Did you know the International Day of Mathematics (I.D.M) is celebrated worldwide on March 14th each year? It was established by UNESCO in 2019. March 14th is also celebrated in many countries as Pi Day since the mathematical constant for Pi is approximately 3.14. I.D.M addresses the important role of mathematics in education and our everyday lives such as in science and technology as well as achieving financial well-being. Another goal for this day is it emphasizes the importance of empowering women and girls in mathematics.
The theme for 2024 is ‘Playing with Math’ as the goal is to celebrate math games, puzzles and other interactive activities including the opportunity to ‘play’ with math through exploring and discovering. If you are interested in trying out some math activities such as a tiling activity, math scavenger hunt or math puzzles, the I.D.M website is an excellent place to start.
Here are some strategies families can participate in to allow children to practice their math skills:
1) Incorporate math into daily activities: Examples could include measuring ingredients while cooking or calculating the tip at a restaurant. Other examples could be bringing children to a supermarket/store or looking at store flyers and discussing the required coins/bills to pay for those items. For other math activities (i.e., financial literacy, algebra etc.), TVO Learn offers a variety of Ontario Curriculum related activities.
2) Play math games: Although there are many options to explore math in a fun way, here are some examples.
- Using Money to Shop: Children are given a shopping flyer with prices and are given a budget of how much they can spend. They are encouraged to use different coins and bills to determine if they are able to pay for those items.
- Math Bingo : Create bingo cards with math problems rather than numbers. When calling out the problem, children are to solve them.
- Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication Bowling: Arrange bowling pins and when children knock them down, they are to add, subtract or multiply numbers of pins knocked down to get their score.
3) Use technology to practice math skills: Some fun, yet educational websites include ABCya, Cool Math Games and Math Playground.
4) Join a Math program: If your child is interested in practicing their math skills or would like to participate in more interactive math activities, Markham Public Library offers a Math Club for Grades 2-3 and Grades 4-5 students.
5) Read math-themed books to discuss math concepts as it can help children talk about mathematical concepts. Please see below for suggested titles.
Are you thinking of strategies to introduce a mathematical concept to your child?
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