Fun WaysTo Introduce Math To Your Children (NAPSA)—Rather than struggling to help your child memorize math facts and formulas, you may want to have more fun—by making math fun to learn. While 80 percent of traditional mathematics teaching relies on drilling and memorization, these learning strategies can be boring, frustrating and discouraging for 8 € children. Parents can help to make math fun and approachable by linkingit to real-world examples. “Memorization of math facts and formulas is an important part of math instruction,” explains Dr. Richard E. Bavaria, vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center, the nation’s leading provider of supplemental education solutions. “But in order for children to really understand even basic math facts, they must discover them in the world around them.” The joy of learning math can be instilled in your child by using fun games and activities to help them apply what they’ve learned, suggests Dr. Bavaria. The following are some examples recommended by Sylvan Learning Center: 1. Play popular board games that require basic math skills. Chutes and Ladders” and RackO develop number sense. “24” and Yahtzee” help computation speed and accuracy. Problem solving skills are developed through games like TriOminos’ and Connect Four’. 2. A deck of cards can be a valuable math tool. Card games begin to teach the lesson of probability. Using a deck of cards is also a Ways to make learning fun include playing games andrelating math to a favorite sport. great way to reinforce addition and subtraction memorization for children learning basic mathfacts. 3. Relate math to your children’s favorite sport. Ask them to calculate the number of points needed for their favorite team to win. Encourage them to create multiple point combinations to reach that score. 4. Use driving time as math game time. Invite children to figure out howlongit will take to get to the destination or estimate how muchit will cost to fill up the gas tank. 5. Dominoes are a great game for children of all ages. Smaller children can use them to recognize similar quantities, while older children can explore the concepts of probability. Sylvan Learning Center publishes “Seven Daysof Activities for Family Learning Fun,” which provides other suggestions for enjoyable educational programs and activities for parents and children. To request a copy or for more information on Sylvan visit www.educate.com/familyfun or call 1-800-31-SUCCESS.
