Ideas from Dr. Sean Delaney, Marino College of Education on how parents can best help their children with their mathematics:
http://seandelaney.com/2011/11/15/how-parents-can-help-their-child-learn-maths/#more-412
What we need to understand about Numeracy…
•Numeracy is NOT LIMITED to the ability to use numbers, to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
•Numeracy encompasses the ability to use mathematical understanding and skills to :
•solve problems
•meet the demands of day-to-day living in complex social settings.
•Numeracy involves being able to:
•Think and communicate quantitatively
•Make sense of data
•Have a spatial awareness
•Understand patterns and sequences
•Recognise situations where mathematical reasoning can be applied to solve problems
Some ways we can help our daughters further develop their numeracy skills …
Playing Traditional Games at home :
Playing traditional board games such as Scrabble , Monopoly, Monopoly Millionaire are excellent for building numeracy and literacy skills.
Rules of traditional board games have also featured in Project Maths exams.
Paper One, Question 2 on the Junior Cert. Ordinary Level State Exams Commission ,Sample Paper 2014 involves the game of Scrabble .
Games involving decks of cards, use of spinners , throwing one or more die (dice) and flipping coins are all hugely beneficial. Students who spend plenty of time taking part in such games are further developing numeracy and literacy skills and having fun in the process.
Probability questions involving playing cards, spinners, die (dice) and flipping coins all feature on the new Project Maths Curriculum at both Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate level.
More details can be found on www.projectmaths.ie Strand 1: Statistics and Probability
Revision of Tables
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division Tables are well worth revisiting and practicing if we have not mastered them.
Use of On-Line Resources:
Use of educational interactive games can help build literacy and numeracy skills. Ideally, students should enjoy the games for short periods of time…“a little and often” is a good approach.
Useful websites
•http://www.mangahigh.com
• http://www.mathplayground.com
• http://nrich.maths.org/frontpage
•http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com Online educational video games
•http://ie.ixl.com IXL is aligned to the Irish national curriculum.
•http://nlvm.usu.edu Resources for various strands available. Scroll down to grades 9-12 for second level resources.
•http://www.thatquiz.org/ Very good quizzes and tests against the clock.
•http://www.theteachercorner.net/ A collection of educational worksheets, lesson plans, activities and resources for teachers and parents
• http://www.cngl.ie/ailo/ Puzzles in language, logic and linguistics
Useful Apps
•Kings of Maths: Very good for mental arithmetic
•Maths Quiz Gameshow: Quizzes on various maths topics
•Digiwhiz: Very good for number fluency
•5 Dice: Exercises combining five numbers and operations to reach a target number
•Wolfram Algebra-Course Assistant: Multi-representational approach to algebra
•Maths Bingo: Good for basic arithmetic
•Algebra Touch: Demonstration of basic rules of addition/subtraction
•Fraction Basic: Lessons based on the different aspects of fractions
•Tangrams: app for puzzles and shape
•NumbersGame: An app which combines foreign languages and the numbers 1-10
•Math Gr5: topics such as number and operations, fractions and measuring etc are included
•Wolfram Pre-Algebra Course Assistant: Multi-representational approach to algebra
•Conundra Math: Exercises combining three numbers and operations to reach a target number
Project Maths Student Resources Available to Download
Students CD containing plenty of resources for the Project Maths Course for both Junior and Senior Cycle.
http://www.projectmaths.ie/students/cd
Scratch Programming Language
Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy for students to create their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art. Scratch was developed by the MIT Media Lab and is available for free download. Scratch is endorsed by Bridge 21 at Trinity College Dublin. This is an excellent resource for literacy and numeracy development in primary and secondary school students.
www.scratch.ie