How to Build Math Skills Over the Summer
A list of some of the best ways to keep your child’s math skills sharp during the summer
Having your child avoid the dreaded summer math study slump is key to furthering their improvement in the subject. With the school year now over, the task of improving your child’s math abilities may seem a little bit intimidating at first. However, there are a variety of different ideas to try that will allow your little one to both learn and have fun at the same time! In this article, we will provide you with some of the best ways to build your child’s math skills over the summer.
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Play Math Themed Games
There are so many math games out there that can help sharpen your child’s math skills over the summer! Board games like Monopoly are great for showing them how fun it is to count money and use it effectively to make purchases. Another obvious math game that comes to mind is Yahtzee.
In addition, games such as chess, checkers, and dominos require mathematical skills as well! Having your child count how many spaces are needed to make a move is a good way to get their math brains working. After they develop a liking for these math themed games. Introducing them to basic Sudoku puzzles is an excellent next step.
Overall, any of these options and many others are very effective ways to get children to think of math as more of a game than a chore. Once this happens, children will begin to practice math on their own as part of their free time.
Read Math Themed Books
Most people already know about the abundance of books that can help increase children’s interest in English, history, and science. However, there is also a wide variety of books aimed at helping kids improve their math skills without them even realizing!
Reading math books to your child will allow them to become familiar with the subject very quickly. Letting them solve and interact with the problems on the pages is beneficial as well!
A few examples of math themed books include Feast For 10, Inch by Inch, Just a Little Bit, and many others.
Integrate Math Into Everyday Outdoor Activities
Another way to boost your child’s math abilities this summer is to have them connect mathematics to the real world. They may not know it yet, but math is all around us and we use it in our everyday life. By using this approach, it will allow your child to discover a concrete purpose behind solving problems and working with numbers.
For example, the grocery store is the perfect place to practice math. One fun activity that you can try is to show them the maximum amount of money that you aim to spend while grocery shopping. As you fill up your cart, have them keep track of how much each item costs.
A second place that you could go is a restaurant. Similar to the grocery store activity, you can give them an arbitrary amount that you wish to spend on a meal. Then, have them pick food options from the menu that add up to that number.
Practice Math at Home
With your child out of the classroom, there are so many opportunities at home to practice math. For starters, have them measure some of their belongings like shoes or toys with a ruler. You can also have them calculate their own height using a tape measure.
Another fun math activity to try at home is to ask them to tell time on a watch and calculate how many hours or minutes it is till dinner. In addition, you can have them measure how many cups of vegetables or how many ounces of milk are needed for a specific recipe.
Join a Summer Math Group or Club
It is always more fun to learn in a group rather than alone! Integrating your child into math learning discussion groups can help them build math skills easier over the summer. With multiple members in a group, students learn from each other and are introduced to math techniques that they did not already know beforehand.
In addition, many members in this math group will most likely also be trying to avoid the summer learning slump. Having friends to interact with makes the experience a lot more fun as it becomes an event that your child will begin to look forward to. In the end, they will see it as a fun summer activity rather than a boring school chore!
About Think Academy
Think Academy provides online teaching services and classes for math students across grades K-Middle School. We also provide tons of free academic resources such as worksheets, webinars, and more! For those who are interested, you can join our WhatsApp group to receive free weekly math resources!
In addition, if you would like to receive free math resources via email instead. You can sign up to join our newsletter here!
Think Academy’s Classes
We offer numerous different math courses for children in grades K-8. We have short-term basic math classes that can help improve your child’s fundamental math skills. These courses last only about four weeks.
In addition, we also have K-8 long-term classes to ensure that students master the math material in their respective grades. These semester-long courses are available in three different levels (Advancement, Mastery, ACE) to account for all learning speeds!
As for students who want to take their math skills to the next level. Think Academy provides math competition prep classes for events such as the AMC 8 and Math Kangaroo!
You can register for any of our classes by clicking the link to our courses page here.
1-on-1 Evaluation
Lastly, before you register for our long-term courses. Make sure to schedule a free 1-on-1 evaluation if you have not already! Think Academy’s 1-on-1 evaluation contains an overview of our mission and academic structure, a 15-question evaluation exam, a one hour in-depth analysis, and a 15-minute teacher-to-parent discussion. After the evaluation, a customized study plan will be provided so that all of your child’s learning needs are met!
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