Schools will soon be closed for a two-week break. Many of the after school activities that children are involved in will also be suspended for this time period. Without the pressure of not-enough-time-in-a-day, you can start to help your child focus on learning math facts.
Once you get going, you and your child will see that it does not take up a lot of time, and it is easy, even fun to learn math facts.
First, determine which math facts are “known,” meaning the fact is answered automatically and correctly, without counting to get the answer. Record these facts. If you are using Two Plus Two Is Not Five or Five Times Five Is Not Ten, there are record-keeping pages in the books. Use 3″ by 5″ cards to make a practice card for each known fact. Review these with your child daily. Remember, your child knows them, so they will be easy to answer and your child will feel good about knowing the answers quickly!
Next, teach a few new facts each day, and add these new facts to the stack of known facts. Try to give written practice and review as well. Two Plus Two Is Not Five and Five Times Five Is Not Ten both have a lot of reproducible practice pages. www.TwoPlusTwoIsNotFive.com shows lots of sample pages from both books.
Gradually, over a period of 2-3 months, all the 81 addition, 81 subtraction, and 81 multiplication facts will be mastered, and your child will not have to count out answers when working on more advanced math skills. You can also work on division facts, but the practice pages are not yet available.
