A friend shared this video, and I loved it! From Kent Haines, a father who happens to also be a math teacher…
“I hope that this video helps parents find new ways of interacting with their kids on math topics.”
More from Kent Haines
- My First Math Event: Planning a math-play party at the local library.
- What the Kids Made at My First Math Event: Symmetry art and fun with mirrors.
- Talking to Parents about Math Explorations: Plus a link where you can buy your own mirror book.
- Ana: An inspirational story about one student who struggled with math — and who still finds math hard, but worth the effort.
Advice and Examples of Talking Math with Kids
If you enjoyed Kent’s video, you’ll love Christopher Danielson’s book and blog.
It’s a short book with plenty of great stories, advice, and conversation-starters. While Danielson writes directly to parents, the book will also interest grandparents, aunts & uncles, teachers, and anyone else who wants to help children notice and think about math in daily life.
“You don’t need special skills to do this. If you can read with your kids, then you can talk math with them. You can support and encourage their developing mathematical minds.
“You don’t need to love math. You don’t need to have been particularly successful in school mathematics. You just need to notice when your children are being curious about math, and you need some ideas for turning that curiosity into a conversation.
“In nearly all circumstances, our conversations grow organically out of our everyday activity. We have not scheduled “talking math time” in our household. Instead, we talk about these things when it seems natural to do so, when the things we are doing (reading books, making lunch, riding in the car, etc) bump up against important mathematical ideas.
“The dialogues in this book are intended to open your eyes to these opportunities in your own family’s life.”— Christopher Danielson
Talking Math with Your Kids
CREDITS: “Kids Talk” photo (top) by Victoria Harjadi via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). “Parent Rules” by Kent Haines.
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 