5 Ways Families Can Support Math at Home

1. Ask questions.

When children solve math problems, adults’ natural inclination is often to validate correct answers and/or encourage children to rethink incorrect answers. But we encourage you to withhold praise or redirection when a child solves a problem.

Instead, ask questions such as, “Why do you think that?” or “How do you know?” These questions require students to do more than simply find correct answers. They send the message that mathematical thinking is important.

Rather than praising children for correct answers, we want to praise good thinking, persistence in problem solving, and strong communication while allowing children to validate their own answers through their justifications. As children talk through—and make sense of—the mathematics, they will arrive at correct answers.

2. Find math in everyday moments.

As we go about our days, we engage in a plethora of mathematical tasks: baking, folding laundry, setting alarms, paying bills, doing yard work. In these moments, share your thinking about your work.

Folding towels, for example, is a time to talk about fractions (folding in half, folding in thirds, etc.) Doubling or tripling a recipe can foster conversations about measurement, repeated addition, or multiplication.

Connecting math to the real world and sharing your thoughts while listening to children’s ideas shows them that math isn’t just something we do inside the four walls of a classroom.

3. Pose and solve problems together. 

You don’t need an excuse to pose mathematical problems as you go about your day. We can practice observing and articulating findings in lots of contexts.

When you’re out for a walk, for example, pose questions like, “We saw twelve trees on our walk. Three were flowering. How many didn’t have flowers?” or “We walked 8 blocks. If there are 10 blocks in a mile, what fraction of a mile did we walk?”

Questions like these deepen the math that surrounds all of us in the real world. It might seem unnatural at first, but these types of conversations allow students to connect the math they’re learning to their everyday lives.

4. Count. 

It might feel like counting is only for our youngest learners. While we agree that young children should have a variety of opportunities to count (putting away toys, climbing stairs, etc.), all students can benefit from counting collections of items around their homes.

Just recently, we had our middle school children count the amount of change in our change jar. They’ve been curious about how much we’ve collected, so they were invested in counting the collection of coins. You can count anything: acorns found under a tree outside, leftover tater tots from dinner, socks in a load of laundry…the list is endless!

What’s important is encouraging children to become more efficient with their counting methods and tracking systems. If a child is counting hundreds of pennies, how will they keep track of their count? Simply creating one large pile could be problematic (especially if they’re easily distracted). How might they organize their count so they can check their work? Posing this idea as a question instead of a directive will alert you to the many creative ideas kids have as they count.

Check out these quick examples: