Math tips for kids

Friday, Mar. 1 | By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

To celebrate Math Awareness Month in April, Huntington Learning Centers in the area offer a few fun ideas for parents to help their child practice math while at home or on the go.

1. Give your child a ruler and have him or her measure things around the house. As he or she gets a sense for the length of various objects, have your child estimate how long something will be before measuring.

2. Encourage your child to use math to research and calculate interesting facts about the environment and sustainable living-visit websites for organizations such as the EPA and the National Solid Wastes Management Association for statistics. How many pounds of trash does each American produce every year? How much energy does recycling one plastic bottle save-and how much would your child save by recycling one plastic bottle a day for a whole year

3. When shopping, let your child count the correct amount of dollars and coins to pay for things. Practice subtraction and estimating, too. What will your family's groceries cost? If he or she gives a $20 bill for a meal that costs $17.50, how much change should you receive back?

4. Open a savings account for your child and have your child keep track of his or her deposits and withdrawals in a savings account booklet. Teach him or her to calculate interest.

5. Cook together and have your child do all of the measuring.

6. Throughout the day, have your child tell you the time. Practice different ways of telling time-what's another way of saying 2:45? How much time until half past four?

7. Do a little math research on an area in which your child is interested. What is the population of your city? Your state? How much bigger or smaller are your neighboring states (by numbers and for a real challenge,by percentage)? What was your city's and state's population 10 or 50 years ago?

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