We want to encourage children to learn the math skills that will help them throughout life and teach them how to enjoy those skills as they grow up.
There are many types of teaching strategies for math as for other subjects - often children who have difficulty understanding math concepts at school are quite adept at understanding what they need to know at home and in the community. Using pie to explain fractions is especially helpful when siblings are involved - every piece must be exactly equal to be one of six or one of eight slices! Of course, in sharing anything that is coveted, children understand that the 'big half' is better.
Telling time is more important to a child when a favorite television show is scheduled in the newspaper television guide - drawing what the clock will look like when the time arrives helps establish that memory. Programming a VCR by having children use a start time of two minutes earlier than the desired program helps them learn by 'fast forwarding' to the start time - and they may also learn that they like the 'tease' that precedes the program.
Allowing children to use real money is a great teaching tool - spending pennies to buy nickels, dimes and quarters that convert to dollar bills can be a delightful pastime for some children. Coins present a choking hazard and wind up in unusual places so always supervise money play. We wash coins for games in mild soapy water and dried them, and ran dollar bills through laundry cycles with blue jeans (not always on purpose).
Shopping during very slow times at stores allows children a less stressful experience when they are spending their nickels and dimes on items. The concept of taxes can be explained by practicing counting out pennies for each dollar at home, and some children enjoy carring a tax card around with them showing how much an items of each price will be with the tax included. Of course if a child is carrying a calculator to keep track of prices and tax, it's very helpful for the adults in charge, too.
Some children who despise addition practice will spend hours 'checking' their results with old fashioned adding machines with paper tape that can still be found at many office supply stores. Having a record of calculations helps many children who don't feel comfortable with calculators - and that is true for adults, too. Having your child 'double check' your checkbook entry calculations can also be enjoyable. As in all learning and practice situations, spending time with someone who we love helps instill the love of learning, too.
Measurements are often learned while helping with recipes or 'home improvement' projects, keeping track of height and other measurements while children grow. Science 'experiments' growing sprouts from seeds can be all about measuring height and recording times. Sometimes children's science experiments use math in ways that are not intimidating or confusing to young people.
Making real tools available for children, including measuring spoons and cups, rulers and tape measurers, teaches them the real units we use in life. Cloth tape measures are of course choking hazards, and metal ones that automatically rewind into a box can cause cuts and other injuries, and even paper ones from IKEA stores can cause paper cuts, so remember safety lessons and supervision of younger children.
If your child is having difficulty with math because it is poorly explained in specific school text books, go to the library and find another source of explanation. Sometimes parents can't understand certain school texts when they are explaining concepts we learned a long, long time ago.
Browse at your local bookstore or public library for books on teaching children numbers, counting, math facts, time and money, like Teaching Math to People With Down Syndrome and Other Hands-On Learners: Basic Survival Skills - 2008,
.Teaching Children about Money
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58960.asp
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Riverbend DS Website Math Articles:
Developing Number and Maths Skills
Learning Elementary Maths: Case Study of a Dutch Boy
Teenagers with Down Syndrome Study Algebra in High School
Mathematics & Down Syndrome Abstracts
