How important will math skills be during the 21st century? "Mathematics Equals Opportunity," a report published by the U.S. Department of Education, sums it up: "In the United States today, mastering mathematics has become more important than ever. Students with a strong grasp of mathematics have an advantage in academics and in the job market. The eighth grade is a critical point in mathematics education. Achievement at that stage clears the way for students to take rigorous high school mathematics and science courses—keys to college entrance and success in the labor force."

To make sure they have the math skills to take on the challenges of college and the world outside of school, all New York students are now required to pass at least one Regents in math to graduate from high school. Middle schoolers are tested at the end of eighth grade to ensure they are prepared to meet this requirement. Many districts are also giving a variety of other math tests during the years that state tests are not given.

For kids to learn to like math and understand its practical uses, they need to practice what they know every day. Here are some easy at-home activities that can help bolster your children’s knowledge and success with math:

• Be positive about math. You don’t have to be a math whiz to help your children develop positive attitudes about the subject. Simply sitting with them and helping out when math homework seems difficult can go a long way toward getting them to believe in their mathematical abilities. Middle school is a time when children begin to seriously define who they are and learn about what they are skilled at. Success with math now can create a positive attitude about future learning. Get excited about what they are learning, help them ferret out the answers. If you have trouble with terms or need a math primer yourself, there are many websites that offer help, such as mathforum.org/dr.math/. Ask your children’s teachers what’s being taught in school and how you can help reinforce it at home.

• Help them see math’s connection to their daily lives. Math becomes more meaningful when kids see how important it is to everyday living. We all use math every day: banking, shopping for groceries, calculating how much paint is needed to cover the living room walls. Every sport uses numbers, whether for scoring, determining averages or figuring percentages. Artists use shapes and figures and need to understand ratios (fractions) when mixing materials like paint. Help your budding chef see the usefulness of math when measuring ingredients or doubling a recipe. Math skills are also put to practical use when spacing new plants or figuring out how many plants to grow in order to have enough tomatoes to make a homemade pasta sauce.

• Help your children understand the basics. Just because they’ve been practicing basic math skills for many years doesn’t mean they have mastered them. Kids need a firm grip on the basics to be successful with the higher math they’ll study in middle and high school. If your children have difficulty figuring math in their heads, encourage them to work problems through on scrap paper or with the help of math counters. Flash cards are a quick and easy way to help a struggling learner get a grip on addition, multiplication and fractions. Puzzles, like tangrams, are great for reinforcing shapes and size. Teaching supply stores and online sources like www.lakeshorelearning.com and http://www.etacuisenaire.com/ carry a variety of these supplies. If you are uncertain about what types of materials are best for helping your children learn, ask their teachers for suggestions.

• Sneak in a little math practice on vacation. On your next trip, pack a variety of board and card games that are great for reinforcing basic math skills. Having your children help calculate the distance between home and your destination(s) or gas mileage are also great on-the-road math activities.

• Have your children open a bank account. Most banks provide literature aimed at helping teach children to manage their money. www.kidsbank.com is an online site that provides a kid-friendly primer on banking.

• Capitalize on your pre-teens’ desire to "shop till they drop." Use the sale flyers from the Sunday paper to teach your children about comparison shopping. Math skills will also help them understand just how much of their hard earned money they’ll have to fork over for a new pair of jeans or sneakers.

• Show the importance of math for career choices. Many jobs that once required little background in math now call for specific skills in algebra, geometry, measurement, probability and statistics. Virtually all of the fastest growing and highest paying professions listed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics require a strong knowledge of math. How do you and other adults you know use math in your job each day? Think it over and let your kids know.

Books about mathematical ideas for kids:

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure by Cindy Neuschwander

The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat and

Fractals, Googols and Other Mathematical Tales by Theoni Pappas

Math Trek : Adventures in the Math Zone and

Math Trek 2 : A Mathematical Space Odyssey by Ivars Peterson

G Is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book by David Schwartz

The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan

The Grapes of Math: Mind Stretching Math Riddles by Greg Tang

For permission to reprint this article, please contact the Capital Region BOCES Communications Service by e-mailing dbushsuf@gw.neric.org.

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