Day 13

You may have noticed on your child's ESA newsletter that teachers are recommending math games you can play with your child at home.  We are often inundated by information pointing to the  importance reading with our children, but are unsure of what daily practices will support them as budding mathematicians.  Look no further than games!  

Playing math games can accomplish the following (from Why Play Math Games? by Kitty Rutherford, NCTM 2015):

• encouraging strategic thinking so students develop a wide variety of strategies for problem solving
• increasing computational fluency
• opportunities for practicing skills
• developing comfort with numbers and using number systems
• building relationships with your children with time spent playing together

Lastly, a major benefit of playing math games with your child is celebrating a love of mathematics!  You can read more about how crucial this is in this article: Instill a Love of Math.

For ideas about games to play with your children, check out the ESA newsletter that is mailed to your home, ask your child, or ask their teacher.  Have fun playing together!  I'll leave you with some of our second graders playing Subtraction Bowling: