At the very mention of math, most kids run for the hills. Sometimes, when teachers assign crazy questions which include both letters and numbers, our children can feel puzzled as to why it’s all even necessary in the first place. But math is a fundamental skill that we may not even realize how often we use. Show your child that math is all around them with these tips.

Shopping

Children probably don’t understand the amount of planning that goes into a simple grocery store trip. Next time you make your list, try to keep their attention by showing how much of everything you need, including weights. The items themselves aren’t the only math you’ll need to consider. There are also discounts and sales which require mental math to figure out how much you’re saving by going with one brand over the other. If you’ve got a budget, there can be a lot of quick calculations to avoid going over your limit.

Cooking At Home

To your kid, cooking can seem like magic. They might not realize the measuring, weighing, and patience that goes into each home cooked meal. Show your child how you weigh and measure out your ingredients and how you set timers and adjust the temperature of your stove and oven. If you’re cooking meat, use a thermometer to check the internal temperature and explain that different meats are safe to consume at different temperatures.

Saving Money

One of the most important things we should be doing — but oftentimes forget — is saving money. Demonstrate by example and show your child how even setting aside a few dollars a week can help save up for a new book, video game, or ice cream cone. Condensing your money spent into a weekly budget just goes to show how much math is used on a day-to-day basis. It can literally run your life!

Time Management

At 7 am the kids are up, which gives them half an hour to get ready and another half hour to get to school and situated. Math is ever present in time management. From cooking to traveling, math is around us. As adults, we’re constantly doing math to figure out how much time we have left before our next task. Help your child plan out their day to not only build their math skills but their time management skills as well.

Have your child turn their day-to-day activities into mathematical equations; it might just help them when they’re in class, too! They could plan out their day with times included. Perhaps they could help you cook or plan out the grocery list. Lake Forrest Prep, a private school in Orlando, does their best to show the math all around us. Contact us to arrange a school tour!