The struggle is real: common core math... no matter what the age or grade, kids are learning math concepts in completely new ways than their parents! If you're in charge of helping your child with homework, you likely understand why parents are struggling to carry over the math lessons just as much as their child is! Before you lose your patience trying to explain how 7+6 = (7 + 3) + 3, we've taken a look at some math tech tools (from low to high tech) to help you survive at home!
Think of some LOW-TECH MANIPULATIVES that you can use for math:
- empty egg cartons (cut off 2 and you're left with a 10-frame!)
- any small objects that can be used as counters (marbles, puzzle pieces, beads, blocks, legos)
- ruler or a DIY number line
- dominos
- playing cards
- math dry-erase boards by DRY ERASE are perfect for teaching just about any math concept at home! TIP ** if you don't want to order the dry-erase board, just print out the image and put it in a page protector sleeve. They work just as well with dry erase markers!
HIGH TECH WEBSITES, GAMES, & MATH APPS
Check out your child's teacher page for school subscriptions to MATH WEBSITES like:
- DreamBox (subscription required)
- Xtra Math (subscription required))
GAME SYSTEMS
- For pre-k and kindergarteners (3-7 years), Tiggly is a fun tablet-based gaming system that teaches core mathematical concepts in a multi-sensory way. (Tiggly also offers shapes and literacy-based games too!) They have a fabulous buy one, give one program running now if you want to pass along the gift of math to your child's school!
- For Kindergarten through seventh grade (5-12 years), Osmo is a dynamic ipad-based gaming system that really explores the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) curriculums in a fun way for kids. In addition to the basic words, numbers, and tangrams game sets, add-on programs include Coding, Newton, and Pizza Co. where they learn about higher-level skills like estimation, physics, money, and computational thinking!
APPS, ETC.
There's an app for just about anything you want to teach: 10-frames, number line jumping, addition/subtraction, domino math, etc. We've pinned some great links for you to check out based on your child's needs/grade level. Check out our "Math Tech" Pinterest board @adaptlearn and be sure to follow us for other great resources!
