Parenting Page
Maths skills and everyday numeracy
When you and your child apply maths knowledge and numeracy skills in everyday situations, it helps your child see and enjoy the value in using maths.
Numeracy is the ability to recognise and apply maths concepts in all areas of life – and there are endless ways you and your child can do this together.
For example, by bringing maths questions into activities that your child enjoys, you’re helping your child make sense of everyday situations and develop numeracy skills at the same time.
Here are some examples of questions you could ask your child about different everyday activities:
- How many oranges did we get in the bag?
- Can you pack your lunch box so that everything fits?
- What’s the volume of the milk carton?
- Which way will we go when we get to the end of the street?
- What’s the fourth item on the shopping list?
- How much money do you need for the canteen at school?
- Do we have enough strawberries so that everyone can have three each?
And here are some examples of everyday activities you can do with your school-age child:
- In the car: look at number plates or road signs and ask your child to read the numbers, order them from highest to lowest, and add them up or multiply them.
- On public transport: look at maps, timetables and signs to work out how many minutes between each bus, how many stops to your destination, or how long it will take to get there.
- In your neighbourhood: talk about the shapes and patterns of tiles, bricks and stones on houses and driveways. Ask your child, ‘How are the brick patterns similar? How are they different?’
- At the playground: count out how many times a child throws a ball through a hoop or how many rungs there are on the monkey bars.
- At the park: ask your child, ‘How many steps do you think it will take to get to that tree?’ Count and compare the number of steps it takes you both to reach the tree. Talk about why you and your child might take a different number of steps.
- At the shops or markets: look at price differences. Guess how many apples you get in a kilogram and then compare this with another fruit. Talk about which item is cheaper and why something is a good buy.
- In the kitchen: ask your child to measure out different ingredients. Ask your child how much of each ingredient will be enough for a family meal. Ask your child to sort ingredients into groups and explain to you how they were grouped.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/learning-ideas/maths-at-school
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ADDITIONAL SHORT ARTICLES FROM 'PARENTING IDEAS'