How To Help A First Grade Kid With Math Homework
At this age, math can be quite fun because first graders usually get to see a lot of colorful pictures and play math games as part of their math homework. This definitely helps keep your child interested as well as learn the concepts that are being taught. First grade math is a little more advanced than what they were introduced to in kindergarten, and relies on building a sense and understanding for numbers.
Students may be able to count by ones, twos, fives and tens. They should be able to write numbers in a word format, and do some basic addition and subtraction. Many fun and colorful games and examples can be used to illustrate these concepts.
When you are teaching a child this age to do their math, you can also use objects, such as coins, dice, poker chips, dry beans or anything else that’s small and handy you can put on the table in front of them. You can use these little items to count out the numbers and show how numbers are added or subtracted.
Traditionally it was frowned upon to let young children use their fingers for counting and math but in many cases this viewpoint has been turned upside down. Some schools of thought believe it’s beneficial and helps the student to be able to use their hands, fingers or anything else to help them visualize and manipulate numbers.
Here are some math games you can try:
- Go online and find interactive math games for first grade students
- Use small objects at home to let them move around to show addition and subtraction
- Use coins of different denominations to teach them how to add or subtract sums of money
Their assigned school work may have suggested activities to carry out as part of the assignment. In this case, show your child support by helping them to accomplish these activities. Teaching them to have regular school work time is also a great way to have the work finished easily and on time each day or each week, depending on how often it’s assigned.
A love or hate of math is usually fostered early on in a child’s life. If you don’t like math or struggle with the concepts, try not to let this be apparent to the child. Give them the opportunity to develop their own love of math.