your sister? Why? Start here with early learners. Engage with the numbers 1-5. How many toothbrushes do you see? Here are three squares of toilet paper. Then add on! Increase to include up to 10, then up to 20 and beyond. If I wash two towels, how many will be left? How many fingers are squeaky clean? How many toes? How many all together? You have 30 more seconds in the bath. Let s count backwards together. How are you already doing math in the bathroom with your children? What are some of your I wonder questions to ask your child? For example: I wonder which holds more water: the tub or the sink? Additional resources: Math in the Bath. This article includes ideas for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. https://www.naeyc.org/ourwork/families/math-in-bath

Laundry From sizes to sorting, the laundry is full of math. Start here with early learners. Sort clothes together. Make one pile for lighter clothes and one pile for dark er clothes. Invite your child to pair socks. Then add on! Why are shirts different from pants? Fold a pile of your clothes and fold a pile of Nana s clothes. How do we fold things in half? Into fourths? I wonder whose shirts are the biggest? The smallest? Start here with early learners. Practice counting items 1-5. How many socks are there? I see four pairs of pants. Do you agree? Then add on! I Play with numbers up to 10, 20 and higher. Will you pull out eight socks, please? If you put away seven shirts, how many will be left? How are you already doing math with the laundry with your children? What are some of your I wonder questions to ask your child? For example: I wonder how many of your shirts will fit in this drawer? Additional resources: Let s Wash that Math Right into Laundry Day. Here are some suggestions for how math works with laundry, from preschool through early elementary ages. https://earlymath.erikson.edu/mathtime-lets-wash-math-right-laundry-day/

Wallet Money is math! Start here with early learners. Sort loose change. What shapes go together? What colors go together? Then add on! How tall can you pile the coins? Which is the biggest coin? Which is the smallest? I wonder if we can build a house with coins? Start here with early learners. Practice counting items 1-5. I see two pennies. Will you please hand me this many quarters (with two fingers raised)? Then add on! Increase the numbers and include magnitude. Assign values to the coins: one cent, five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents. How many pennies will you have if I give you three more? How much money will you have if you pay me a quarter? How are you already doing math with money? What are some of your I wonder questions to ask about money? For example: I wonder why coins are circles and bills are rectangles? Photo credit: COFI Additional resources: Funny Money. This is an activity for children K-2 and grades 3-5 using coins. http://s7657.pcdn.co/wpcontent/pdfs/funnymoney.pdf How Many Are Hiding? This is an activity that can use money or any objects and hides a few. http://youngmathematicians.edc.org/how-many-are-hiding/

Music Music, with beats and rhythm, is math for our whole bodies. Start here with early learners. Pick simple songs with a repetitive melody. Sing them together. Dance along! Then add on! Pick more complicated songs, ones with verses and a different chorus. Sing them together. How is the verse different than the chorus? Let s clap for each note of the chorus. Start here with early learners. Practice counting 1-5 using musical instruments. I m going to play three notes. Let s count together. Hit the drum two times. Then add on! Increase the numbers Jump eight times for each note in the chorus. How many times did we clap our hands along with the beat? Seventeen! How are you already doing math with music? What are some of your I wonder questions to ask about music? For example: I wonder why music makes me want to dance? Additional resources: Got Rhythm and Drum Major. Here are two activities that play with music and math. http://s7657.pcdn.co/wpcontent/pdfs/gotrhythm.pdf Dance Patterns. This is an activity that explores patterns with movement. http://youngmathematicians.edc.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/dance- Patterns.pdf Math at your Fingertips: Songs and Fingerplays for Preschoolers. Use music and hands to set math to music. https://earlymath.erikson.edu/math-at-your-fingertips-songs-and-fingerplaysfor-preschoolers/

Games We love using games to have fun and talk to our children about math. From dice to video games to basketball, there are so many great games that use math! Start here with early learners. Play with blocks, particularly ones with different shapes, to help children engage spatially. Describe what you see. What sh apes look the same? What shapes look different? Try puzzles, or even make your own by cutting up a cereal box. Then add on! Try building towers. Whose is taller? Whose is shorter? Play Go Fish to categorize different cards. Use a deck of cards and sort them by color, by shape, by number. I wonder how many piles we ll have if we sort them by red and black? Start here with early learners. Practice counting 1-5 with blocks, dice or cards. These dice have a side with two dots. There is a number on this card. How many is it? Then add on! Increase the numbers to include 1-10, then 1-20. Include magnitude. Play age-appropriate games and count the pieces, cards, or parts of the game. Notice when math is part of the game. If I have to pay you $100 for that card, how much play money will I have left? Notice math in video games. Ask I wonder? questions about angles and shapes in basketball or on a pool table. How are you already doing math with games? What are your child s favorites? What are I wonder questions to ask while playing games? For example: I wonder what I would have to roll to catch up to you?

Additional resources: Jumping on the Lily Pads. This game helps children develop a mental number line. http://youngmathematicians.edc.org/jumping-on-the-lily-pads/ One More One Less. Using fingers and hands, play with adding one more or having one less. http://youngmathematicians.edc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/one-more-one-less- Fingers.pdf Games to Play At Home Using Attributes for Math Thinking. How are common games related to math? This article walks you through it. https://earlymath.erikson.edu/games-to-play-athome-using-attributes-for-math-thinking/ Quantity Cards. Special cards for special math games! https://earlymath.erikson.edu/quantitycards/ Get on the Right Path: Make Your Own Number Sense Activities. Path games are fantastic ways for families to spend time together and have fun while doing math. https://earlymath.erikson.edu/ get-on-the-right-path-make-your-own-number-sense-activities/ Photo credit: Sara Morrison Photo credit: PBS SoCal

Bedtime There s still time for math while saying goodnight. Start here with early learners. Which blanket do you want? The long one or the short one? Say goodnight to all of the red toys in your room. Then add on! Select your two biggest stuffed animals to sleep with tonight or your three smallest. Pick out the widest book to read tonight. Start here with early learners. Play with the numbers one through five. You picked out two books. You get to sleep with this many stuffed animals tonight. Hold up 1 finger. Let s get one. Then add on! Increase the numbers little by little. Include magnitude. You picked out seven books! That s four too many. How many will we read? How many stuffed animals are on your bed right now? How many more can we add? How are you already doing math at bedtime? What are some of your I wonder questions to ask while getting ready for bed? For example: I wonder why the moon is a circle and stars have points? Additional resources: Bedtime Math. This is a website and an app with bedtime math activities. http://bedtimemath.org/ Photo credit: PBS SoCal

Outside: Yard and Sidewalk Get outside and get some math! Start here with early learners. Play with outside toys, like balls or a sandbox, and describe the shapes. This is a sphere. It curves all the way around. Let s find more spheres. Talk about categories. What is taller than you in the yard? What is smaller? Let s find all the flowers that look like this one. Then add on! Build a tower with boxes or other large toys. Draw shapes and colors on the outside. Grab sidewalk chalk and draw your own hopscotch course with shapes and colors (see sample ideas at Sidewalk Math, linked below). Start here with early learners. Count everything! Start with numbers 1-5. Bring me four rocks. How many wheels are on your tricycle? Let s count together. Jump on two sidewalk squares. Then add on! Increase the numbers and add addition or subtraction. Skip for five sidewalk squares, hop for seven, and walk backwards for twelve. Who can build the tallest rock tower? Count each one that you stack. How are you already doing math in the backyard? What are I wonder questions to ask outside? For example: I wonder how many leaves are on a tree? Additional resources: Sidewalk Math. This is a website with patterns and stencils for math on the sidewalk. http://www.sidewalkmath.com/patterns We re Going on a Math Walk, Going to Find Some Math Talk. Talk math in your neighborhood! https://earlymath.erikson.edu/were-going-on-a-math-walk-were-going-to-find-some-math-talk/