By: Jeff Heyck-Williams

Math can be one of the most challenging areas of school for children, and many parents don’t have an idea about where to begin to help their kids be successful within the discipline. A lot of websites, video games, and materials are produced that are designed to help kids develop procedural fluency with computation, but they sap the pleasure out of a subject that can be as fun as it is difficult. Helping our children be successful in math we need to recognize the full breadth and depth of mathematics learning. This means we need to take into account what kids understand about all of the domains of math, how they problem solve, their attitudes towards the subject, and of course their ability to calculate accurately as well. So what could this look like for a parent working and playing with their child at home. Here are five things that I share with parents that can have a huge positive impact on their child’s mathematical life.