Fun Ways to Help Primary Kids With Maths at Home

Most kids will grumble and resist practising maths problems in their own time. This is unfortunate as students who revise and practice maths at home have a significant advantage over their classmates.

In primary school, maths education is based on learning numbers, counting and understanding size, quantity and order. Students learn to recognise patterns and gain an understanding of statistics.

Kids need to fully understand mathematical concepts before they can move forward. Without this strong foundation, they will struggle with later learning. The best way to encourage your child to learn about numeracy at home is by making it enjoyable.

Here are some fun ways to help primary kids with maths at home.

Incorporate Maths Into Everyday Life

One of the easiest ways to help kids with maths is by showing them how it’s relevant to everyday life. There are countless things you can do to incorporate maths into daily activities, including:

- Cooking. Most kids love to cook, and this is a perfect opportunity to help them learn about measuring, weighing and following a sequence of steps. Through cooking they also gain an understanding of temperature. You can use the finished product to talk about maths skills; for example by cutting up a cake to teach about fractions.
- Grocery shopping. Ask your child to help gather items such as fruit and vegetables at the supermarket to boost their counting skills. You can also compare the size and volume of different products, such as cartons of milk. To help with mental calculations, ask them to add up the price of items to see if they get the correct figure. Giving kids a challenge can make a mundane activity like shopping fun and educational.
- Travel. You can use travel time in the car to nurture maths skills by simply asking younger kids to read number plates and signs. Ask older children to guess the distance between locations and the time it will take to travel there. Teach them to look at maps and learn about public transport timetables as this will increase their understanding of how numbers are used.
- Pocket money. Giving pocket money is a great way to help children understand finances. Encourage them to save up for items they want and help them calculate how long they’ll need to save before they have enough. You can also give them the opportunity to earn more money by completing additional chores. Kids will enjoy working out how much they have to earn to get what they want.

Other Ways to Boost Maths Skills

Card games and board games are an enjoyable way for the whole family to get involved in learning. Some board games which develop maths awareness are Connect Four, Qwirkle and Battle Sheep.

Activity books are another simple way to get kids practising maths at home. Quality books contain a range of activities and puzzles for kids to work out. They include word search games, colouring in and maths problems. The great thing about puzzle books is that kids don’t even realise they’re learning!

A Tutor Can Make Learning Fun

A tutor’s job is to create a learning program tailored to the individual interests and needs of each child. Because they are focusing only on one child, a tutor is able to ensure that learning materials are engaging and interesting, increasing kids’ motivation to learn.

Students also tend to be much more relaxed in their own homes, which helps make learning enjoyable.