Computational Fluency

What does the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) say about computational fluency?
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National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

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How can I support my child in math at home?

Help your child discover mathematics in everyday activities.  Occurrences such as sporting events, grocery store visits, or stock market discussions provide an opportunity to apply mathematical concepts in a natural manner.

When discussing mathematical concepts, stress the use of precise mathematical language.  Encourage your child to communicate and explain their reasoning using mathematical language.

Practice basic facts through games, drill, flash cards, multiplication charts, or with the computer.

Stress organization in your child's academic schedule and work.  Schedule time for homework.  Make sure homework is in your child's binder and/or backpack when the work is completed.

Help your child set personal goals.  Help them identify areas where growth and improvement can occur, and assist him/her in creating strategic plans to meet the goals.

Praise and recognize your child's achievements.  Celebrate them like the big accomplishments they are.

Provide a space and quiet time for your child to study at home. This place should be free from distractions such as television or radio and should be available ot him/her every day.

Establish a daily home study time in order to encourage your child to take responsibility for his/her learning and to develop good study habits.

Sit with your child when he/she does homework, if you can.

Ask your child to share with you what he/she is learning about math in school.
 
 

The Online Parent Guide to Reinforcing Basic Computation Skills

The collection of links below includes online activities and games designed to reinforce number sense and basic computation.


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• Addition and Subtraction With the Abacus-- http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/abacus/ Instructions for performing addition & subtraction on the abacus (Grades 3-5).

 
• A Plus Math Games-- http://www.aplusmath.com/Games/games.html  This is a collection of on-line games suitable for drill or reinforcement of basic math concepts and operations. The site has several different game formats for each basic operation. Each game is available in Java or non-Java versions. The Java versions are self-scoring (Grades 4-8).

 
• Aritm--http://www.df.lth.se/~mikaelb/aritm/aritm.shtml Aritm trains you in simple mental calculation. This program teaches its users the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables (Grades 2-5).

 
• ArithmAttack--http://www.dep.anl.gov/aattack.htm How many computer-generated arithmetic problems can you answer in 60 seconds (Grades 1-5)?

 
• Arithmagic--http://home.att.net/~mathtrek/musexxxx.htm When he was a kid, Arthur Benjamin liked to show off. Now, he's a math professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California--and a professional magician. Benjamin says that anyone-- young or old--can learn to do the same feats of mental arithmetic. You, too, can look like a genius without really trying, he insists. All it takes is...(Grades 4-8).

 
• Changemaker Game--http://www.funbrain.com/cashreg/index.html This interactive game challenges students to come up with the correct change from purchases in two categories: amounts less than $1 or amounts less than $100. The game provides feedback and reinforcement to encourage the hesitant (Grades 1 and up). 

 
• Chisenbop-- http://klingon.cs.iupui.edu/~aharris/chis/chis.html Chisenbop is a method of doing basic arithmetic using your fingers. It is attributed to the Korean tradition, but it is probably extrememly old, as the soroban and abacus use very similar methods. Probably these other devices were derived from finger counting (Grades K-5).

 
• Division Facts Concentration Game-- http://www.quia.com/cc/5524.html Uncover the quotient and the matching division problem (Grades 2 and up).

 
• Division Facts Matching Game--http://www.quia.com/mc/5524.html Match the quotient to the matching division problem (Grades 2 and up).

 
• Egyptian Math Translator-- http://www.eyelid.co.uk/calc.htm This is a JavaScript translator, which uses hieroglyphic numerals to make math calculations. Click here to go to the Egyptian Math translator. (You will need Netscape 4 or IE4 to see this version of JavaScript. Grades 4-6)

 
• Fast Arithmetic Tricks--http://forum.swarthmore.edu/k12/mathtips/mathtips.html More than 250 mental calculation tricks from the BEATCALC mailing list (Grades 6-8).

 
• First Grade Backpack - Arithmetic-- http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/1217/math1.html Grade 1-2 - Here's a selection of simple math sites compiled expressly for primary students. They provide quick access to a group of games, puzzles, and other math resources for first or second grade. Some can be used by students directly; others may require some help from the teacher. This site also contains geography and reading sections (Grades K-1).

 
• Flashcard For Kids-- http://www.edu4kids.com/math/ An interactive, online elementary problem solver (Grades 1-6). 

 
• Hundreds Chart and Calculator--http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap4/4.5 In this two-part example virtual hundred boards and calculators furnish a visual way of highlighting and displaying various patterns and relationships among numbers (Grades 1-5).

 
• KidsMath--http://www.kidsmath.com/e_beg.html To learn math, there are three important ingredients: concepts, repetitive practices and reinforcement. At KidsMath, we introduce concepts with nice graphics, provide unlimited exercises and reinforce with instant correct answers. Kids should do between one to three sets a day... (Grades 1-5).

 
• Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum--http://mdk12.org/mspp/vsc/index.html The Voluntary State Curriculum defines what students should know and be able to do at each grade level Pre-K through 8 in four content areas: Mathematics, Reading/English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. It also defines what students should know and be able to do in 10th grade Reading. The VSC is the document that aligns the Maryland Content Standards and the Maryland Assessment Program and will be available in a number of formats for teachers, central office staff, students, parents, and the other stakeholders. The Voluntary State Curriculum is embedded in the Howard County Essential Curriculum (Parents/Educators).

 
• Math Baseball Game-- (http://www.funbrain.com/math) Practice your arithmetic facts with this web-based game from Funbrain.com (Grades 1-5).

 
• Math Journey-- http://www.quia.com/mathjourney.html Use your math facts to travel around the world (Grades 2-5)!

 
• Mouse Math--http://www.hufsoft.com/download/mmsetup.exe Mouse Math is a verbal mathematics drill program for Windows that gradually uncovers whimsical photographs as answers to spoken problems are clicked with a mouse. Setup options allow you to select problem ranges appropriate for young children, older kids and teens. (Note - PC trial version can be downloaded with Win 95 or higher. Grades K-8) 

 
• Room 108 Mad Math Minutes-- http://www.scugog-net.com/room108/MadMath/mmm.htm Can you do this page in a minute? This program gives lots of pages of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division questions and marks all your work (Grades 1-8). 

 
• Room 108 Math Test -- http://www.scugog-net.com/room108/math.html This program gives easy addition, subtraction, multiplication or division questions. It marks your work and verbally states whether or not you have supplied the correct answer (Grades 1-5)! 

 
• Room 108 Multiplication-- http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/MulTab/Applet.html Try some multiplying. This visually shows students the addition groups they are multiplying using a multiplication chart (Grades 2-5).

 
• Schoolhouse Rock's Multiplication Rock-- http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/preschool/schoolhouserock/index.html Remember those catchy Saturday morning cartoon songs? View the words and listen to the actual songs (Grades 2-5)!

 
• Spiro Math-- http://www.hufsoft.com/software/page3.html In Spiro Math, you use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on four digits to reach a particular target (Win 95 or higher trial version must be downloaded, and best viewed with Internet Explorer, Grades 2-5).

 
• Wee Webbies Addition Flashcards - Easy-- http://www.weewebbies.com/htmls/web31200.htm Very easy, multiple choice format; by fact family (Best viewed with Internet Explorer, Grades K-1).

 
• Wee Webbies Addition Flashcards-- http://www.weewebbies.com/htmls/web31300.htm Slightly more difficult, multiple choice format; by fact family (Best viewed with Internet Explorer, Grades K-1).