What are some practical things you can do to help continue the numeracy that was started during the last school year? While we don’t recommend worksheets, as they primarily focus on rote memorization, we do recommend real world math type activities.

On a roadtrip:

1. While in the car, play a game of “I Spy” with your child, identifying numbers on license plates.
2. Ask your child to look for certain exit numbers. “Can you keep an eye out for exit 77? It should be coming up shortly!”
3. Choose a color, and see how many of those types of cars you and your child can count. “Let’s see how many yellow cars we pass on our drive today!”
4. Give your child the task of counting your family’s suitcases to make sure they’re all there. “Could you make sure that all 10 suitcases are in the trunk?”

Let’s switch gears, just a bit, to provide you with some more concrete examples. Picture another beloved end of Summer activity: the farmer’s market. (Well, at least in South Dakota!) Environments like this are the perfect opportunity to put numeracy to work, especially as the end of summer means an abundance of choices!

At the farmers market: 

1. Empower your child to identify a vegetable, and count out a quantity to buy
   “Can you find us 3 summer squash?”
   “Could you pick out 5 cucumbers?”
2. Put your child in charge of the money when buying produce. “Can you hand the gentleman four one-dollar bills?

These are just a few examples of ways to start thinking about math again as we head towards a new school year. We hope you enjoy!

Recommended for you:

Get our weekly roundup of great family stuff, directly to your inbox!