Be Positive

• Helping your child develop a positive attitude towards math starts with you. The Ontario Ministry of Education (edu.gov.on.ca) suggests you avoid talking about math negatively around your kids. For example, do not say "I was never good at math," or "I never liked math." Instead, emphasize that anyone is able to learn math and talk about how math skills are important for solving everyday problems. Ask your child to brainstorm ways that she uses math, and give examples of how friends and family members use math at their jobs.
  
  

Work Math Into Your Everyday

• Include your kids in daily activities that use math, or think of ways to work math lessons into their chores. Count clothes coming out of the dryer or try counting backward from 100 when items are going into the washing machine. Have your child help set the table for dinner and count the number of plates, utensils and glasses you need to get the job done. If your child is saving his birthday money for a special toy, have him find out the cost of the item he wants and count his change to see if he has enough. Include your little one in cooking and baking. Measuring out ingredients helps kids understand fractions and quantities.
  
  

Get Hands-On and Ask for Explanations

• Use household objects and toys to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, especially if your child is new to these concepts. A colorful abacus helps, as does lining up objects along the floor to demonstrate mathematical calculations visually for your child. For example, line up toy cars and say, "Here we have six toy cars. If we take away two, how many do we have left?" If your child seems confused about a problem, ask her what she does not understand. The CyberLearning website, operated by the National Education Foundation (cyberlearning.org), suggests that wrong answers help you understand where your child's having trouble. Encourage her draw pictures as she explains her thought process.
  
  

Play Games

• Formal games help your child learn math too. Try the broken calculator game. Tell the child, "The three button on our calculator is broken. How can we get a three to show up on the screen?" The answer could be by pressing one plus two, seven minus four, or any other calculation that produces a three. Estimate with your child. Have him guess how many steps you need to get from the front porch to the tree outside, then actually figure it out. Measure and record lengths of different items around your house. The Math.com website suggests playing store with your child. Label old food containers with prices, or label items from your child's kitchen play set. Act as the customer while your child figures out your "total" and writes up your receipt. Also try a numbers guessing game. Your child thinks of a number and gives you a range for it, such as "I'm thinking of a number between one and 10." Then, you ask questions to try to guess it, like "Is it less than five?" "More than two?" Switch roles once you guess correctly.
  
  

Sing Songs

• Very young children learn more about numbers through songs and nursery rhymes, including "10 Little Monkeys," "One, Two Buckle My Shoe" and "Five Little Pumpkins." Sing or chant these along with your preschooler to help him learn his numbers and counting.