• Challenge others or challenge yourself. Online math strategy games at Calculation Nation provide a safe environment for elementary and middle school students to challenge themselves and challenge others.  Games involve fractions, factoring, symmetry and comparing perimeter and area!
• Play strategy games with friends and family. A great way to spend quality time. Games such as Contig, and other free board games. Play as teams while learning so you can talk about strategy and then move playing individually.
• Talk to your children’s teachers before the break. Ask questions that show you are concerned about their development and maintenance of mathematics skills and fluency. For example, ask, “What do you see as my child’s strengths and weaknesses in math? What could we do while at home to develop or improve his/her weakest areas?”   

What does mathematics mean to you? The hope is that your experiences were positive, resulting in an appreciation and enjoyment of mathematics. Unfortunately, we commonly hear adults make such comments as “I can’t do math” or “I don’t like math.” If you share these sentiments, you may remember mathematics as a bunch of rules to memorize, concepts that did not make sense and assignments unconnected with everyday life.

Regardless of your own experiences, you play an important role in developing your child’s attitude toward, and success with, math. A family's guide: Fostering your child's success in school mathematics is intended to help you understand changes in mathematics education and to suggest ways that you can support your child’s learning at any grade level.

• Download the Guide [1.4 Meg]

•   "Family's Ask" - an additional resource for parents of middle years students