• Play counting games.
• Count objects when driving in the car e.g. the trees, how many blue cars, etc.
• Recognise and say the numbers around us. (letterboxes, number plates). Looking for patterns in numbers. They need to know their own telephone number.
• Discuss dates on the calendar. Count how many days until an event.
• When shopping, ask your child how to work out the cost of a few items. Ask them how they worked their answer out and discuss the ways they could have done it.
• Cooking – discuss the measurements.
• Fractions – cut food into pieces (fractions). Name the fraction e.g. ¾ is 3 of the 4 pieces. ½ is one of the two pieces.
• Share items amongst others. E.g. planning a party and making up a party pack.                                                           Sharing 10 lollies with 5 people etc.
• Ask your child numbers that come before and after other numbers
• Practise counting in 5,s e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20                                                              
• Also counting in 2's and 10's.
• Order numbers. Ages of people in the family or phone numbers.
• Play card games and other board games.
• Together add  the bills for the month.
• Work out the cost of an outing.
• Look at the grocery bill. Work out how much was spent on vegetables, canned food, meat etc. Graph or work out the percentage.
• Allow the children to earn 'pocket money'.  Encourage them to keep account of their money – how much they have spent, how much they need to  purchase an item, etc.
• Count how many items are in grocery packets e.g biscuits, apples. How many would there be in two bags?
• Encourage young children to use their fingers to solve problems. E.g. five fingers on one hand, ten altogether. How many fingers altogether do two people have?
• Children from Year three up need to learn their times tables. First 2's, 5's and 10's then others.
• Practise basic facts for addition and subtraction to build skill and memory recall. First within 5 e.g. 4+1, 2+3, then within 10, e.g. 3+5, 6+2.
• When parking the car, discuss what the time will be when the meter expires.

 Using maths for solving everyday problems gives a real purpose for practising maths.

Phone:     Mobile:    Fax:         Address: email:

07-856 6122 021 859 916 07-856 8954 218 Cambridge Road, Hillcrest, Hamilton 3216 PO Box 11017, Hillcrest, Hamilton 3251 enquiries@hillcrestnormal.school.nz