What is FAMILIES COUNT?

• It’s families learning and enjoying math together.
• It’s being friendly with numbers, shapes and patterns.
• It’s estimating with numbers and sizes.
• It’s using beans, buttons and measuring cups to solve math problems.
• It’s playing games, cards, and puzzles.
• It’s learning how math relates to real life.

Did You Know?

That your involvement with your child’s education is the single most important factor in your child’s academic success? It’s a fact! Children in families that learn together have greater success in school and life.

Family Activities Using Math

• Guess cost of purchases
• Count change
• Measure distances
• Cut out food shapes
• Sort socks
• Hunt for patterns
• Time activities
• Read the calendar
• Count while in the car
• Measure in unusual and silly ways
• Predict when reading stories
• Play board and card games
• Work puzzles together

Choose a Book!
Our top choices for Fun Family Figuring

• ABC Math Riddles by Janelle Martin
• Anno’s Math Games series by Mitsumasa Anno
• Apple Fractions and other titles by Jerry Pallotta
• Arithmetricks by Edward Julius
• The Best of Times; The Grapes of Math and other titles by Greg Tang
• Family Math; Family Math for Young Children; and Family Math II from the Lawrence Hall of Science
• Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert
• How Much is a Million?; Millions to Measure and other titles
by David Schwartz
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
• Math for Smarty Pants by Marilyn Burns
• MathStart series from HarperCollins Publishers
• Mission: Addition; 2 x 2 = Boo! and other titles by Loreen Leedy
• Pigs series by Amy Axelrod
• Scholastic Explains Homework series from Scholastic Inc.
• Two Ways to Count to Ten by Rudy Dee

Tips to Help You Think of Math

Have available around your house:
• Rulers and measuring sticks of different sizes
• Variety of measuring cups and spoons for food, bath and sandbox
• Calculators, computers, pencils and paper for arithmetic skills
• Blocks with different shapes to build, sort and create patterns
• Variety of maps to calculate distances
• Different clocks to tell time
• Lots of card games, board games and puzzles for all sorts of math fun!

Math Homework: How Can Families Help?

Try asking your children these questions:
• What do the directions say?
• Where do you think
• you should begin?
• Why don’t you show me
• what you’ve done so far?
• What problems like this one
• have you had before?
• Whom can you call to get help?

Once You Get Started, What Then?

• Be positive, be helpful.
• Rather than correcting mistakes, say, “Let’s figure that again.” Encourage creative problem solving.
• Participate without taking over.
• Ask the teacher about the school math program and your child’s progress.
• Praise and have fun!

Families Count, a collaborative project of the Mohawk Valley Library System, Amsterdam Free Library, The Community Library in Cobleskill, Johnstown Public Library and Schenectady County Public Library, is supported by Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to The New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Mohawk Valley Library System
858 Duanesburg Road | Schenectady | New York 12306-1095
Phone: 518-355-2010 | Fax: 518-355-0674

Families Count: http://www.mvls.info/familiescount/