Mathematics

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Family Support for Math

Making math relevant in everyday life is an easy way parents can support their child’s learning at school. Math is all around us – shapes, numbers, money, and measurement. Connections from the classroom to home help children share their love for math and practice their problem-solving skills. This guide is designed to help families in being a partner in their child’s math experiences.

What should my child be expected to learn in math class?

Children learn important content and skills at each grade level and course starting with basic math facts to learning more complex concepts in upper grade levels like ratios and proportions.

Children will be asked to solve problems and show their thinking as well as be able to explain how they got their answers. The 2023 Mathematics Standards of Learning set the expectations for what every Virginia child should know and be able to do at each grade level.

What are the major milestones for children at each grade band?

By Grade 2, children can see relationships between numbers and notice patterns between those numbers. Children should also be able to use addition and subtraction to solve different types of problems and should recall math facts within 20.

By Grade 5, children are able to use all four operations (i.e., addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) to estimate and solve different types of problems and explain their thinking (including word problems).

In Grade 6-12, children will show their math thinking in multiple ways and be able to explain and justify their answers. Parents will find the Help Children Prepare for Math in Grades K-8 With a Readiness Checklist as a helpful resource to learn what skills children need to be successful at each grade level. Videos and activities to support grade level learning at home are also included.

What are ideas for parents to support math at home?

Make it Math has resources in English and Spanish and provides multiple fun math activities including family “math talks”, games, math habits, and math storytelling. VDOE also has multiple math activities. The Zearn Resources for Virginia Families provides resources to support parents supporting math at home.

What support is available if my child is struggling with math?

Many school divisions are using Zearn to support tutoring programs at school. Additionally, families can use this program at home to support their child. The What is Zearn? handout helps families access a no-cost link to Zearn and shows families how to use Zearn at home.

Talk with your child’s teacher. Your child’s teachers is the best resource to find out if your child is struggling with math. If you are worried about how your child is learning grade level math concepts, we recommend scheduling time to talk with a teacher to discuss and identify ways you can support math learning at home.

Ask for language supports. Parents of multilingual learners will find useful information and activities that promote family engagement at home by highlighting various important ways families support children’s language development.

Learning Language Every Day: Activities for Families (packet in several languages)

Family Connections Through Home Languages (flyer in several languages)

Introducing World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) (video)
The Virginia Family’s Guide to Special Education and the VDOE Special Education for Families page contain information about resources related to assessment, diplomas, and critical decision points for parents to support their children who have disabilities. This Guide can help parents understand the special education process, services, and support for children with disabilities in public schools. Parents can also find helpful tools related to student testing, diplomas, and other important decision points for children with disabilities. (Spanish, Vietnamese, Urdu, Arabic, and Amharic versions also are available).

This center features free and on-demand training for parents centered around special education with a focus on Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and special education supports. Supports for families in communicating and working with their school are also included.

What resources are available for my child who excels in math?

Resources for gifted learners and their families can also be found through the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and the Virginia Association for the Gifted. Detailed resources for families with English Language Learners or students with disabilities can be found in the table below.

What if my child is bored in their math class?

If a child is not being challenged in their current math instruction, a parent should meet with the child’s teacher and guidance counselor about opportunities for advanced math courses that accelerate his or her progress in school. Many schools have virtual, self-paced math courses available in middle school to help challenge advanced learners.

Math Resources for Grades K-2

Engaging With Children In Math Games	Games and puzzles help children to learn math in a fun and engaging way. Use these games and puzzles to help improve a child’s math problem solving skills.
PBS Resources For Parents To Engage with Children At Home	Parents will find information, activities, and games to help engage children at home on their math skills. Search by age, topic, and PBS show.
Daily Math Activities For Everyday Life	Bedtime Math helps make math a fun part of a child’s day by combining bedtime reading with math. This website provides fun, short stories that are followed by three math problems for children to solve.
Help Children Prepare for Math in Grades K-8 With a Readiness Checklist	Parents will find this resource helpful to learn what skills children need to be successful at each grade level. Videos and activities to support grade level learning at home are also included.

Math Resources for Grades 3-5

Questions to Ask Teachers About Math for Grades 3-8	Parent can use this resource when thinking about questions to ask teachers when support is needed at home about math in addition to resources parents can use to support math at home today.
Engaging With Your Child In Math Games	This website can be used to enrich math instruction from home through games and puzzles.
FigureThis-Math Challenges for Families	Parents can use this website to engage in math challenges and activities with children. Some challenges are also available in Spanish. Tips for parents are provided in the Family Corner.
Daily Math Activities For Everyday Life	Parents can use this website to make math a fun part of child’s day by combining bedtime reading with math. This website provides fun, short stories that are followed by three math problems for children to solve.

Math Resources for Grades 6-12

Family Math Missions by Topic	Access free evidence-based math lessons or “missions” that you can do at home to practice different math topics. Grade 6: Link to Area and Surface Area Grade 6: Link to Introducing Ratios Grade 6: Link to Unit Rates and Percentages Grade 6: Link to Dividing Fractions Grade 6: Link to Arithmetic in Base Ten Grade 6: Link to Expressions and Equations Grade 6: Link to Rational Numbers Grade 6: Link to Data Sets and Distributions Grade 7: Link to Scale Drawings Grade 7: Link to Introducing Proportional Relationships Grade 7: Link to Measuring Circles Grade 7: Link to Proportional Relationships and Percentages Grade 7: Link to Rational Number Arithmetic Grade 7: Link to Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities Grade 7: Link to Angles, Triangles, and Prisms Grade 7: Link to Probability and Sampling Grade 8: Link to Rigid Transformation and Congruence Grade 8: Link to Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope Grade 8: Link to Linear Relationships Grade 8: Link to Linear Equations and Linear Systems Grade 8: Link to Functions and Volume Grade 8: Link to Associations in Data Grade 8: Link to Exponents and Scientific Notation Grade 8: Link to Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers
Schoolhouse Tutoring and Online Math Help For Children	Parents may be in need of support with tutoring and homework. This website provides high school children with free, online, small-group math tutoring and homework support.
Outschool Tutoring	Parents will find this a helpful tutoring resource that allows children to choose from thousands of different tutoring options.
Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s Schools Student and Parent Guide	This parent resource provides information about Summer Residential Governor’s Schools, a summer program for advanced juniors or seniors hosted by universities around the Commonwealth.
Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice from Khan Academy	Parents will find this resource helpful when practicing topics children learn at school from home. When children are at home completing assignments, it may be difficult for parents to relate to the content the child is learning at school. This site provides free online lessons in every subject area – including math.