Using Math Games as Homework for Parent Involvement

More and more in my teaching career, I see that children no longer memorize their addition facts or multiplication tables. With the math curriculum as extensive as it is, teachers cannot afford to take the time to ensure that students learn the basic facts (sad, but true!). Parents are partners in the process and will offer greater opportunities for their children to succeed in math if they support the learning of the basics at home. Games fit the bill wonderfully!

Games offer a pleasant way for parents to get involved in their children’s education. Parents don’t have to be math geniuses to play a game. They don’t have to worry about pushing or pressuring their children. All that parents have to do is propose a game to their child and start to play.

Math games for kids and families are the perfect way to reinforce and extend the skills children learn at school. They are one of the most effective ways that parents can develop their child’s math skills without lecturing or applying pressure. When studying math, there’s an element of repetition that’s an important part of learning new concepts and developing automatic recall of math facts. Number facts can be boring and tedious to learn and practice. A game can generate an enormous amount of practice – practice that does not have kids complaining about how much work they are having to do. What better way can there be than an interesting game as a way of mastering them?

Sending a letter to parents that tells them how and why math games will be used in your classroom is a good idea. It can allay any doubts that may arise when their children come home describing how they “played games during math today!” Sending an already-learned game home with children to play with parents as part of homework is also useful. This helps give parents a sense of what can be learned from math games that are not workbook-or ditto-based.

On the CD, there is a copy of a parent letter and a response form for parents to fill out as a result of playing the game with their child.