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Helping Your Child
Develop Positive Attitudes About Math |
Most parents enjoyed reading to their young children. It set
an example, established a positive attitude toward reading,
and developed a value that reading is both fun and
important. Similarly, the parent's attitude and approach to
math at home impact the importance and value that students
place on learning mathematics in school. Far too often
parents are quick to remark, "I hated math", or "There is no
way I can help with the kind of math they do now."
Statements like that make it hard for your child to see that
you value math skills or that you are willing to do whatever
you can to help. While it is true that math is now taught in
ways much different than most parents learned it with a far
greater emphasis on complex mathematical reasoning, we
cannot simply give up and let our children struggle through
alone.
Here are some practical suggestions to help parents help
their children learn mathematics. While the information is
not comprehensive, our hope is that it provides you with
some ways to support your child's learning.
How do YOU feel about math?
Your feelings about mathematics will have an impact on how
your children perceive and value mathematics, as well as how
they view themselves as mathematicians. Take a moment to
think about these questions:
Two important goals for all students are that
1) they learn to value mathematics and
2) they become confident in their ability to do mathematics.
Parents can help children develop a "can do" disposition
toward math, by nurturing their children's natural curiosity
and providing support and encouragement.
Doing Math at Home
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Math is everywhere, yet many children don't
see it. Look for ways to point out and reinforce math skills
at home. For example:
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Look for games and activities that teach
and/or reinforce math and thinking. For example,
look for games that:
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When you see articles that have data that
might interest your children (e.g., sports statistics, data
on teenage smoking, facts about natural disasters), share
them and talk about what the numbers mean.
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Share your problem-solving strategies and
techniques, mental computation strategies, and estimation
strategies. Have your children teach you some. Work on the
same problem, then compare strategies as well as answers.
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Invite your children to explain what was
learned in math class. You could even have them teach it to
you. This provides an opportunity for children to help
clarify their thinking, to practice new skills, and to
practice communicating mathematically. This is one of the
most important ways that you can connect with your child's
learning and one of the best ways to boost his or her math
skills.
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If your children have access to a computer,
look for software that reinforces and teaches math concepts.
Help your children learn to use math utilities such as
spreadsheets and graphing programs.
The above ideas were taken from the
Administrative Notebook for Middle School Mathematics, Plano
Independent School District, Plano, Texas.
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