Welcome
to Fayetteville Intermediate School
"Where Cougars Roar"
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Ten Ways to Help Your Child in Math and Reading 1. Play board games and build. Uno, Phase Ten, Mancala, Skip Bo, Go Fish, Hearts, Spades, and other card and board games are great for building number sense. Puzzles, Legos, Erector Sets, blocks and the game of Set stimulate visual, spatial ability. Scrabble or Boggle are specifically good for building vocabulary and spelling, but most games include reading opportunities, including kid versions of Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, and Clue. 2. Collect trading cards. There are card series to appeal to most interests, from sports to space travel. Most include facts that encourage kids to use math and reading in a real-life settings. 3. Learn how to… Is there something your child would really like to do, such as build a bird house or work on a sewing project? Projects like these provide opportunities for measuring, sequencing, reading and following directions. Instructions for projects can be found in do-it-yourself kits or downloaded from the Web. Home improvement and craft stores even have classes for these projects. 4. Get cooking. Invite your child to help you bake a cake or a special meal together. Cooking provides real-life experiences with measurement, fractions, sequencing, and following directions. If necessary, simplify and rewrite a recipe's instructions so he can read it to you. 5. Count money. Have your child count money everyday! Empty your pocket or coin purse when you get home. Have your child sort the coins and count the total. They can make a graph of how much is counted each day! Visit your local library and check out books about money. 6. Create signs and labels. Help your child build his vocabulary by creating stickers or signs for his room that identify toys or furniture: "bike," "desk," etc. Also, your child can learn his or her math facts by creating stickers or signs to hang around the room—on the mirror, bed headboard, door, etc. Change out a few every week! Focus on a fact-a-day! Use different voices to repeat the fact—loud, soft, sing, funny, etc. 7. Take a road trip. Write down travel directions and have your child serve as navigator when you drive. Give your co-pilot a map before you go and ask her to mark the route according to the directions. Have your child record the time that has elapsed at points along the journey. Keeping up with gas/mileage is math too! 8. Sort the laundry or pantry. Having your child sort things in the home is a great math “thinking” activity. Ask for the rule that he or she used for the sorting. Ask your child if he or she can think of a different way to sort the items. 9. Write a schedule. Have your child help create a daily, weekly and monthly schedule. Include daily activities with approximate times, family appointments and important events. Give your child a sense of passage of time! 10. Host a scavenger hunt. Make a list of measurements or shapes that your child and his friends must find examples to match inside your house or around the neighborhood. For example: something 3 inches, something 2 feet, something square, something circular, etc. Provide clues for your child to read. |
