October 15, 2023

Daily Life Skills

Daily Life Skills That Can Better Arithmetic Skills In Young Minds

Children who are being taught math have an opportunity to strengthen their arithmetic skills through varying activities and daily tasks that require similar skills that their lessons do.

The spectrum of comprehension in young minds is truly boundless, but every student needs a little extra boost from time to time. 

The content of mathematics only gets more difficult as the education continues. Therefore, it’s important to recognize that children will need resources and help to supplement their in-school work. This can be represented through homework, in-class reviews, tutoring, and even fun online games. 

Beyond the actual extra math help and skills to better their learning, there are things others can do at home. Guardians, tutors, babysitters, and other adults in a student’s life can aim to incorporate real-life scenarios that’ll have children subconsciously strengthening their arithmetic.

You can accentuate the arithmetic in various life skills, and it’s easier for the student to comprehend because it isn’t on a worksheet staring back up at them necessarily; it’s an activity they may want to participate in and not realize it uses some of the same skills they learn at school.

Children best explore and absorb their learning through play and hands-on activities. So, utilize their preferred playtime activities to exemplify easy math problems and solutions so they’re more inclined to take on the challenge!

It’s essential to remember that every age has a different level of basic knowledge and skills to have, so be sure to calibrate your arithmetic strengthening activities with the actual coursework the child is working on in their academics. 

Here are some ways to better your student’s arithmetic skills:

• Include them in household activities that require numbers or quantitative measuring! This can take on the form of measuring baking ingredients, counting toys out of a toy box, grouping small amounts of objects, and more! If your child is older, start adding basic subtraction or addition into playtime to encourage organization, but also give them the sense of control they like to have over their choice of play!
• Yes, technology can sometimes have its benefits when exposed to young minds. There is a wide array of math and learning-oriented apps and games to download, especially with characters and storylines your child may adore! If you find one your child pays utmost attention to, allot a little bit of time every day (no more than an hour) for them to play the math game. Including a fun concept, the child grasps will further motivate them to participate in the arithmetic work.
• This may be a bit of a given, but never stop remaining in contact with the child’s teacher! If they have separate teachers for separate subjects, be sure to get the direct contact information to ensure direct communication. You can even update the teacher on what work is done at home to reiterate that you want to be on the same page as the child’s school happenings!
• Timekeeping is essential in maximizing time and work management, but you can even include it in playtime! Depending on how young the student is, distinguish the numbers the big and small hands should be on when their playtime begins and finishes. That way, the child is learning basic time-telling and utilizing their surroundings to construct a happy productive environment. Setting time boundaries also encourages young students to complete their work more efficiently.

Now, there are some older students beyond basic arithmetic in their schoolwork that they may not need to count blocks or toys to strengthen their skills. However, arithmetic is all around us and should be worked on a little bit every day regardless!

If your child is in an upper elementary or middle school grade, money is a great real-life example of basic arithmetic. It also gets them to grasp a very prevalent life skill they’ll eventually handle on their own in adolescence and adulthood! 

This would be a great opportunity if the child earns allowance for small home chores and tasks; at the end of a month or week, lay out the allowance and group together the currency by the amount and that’ll incorporate basic multiplication!

Regardless of the age or level of skill, there is one simple task that’ll overall strengthen their confidence in completing math. No child learns the same way, or the same place, so it’s very important that you are NOT comparing the student to others’ successes and failures. 

There is such a thing as healthy competition, however, a child may not grasp the concept as effectively if they’re focused on simply “beating” another kid out when they do not have to. A child’s mind is elastic but can grasp even the smallest of negative behaviors, so constitute a constructive yet positive environment so they not only better their math but their human skills!