Math Newsletter

How long? How tall? How heavy? How far? Measurement is an inescapable math concept that children utilize everyday without realizing it. Measurement involves finding or comparing the size, length or amount of something. Children will naturally begin to explore the concept of measurement through play and will develop ways to quantify amounts using non-standard units such as hands, feet or blocks.

Have you ever realized how much creativity there is in math? The Arts (visual arts, music and dance) are creative mediums that are interconnected with mathematical concepts and reasoning. When children are engaged in the Arts they are developing their artistic skills as well as their mathematical skills in a variety of areas (e.g., spatial reasoning, proportional reasoning and problem solving). Artists work creatively and flexibly with geometric shapes, scaling, patterns, fractions and many more mathematical concepts. The Arts is a playful way to inspire young mathematicians.  

• How do you react when you see a math problem? Do your palms start to sweat, does your mind go blank, do you start to feel physically ill? Approximately one third of children feel anxious when doing math - and the scary part is, this anxiety has been found in children as young as 5 years old. We need to help children see that math is more than just right and wrong answers or sets of facts and rules, so they can find the joy and beauty in it. 

  • Here are some tips for how you can help your child develop a positive relationship with math:

When we support our children with math, we tend to focus on helping them with specific content areas - for example knowing their facts, measuring distances, how to calculate volume - but did you know that there are other ways we can support them in math? Recent research suggests that executive function skills play a critical role in the development of mathematical proficiency and by helping our children develop these skills, we will help them improve their math. 

Talking about numbers is important for children’s math learning. Number talks during daily activities and play has a positive effect on children’s math knowledge in future years.  

Activities: 

Primary/Junior/Intermediate 

Estimation is an important part of our everyday lives, and in school, it helps students judge the reasonableness of their solutions.