November Newsletter: Sparking Joy through Number Sense and Numeracy

Welcome, families! This month, we're diving into the exciting world of Number Sense and Numeracy. Number Sense and Numeracy is about helping students conceptually understand how numbers work and how we use them in everyday life. It includes learning to count, add, subtract, multiply, and divide, as well as working with fractions, decimals, and money. These skills help students solve problems, make sense of the world around them, and build confidence in math. 

There are many opportunities to create joyful moments and meaningful conversations with children around numbers

Some ideas to try:

• Ask open-ended questions: Instead of "What's 2 + 3?". Try "How many different ways can you make 5?"
• Connecting math to real life: Point out numbers on bus routes or count socks while folding laundry. Math is everywhere!
• Focusing on "how" and "why": Understanding the process is just as important as getting the answer. Let students experiment with different ways to solve a problem, and have them explain their thinking. The journey is where the real learning happens. 

Connecting it Back to the Classroom

Children begin developing number sense from a very young age. When families talk about math at home—whether it's counting objects, comparing amounts, or noticing numbers in daily life—children deepen their understanding of how numbers work. These conversations help them see how numbers relate to one another, represent quantities, and how each digit in a number has a value depending on its place. As children talk about numbers and practice using them, they start to build their own strategies, helping them become more confident, flexible, and fluent with math.

Engaging in Number Conversations at Home

We can use everyday items to engage in math conversations at home. Using concrete objects helps children visualize and understand mathematical concepts at home. Here are some ways you can do this together:

• Counting Collections: Gather larger collections of items (e.g., rocks, paperclips, LEGO pieces). Ask your child to estimate the total before counting, then count efficiently by grouping (e.g., by 10s, 25s, 50s, 100s). Challenge them to express the total in multiplication sentences (e.g., "I had 7 groups of 25, so 7 × 25 = 175").
  • Some other questions to ask could be :
• “If we split this into equal groups of 8, how many would be in each group?”
• “What if we wanted to share this collection equally between 3 people—how many would each person get? Would there be any left over?”
• Money Matters: Use real or play money to set up a small store. Give your child a budget and a flyer, or create a menu of items with prices. Ask them to:
  • Find multiple combinations to spend exactly $5.00 or stay under a budget
  • Calculate discounts (e.g., “This item is 20% off—what’s the sale price?”)
  • Add sales tax and figure out the total cost
  • Compare prices to find a better deal
• Building with Blocks: Use blocks or building materials to explore volume, perimeter, and patterns.
   Try these tasks:
  • Build a tower. Ask: Can you build a tower that is bigger? Build a tower that is smaller?
  • Build a tower 15 blocks tall, then increase its height by 25%. How tall is it now?
  • Build a rectangular prism with dimensions (length, width, height). Ask: “What’s the volume? How would it change if we doubled the height?”
  • Create and extend patterns using colours or shapes. Ask: “What’s the rule for your pattern? What would the 10th or 20th item look like?”
     

A Fantastic Resource for Families: THE RESOURCE

A super fun resource to highlight this month is "SPLAT!" 

Visit SPLAT's website. You may have heard of this activity from the classrooms; it's incredibly easy to play at home with items you already have. The idea is to give the student the total number of items, and then cover a group of the objects with a “splat” and then ask children to figure out how many are hidden. This simple concept provides rich opportunities for children to recognize the number of objects in a small group without counting, create (compose) numbers and break into parts (decompose) numbers, in a hands on engaging way! 

DIY "SPLAT!":

What you need: A small towel and a collection of everyday objects (e.g., buttons, dry pasta, small toys).

How to play:

"SPLAT!" encourages flexible thinking and deepens understanding of number relationships, all while feeling like a game!

Remember, the goal is not perfection. It is to participate and have a positive experience. Every time you engage in a math conversation or play a math-related game, you're building a student's confidence and showing them that math is fun, relevant, and a natural part of the world aroun them.

Happy math exploring this November!