Helping your young child with Mathematics
From birth your child has been learning about maths. Maths is everywhere around us. Talking to your child and letting him take part in everyday activities like going to the shop, cooking, and helping to set the table helps your child with maths. You can help your child to solve maths problems by working out how to share sweets equally, by making sure that everyone has a knife and fork at dinner time. When your child starts school, you can continue to play a key role in helping them to understand and enjoy maths.
Some tips
Helping your child with maths in Junior Infants
What your child is learning in school
How your child can learn at home
Talk about measurement
The language you use helps children to learn maths. When talking about weight, use words such as heavy, heavier, heaviest etc. If you are pouring water, talk about full and empty;
See www.ncca.ie/parents for more information about helping your child with maths.
Helping your child with maths in Senior Infants
What your child is learning in school
How your child can learn at home
Talk about shapes and directions
Talk about shapes seen around the house. Corners, edges, curved, round and flat.
Use words such as under, over, beside, left, right.
See www.ncca.ie/parents for more information about helping your child with maths
Helping your child with maths in First Class
What your child is learning in school
43 36
+ 44 + 25
77 61
How your child can learn at home
Talk about maths problems which use words and numbers
Maths Vocabulary
Addition
Helping your child with maths in Second Class
What your child is learning at school
How your child can learn at home
Talk about maths problems which use words and numbers
See www.ncca.ie/parentsprimary for a video on renaming. There is also a fact sheet on the NCCA site which gives information on the teaching of subtraction by renaming.
Suitable Maths Website Links:
Please supervise your child as he accesses any of these websites and limit the amount of time spent on the computer. The school cannot take responsibility for any other content that may appear on these websites.
From birth your child has been learning about maths. Maths is everywhere around us. Talking to your child and letting him take part in everyday activities like going to the shop, cooking, and helping to set the table helps your child with maths. You can help your child to solve maths problems by working out how to share sweets equally, by making sure that everyone has a knife and fork at dinner time. When your child starts school, you can continue to play a key role in helping them to understand and enjoy maths.
Some tips
- Give your child containers to play with. Talk about: holds more/less, empty/ full.
- Encourage your child to tidy up toys. Compare toys: This toy is heavier/ lighter, bigger/smaller than
- Make patterns using buttons or clothes pegs. Thing about pattern in terms of colour, size, shape.
- Say simple counting rhymes. Ten Green Bottles
- Give your child maths objects to play with: measuring tapes, rulers, jugs, weighing scales, phones, watches
- Look at the clock. Time for school/ bed.
- Ask your child to help with sorting – matching socks or putting things into fridge
- Look at shapes. How many circles can you see in the kitchen? In the garden?
- Draw attention to the days of the week and time of day; today, tomorrow, morning, night
- Look at numbers on cars, buses, shops
- Measure your child. How tall is he? Shoe size? Use words such as big/ small/narrow/ wide/ tall/ short
- Play counting games such as Snakes and Ladders, Bingo, Hopscotch
- Draw or make shapes. Circles, squares, straight, curved
- Make a pretend shop. Use real or pretend money. How many? How much? What change did we get?
Helping your child with maths in Junior Infants
What your child is learning in school
- Match objects that go together. (Shoes and socks, a pencil for each child)
- Sort groups of objects. (Put all the blue blocks together).
- Say the numbers 1 to 10 in the correct order counting forwards and backwards
- Recognise the written numbers 1 to 5
- Write the numbers 1 to 5
- Tell at a glance the number of objects in a group up to 5
- Add two groups of objects to a total of 5
- Count how many are left in a group when some are taken away
- Recognise and make simple patterns
- Sort and names shapes such as square, circle, triangle, rectangle
- Compare objects using words such as heavy and light, long and short, full and empty
- Talk about time using words such as before and after, early and late, night and day
- Recognise and use coins up to 5c
How your child can learn at home
- Sort toys into groups by colour/shape
- Pick out a number for the day and look out for it when you go out.
- Ask your child to get 2 apples and then 3 more. How many now?
- Look for patterns on tiles or curtains
- What day is today?
- Encourage your child to count objects carefully by taking time to touch each item and saying the number name at the same time
- Play dice games
- Ask your child to help with the shopping. Which is the heaviest item?
- Play shop. Price items up to 5c
Talk about measurement
The language you use helps children to learn maths. When talking about weight, use words such as heavy, heavier, heaviest etc. If you are pouring water, talk about full and empty;
See www.ncca.ie/parents for more information about helping your child with maths.
Helping your child with maths in Senior Infants
What your child is learning in school
- Recognise the written numbers 0 – 10
- Say the numbers 0 – 10 in the correct order. Use the word ‘zero’ for 0.
- Write the numbers 0-10
- Count the number of objects in a group and count how many are left when some objects are taken away
- Add two groups of objects to make a total of 10
- Start to use the symbols + and = to add groups of objects
- Estimate the number of objects in a group
- Recognise simple number patterns, 3,4,_, 6; 5, _, _, 2, 1.
- Sort, describe and name 3-D shapes including cube, sphere, cylinder and cuboid
- Compare objects using words such as heavy or light; heaviest or lightest; long or short
- Recognise familiar times and read the clock in hours. Put daily or weekly events in order
- Recognise coins up to 20 cents and use coins up to 10 cents.
How your child can learn at home
- Try counting in 2s up to 20.
- Put items on a table. How many are there?
- Talk about times and the clock. Put notices on fridge door. “Football 3pm on Tuesday”.
- Look at numbers on the microwave, the remote control
- Let the child handle money and work out change
- Play board games with dice
- Ask your child to help with the washing. Find the long trousers/ short trousers etc
Talk about shapes and directions
Talk about shapes seen around the house. Corners, edges, curved, round and flat.
Use words such as under, over, beside, left, right.
See www.ncca.ie/parents for more information about helping your child with maths
Helping your child with maths in First Class
What your child is learning in school
- Read, write and order numbers from 0 – 99
- Memorise number facts within 20
- Add numbers without and with renaming within 99.
43 36
+ 44 + 25
77 61
- Count in 2s, 5s and 10s
- Develop an understanding of subtraction. I had 10 sweets. I ate 3. How many had I left?
- Subtract numbers without renaming up to 99
- Use the symbols, +,-, =
- Recognise ½ of sets up to 20
- Use language of spatial relations: between, underneath, on top of, around, through, left, right
- Recognise the following 2-D shapes: square, rectangle, triangle, circle, semi-circle
- Recognise the following 3-D shapes: cube, cuboid, cylinder and sphere
- Measure lengths using metres
- Weigh objects using kilograms
- Measure liquids using litres
- Read time in hours and half-hours using analogue clock
- Read day, month, year using calendar
- Recognise coins up to value of 50c
- Represent data in two, three or four columns using real objects, models or pictures
How your child can learn at home
- Talk about numbers: 4 + 3 is the same as 3+ 4 etc
- Encourage your child to add up coins
- Encourage your child to look at weights of objects; measure distances using a measuring tape. Look at containers – how much do they hold?
- Read times and use a calendar
Talk about maths problems which use words and numbers
Maths Vocabulary
Addition
- more than
- altogether
- total
- sum
- plus
- add
- increase
- count forwards
- rename
- take away
- less than
- fewer
- How may are left over?
- What change will I get?
- Difference
- Leave
- Minus
- decrease
Helping your child with maths in Second Class
What your child is learning at school
- Read and write the numbers 0-200
- Understand the value of numbers: the 4 in 54 means 4 units
- Know and understand addition tables up to 20
- Estimate answers to sums by getting ‘rough’ answers
- Add and subtract numbers with a total less than 100
- Rename or re-group numbers
- Identify halves and quarters
- Work out the next number in a pattern, 3, 5, 7, 9, _
- Identify shapes such as square, rectangle circle, semi-circle, oval and cube, cuboid, cylinder, sphere and cone
- Measure lengths using metres and centimetres; weigh objects using kilos, half-kilos and quarter kilos; measure liquids using litres, half-litres and quarter-litres
- Read time in hours, half-hours and quarter-hours and use a calendar to find important dates
- Recognise, exchange and use money up to €2
How your child can learn at home
- Understand addition tables up to 20. If a child knows 3+6 = 9; he should begin to understand that 6+3 = 9. Subtraction tables are also important: 9-3 = 6 and 9-6= 3. The four facts are: 3+6 = 9; 6+ 3 = 9; 9-3 = 6 and 9=6=3
- Recognise, swap and use money
- Ensure that maths homework is done. Follow methods which are used in school
- Finding fractions of objects – ½ of a chocolate bar etc
- Measuring activities
- Read times and use a calendar
Talk about maths problems which use words and numbers
See www.ncca.ie/parentsprimary for a video on renaming. There is also a fact sheet on the NCCA site which gives information on the teaching of subtraction by renaming.
Suitable Maths Website Links:
Please supervise your child as he accesses any of these websites and limit the amount of time spent on the computer. The school cannot take responsibility for any other content that may appear on these websites.
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