The importance of supporting math learning at home

Math education today often looks different than what we remember. How can we help our children succeed when the goals of instruction now seem so different from what we experienced? Most of us probably had math lessons where teachers focused on procedures and we practiced them, but today the focus is more on conceptual understanding. We may be able to do arithmetic with pencil and paper quite well, but do we truly understand why the procedures work? Are we competent in estimating, problem solving, and using mental math strategies to compute?

Math instruction has changed because the world we live in has changed. Handheld calculators have replaced pencil and paper arithmetic, making estimation, number sense, and good mental arithmetic strategies critical. And, recently-published statistics show a growing need for math in careers. By 2014, 6.3 million jobs are estimated to require science, engineering, or technical training — a 24% increase from 2004.(1) The foundation for the algebra needed in these careers is a deep understanding of number and operations.

Brain research has provided new insights on how kids learn mathematics. Teaching by building on their informal knowledge creates powerful learning. All humans are born with an innate ability to perceive small amounts like 2 or 3 as wholes and the spatial capacity to compare quantities.(2) We even have informal understanding of numbers as distances on a number line. At first only small amounts are understood proportionally (as increasing one by one) and larger amounts are not (as numbers increase they are mistakenly thought to get closer and closer). Even adults have trouble with this! Imagine counting from 1 to 100. You probably have no difficulty imagining the numbers increasing one by one—one unit apart on a number line. And, you can probably easily imagine the distance between the decades as ten units each. Now think of a million, a billion, or a trillion. How far away from 100 are these numbers? Could you place them on a number line proportionally?

In the early elementary school years it is important to develop understanding of the number line model. Research shows that increasing reliance on linear representations of numbers plays a central role in the development of numerical knowledge. The more developed the number line representation, the higher the math achievement scores.(3) This is probably because placing numbers on a number line requires thinking about how numbers are related (in contrast to just counting). For example, think about the question, "Where would 74 go on the picture to the right?"

Most likely you are imagining the halfway point to place 50, and then finding the halfway point between 50 and 100 to place 75. Now it is easy to find 74. This kind of number sense is deeper than thinking of 74 as the result of counting 74 units. Placing the number on the number line requires understanding the relationship between the numbers.

Family support for math learning is essential. Children who have had many experiences playing board games at home have more developed number line representations. In fact, playing such a game for roughly just one hour was shown to increase preschoolers' proficiency on 4 diverse numerical tasks: comparing numbers, number line estimation, counting, and numerical identification, and the gains were still there 9 months later.(4) Number games like dominoes, dice games, and some card games can make math fun, and you can encourage math problem-solving in everyday activities like shopping, cooking, and playing sports. Information about the important math skills for each grade can be found on the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics website at http://www.nctm.org/standards/focalpoints.aspx?id=298, and on your State Department of Education's website.

Computer technology is also a powerful tool for learning. At DreamBox Learning we keep up with the current research on mathematics learning, and we design activities that are continually customized for your child to maximize learning. We know that children learn through play, exploration, and by being provided with developmentally-appropriate challenges in supportive and nurturing environments. We also partner with parents, letting you know when your child has reached a milestone, cracked a math puzzle, or completed a customized learning module successfully. Look for our tips and activities in our e-mails, on our website (at http://www.dreambox.com/parent_tips), and in these monthly newsletters — just a few of the ways we help you get involved with your child's math learning at home!

— The DreamBox Learning Team
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DreamBox Learning K-2 Math is currently in beta testing. It's the only game that guides children to succeed by giving them individually-tailored instruction wrapped in fun web-based adventures! When our current beta test is completed, we will select an additional group of students to participate in the next round of testing.

If you are interested in signing up your Pre-K, Kindergarten or 1st grade child (or children) for our next beta, please visit http://www.dreambox.com/learn_more. (If you've already signed up to be invited to the next beta we promise to contact you — you don't need to sign up again!) Forward this article to a friend

Math Learning Tips for Busy Parents

At DreamBox Learning, we know parents want to be involved with their children's learning. As a regular feature, we're including simple games parents can play with their young children, even during everyday activities. Parents can help develop math skills no matter what their child's age by talking about the math in the world around them.

While shopping with your child, ask how many of one kind of vegetable you are buying, for example how many mushrooms are there? How many carrots? How many potatoes? Then ask how many vegetables did we buy in all?

You can continue this game while you cook by counting the number of people in your family, and talking about how many vegetables you are cooking for each person. You can ask how many people you'd have in all if you invited a friend's family to dinner. With an older child you can ask how many vegetables you would need if everyone got 3 carrots and 1 potato.

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