Mental Math - Near Doubles!

Once your child knows their doubles, they can use that and count up or down to solve a problem.

If 4 + 4 is 8, then 4 + 5 is 9 (count up by one).
If 4 + 4 is 8, then 4 + 3 is 7 (count down by one).

See how everything is related in math?  Helping break it down for your child helps them make sense of mathematics.  Try these great ideas to support your child as they work to understand doubles and near doubles.

NEAR DOUBLES IDEAS!

Mental Math - Doubles!

I love teaching children doubles.  They love it too!  Doubles are everywhere in real life.  Think about an egg carton, 6 + 6.  Think about the fingers on two hands, 5 + 5.  Think about a 16-pack of crayons, 8 + 8.   Once children see the pattern, they find doubles everywhere!

Practice in the car.  Practice on an airplane.  Practice as you go for a walk with your child.  Ask your child to explain how they figured out the answer.  Use a "million dollar question," and ask...
How do you know?
Are you sure?
Can you tell me more about how you figured that out?

DOUBLES! DOUBLES!  I CAN ADD DOUBLES (1-5)  song  

DOUBLES! DOUBLES!  I CAN ADD DOUBLES (6-10)  song

Mental Math - Adding Eight!

Does this sound familiar?  This is the same as working with nine from my December 13, 2012 posting...  almost!  

Make eight into a friendly ten, then add.  When you are done, take two away.

8 + 5 =  _____

Make 8 into a friendly 10 (8+2=10), then add your 5.

10 + 5 = 15  

Take two away now!

15 - 2 =  13

The answer is 13!

WE LOVE FRIENDLY TENS!

Snow Coming?

Hi parents!  Just a few more days before the kiddos head back to school.  It sounds like we have snow in our forecast.  Here is a great article with tons of ideas for your to play mathematically with your children around the theme of snow!  Enjoy every minute...

Remember, school resumes on Monday, January 7, 2013!  We are looking forward to welcoming your children back to school in a new year - 2013.
Happy New Year!!

SNOWFLAKE MATH FUN

Winter Math Activities

So, your children are home for a couple of weeks over the holidays.  What to do when playing with new toys becomes old?  Well, do not panic.  Here are some great winter math activities to keep the kids occupied, busy, having fun and working with mathematics too!  You will find ideas involving snowflakes, penguins, snowmen, winter book lists, data analysis, gingerbread math, candy graphing, and holiday problem solving.  Check it out!

WINTER MATH ACTIVITIES

Tips for Keepin' up on Math Skills over Winter Break

This will be the last posting before our children are off for winter break.  I found a great resource to help you support your children in math!  You can help your children sharpen their math skills through games and everyday activities such as shopping, cooking, and household tasks.  Talk about math during shopping (ie: figuring sales tax; counting money; determining change due), or cooking (ie: fractions; measuring; doubling recipes) and doing things around the house (ie: measuring furniture or rooms).

This first resource is put together by NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics).  Check out these great ideas and your children will have fun, as well as keep their math skills going over the holiday.

Keepin' up on Math Skills over Winter Break
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Thanks to Miami-Dade for posting Winter Break Packets (for both mathematics and reading/language arts).  Great ideas to keep your child's skills up!!!

Miami-Dade Winter Break Packets

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

SCHOOL RESUMES ON MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2013

Holiday Lights

As our winter holiday approaches, I went in search of some seasonal fun for our kiddos, while still practicing our math skills.

Here is one resource for your children.  This will help reinforce addition, subtraction, multiplication or division fluency.  Perfect for grades one through five.

Christmas Lights Holiday Math Fact Fun