Giving your Child the Best Start in Math Before School Even Begins!
Which subject gave you the most difficulty in school? Most parents say math. As a teacher of 32 years, I heard time and time again, “Well, I was never good at math . . .” Recently, Mathnasium, the Math Learning Center, had its 4th Annual Trimathlon event. A past friend contacted me after seeing an article in the newspaper about the event. To our pleasure, we had Vincent, her 3 year old son (soon to be 4) participate with our second grade participants. What a joy it was when he completed his first challenge, The Counting Game, prior to the 15 minute time limit and squealed, “I finished it!” His enthusiasm and desire lasted the rest of the competition and to our joy he captured second place!
Vincent loves doing math. For him it is like participating on a sport team, learning dance or karate or some other hobby. How did this happen? How can you get your child interested in math when they are young so that love of learning continues throughout their life? Emily, Vincent’s mom, knows that music and mnemonic riddles help students put facts to memory. Vincent knows all of his times tables. I even challenged him by writing the numbers in words! A calculator for him is a fun toy like games on your Smart phone or tablet. He states the answer and then uses the calculator to check his answer. Hap Palmer has a CD called Multiplication Mountain. Instead of listening to just any music in the morning, Emily played Hap Palmer’s CD’s. That is how Vincent learned his math facts. Multiplication Mountain was his favorite.
How else can you motivate your child’s love for math? Play games. Lakeshore Learning, one of Mathnasium’s Trimathlon sponsors, has sets of games in folders for easy storage and playing. Vincent plays these. Other favorites at our math center are Fraction Formula, Countdown, Spot It, Quoridor, Set and 24. Vincent reads math books and looks at the games they provide with their series. He makes the cards himself and plays the games.
If you have a child that has a love for math and is ahead of his peers in school, Mathnasium the Math Learning Center can offer your child the supplementary experiences he may crave to keep the spark glowing!







