At school maths can be a tricky subject for many kids to understand and
practicing it at home is the last thing on their minds, especially when
they’ve spent the afternoon learning algebra. Here at Tutor Doctor
we know how important it is to practice learning outside of school, especially
with topics that are a little bit more difficult to understand. We’ve
come up with a whole bunch of easy ways that you can practice maths at
home with your children and have some fun with numbers!
Estimate the cost of your weekly food shop
Get your kids involved in the weekly food shop by encouraging them to
estimate the cost of your all of the items in your trolley. It is a really
fun way to get your kids counting, adding up, but most importantly having
some fun with maths! What’s great about this idea is that you can
encourage your children to take part anywhere. If you’re going out
for lunch- why not get them to estimate the bill, or if it’s time
to give out their weekly lunch money- see if they can work out how much
lunch allowance they will get for the whole month.
Baking/Cooking
Maths is hidden is so many different activities- even cooking and baking.
Why not get your kids to weigh out and measure the ingredients next time
you bake a batch of brownies or cook a roast dinner? It’s a super
easy way to familiarise them with counting, different measurements and
timings. We bet they won’t even realise they’re practicing
maths because they’ll be having too much fun getting messy and waiting
for the yummy results!
Real life problem solving using maths
There’s no better way for your kids to practice maths at home than
by solving real life problems. Here are just a few ideas of problems you
might want to encourage them to tackle.
- Work out how long your child will need to save their allowance in order
to buy a particular item
- Determine the number of miles driven in X hours
- How long it will take to drive home going X mph?
Everyday activities
There are loads of easy everyday activities that you can practice with
your kids on a daily basis.
- Practicing times tables – check with your child or their teacher/tutor
which times tables you could help them with. There are quite a few fun
times tables posters that are always a great addition to a bedroom wall!
- Telling the time using digital and analogue clocks
- Making and organising packed lunches, including equal sharing of fruit,
biscuits, sandwiches and drinks.
- More helping at the supermarket! Get the kids to weigh out your fruit and
veggies. You could even ask them to help you find and compare prices of
items such as cereal or jam to help you pick the ones that are the best
value for money!
Maths Apps
We know parents can get busy too, so if you don’t have a lot of
free time, there are some wonderful apps that your children can use to
help them practice their maths skills and have fun at the same time. Have
a read of some of the learning apps we recommend
here.
How can Tutor Doctor help?
If you find that your child is struggling with maths more than they should
be, perhaps a private tutor would be beneficial.
Here at Tutor Doctor we offer an affordable, one-to-one home tutoring service
that works around you. We provide all of our students with an education
that is tailored to suit their academic abilities, learning style and
personality. Our aim is to help your child reach their goals and beyond.
For more information about our programmes click
here.
