It doesn’t take being a veteran teacher to know that parents often feel frustrated with math. They might mention in conferences that they aren’t sure how to help their child with homework, or they barely remember math from their school days. This can lead to stress for the parent, the child, and even the teacher! If you’ve ever been asked how parents can help with math at home, or you’re looking for ways to boost students’ math skills, I have some suggestions that are simple to implement.
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How Parents Can Help With Math at Home
Before I share some ideas, I want to quickly mention how to approach these conversations with families. I recommend sending a letter or email home with these suggestions, or you can talk about them at your next parent-teacher conference. The #1 thing to keep in mind is that you are working with the parent – so make it a conversation, not a criticism.
1. Encourage Parents to Use Math in Daily Life
Many students struggle with math confidence and the ability to translate their math skills across situations and contexts. When parents bring math into daily life, they can help build a bridge between what students learn at school to real life.
Encourage parents to make math a part of their daily conversations. This means bringing math related questions and concepts into day-to-day interactions, not rapid-firing math problems (although, that can make for a fun car game!).
Here are example questions that show how parents can help with math at home. Feel free to share these questions with parents.
Time:
- What time is it right now?
- What time should we leave our house if we have to be somewhere at ___ time?
- We started watching the movie at ____ (time) and finished at ____ (time)–how long did it take us to watch it?
Shopping:
- How much does this cost?
- How much will it cost if we buy 2?
- How much money will you have left if you buy this?
Cooking:
- Which of these measuring cups is bigger?
- How much will we need if we double the recipe?
2. Start Simple with Counting
Counting might seem like a simple skill, but even upper elementary students could use the practice. You can make counting activities as simple or as complex as you want. I suggest coming up with a list of ideas for how parents can help with math at home – and include counting activities there.
Here are some example activities you can use:
Coins: Kids don’t see coins as often as we did growing up, and they make for some of the best counting activities! Parents can collect a few coins laying around the house and have students practice counting the number of coins or counting by a certain number (5’s, 10’s, 25’s). They can also practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication with the coins.
Skip Counting: This is a great example of how parents can help with math at home. Skip counting is a key skill in math, and it helps students with their multiplication facts. Parents can initiate skip counting while cooking dinner, during a car ride, or any period of downtime. They can ask their child to count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 10s.
3. Play Math Games at Home
Some families are really into game nights, so why not bring math into the mix? While some math games require an extra purchase, there are many that use household items many families already own. Because of that, don’t shy away from mentioning math games in your conversations about how parents can help with math at home.
Here are some examples of math games parents can use:
Shut the Box*: This game can be played by both kids and adults, so it’s perfect for family game night. Plus, it’s pretty fun, too! When playing, shut the box, each player rolls and then flips over one or more numbered times that add up to the numbers on the dice. For example, if you roll a 6 and a 3, you can flip down 1, 2, and 6. The first person to “shut” all their tiles wins!
This game is perfect for number sense and seeing multiple ways you can create a number. This game could work for elementary students and even middle and high school kids.
War: This game only requires a deck of cards and is perfect for practicing multiplication facts with their child. To play, split a deck of cards between the parent and child (or between siblings). Then, each player draws 2 cards from their deck and multiplies them together. The player that has the highest product gets to keep all 4 cards! The player who has the most at the end of the game wins.
4. Send Home Study Tools
Sometimes the best way to demonstrate how parents can help with math at home is by simply sending them study materials they can use. This takes the guesswork out of how they can help their child, and it may help the parent feel supported with the content, too (because they can use the study notes to guide their children). Parents simply don’t know what we are teaching each day and relying on their children to answer, “Well, what did your teacher tell you?” will probably lead to more arguments than productive math time.
Here are some simply math study tools that make great take-home resources:
Guided Math Notes: These 5th grade guided notes walk students and parents through how to use each strategy, and they can be used as study guides, too. The guided math notes include pages for every math standard, so you have notes to send home year-round, no matter what you’re teaching. Parents can use these if their child gets stuck on their homework or to provide additional practice during holiday breaks.
4th Grade Interactive Worksheet Bundle & 5th Grade Interactive Worksheet Bundle: I love these math study tools because they include QR codes with a link to a video explaining the strategy. If the child is struggling with homework or wants to review before a test, they can simply watch the video. Parents can also view the video if their child has questions, so they can have a better understanding of the concept before they assist. Having a visual is really helpful for many students (and adults). The worksheets also include practice problems, which can be used to study for upcoming tests or stay fresh throughout the year!
It’s not uncommon to hear that parents want to help their child with homework, but they aren’t sure how. I suggest having discussions with families about how parents can help with math at home – and then making the process as easy as possible! You can provide math guides, math game instructions, or a BINGO board with math tasks to complete throughout the week. The more straightforward and simple your activities are, the less stress and frustration parents and their children will experience.
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