Math is not just in the classroom, and summer is a great time to learn how math relates to the real world. It's more than just addition and subtraction worksheets— it's everywhere you look. Find out more about how you can engage your kiddos in real-world math with the suggestions below.
- Simple Tips for Summer Math Learning from PBS
- Table Talk Mathematics, a weekly newsletter for ideas (or two) that you could use to enhance the dinner table conversations.
- 11 Everyday Ways to Learn (and Practice) Math by Having Fun by Familyeducation.com
- Figure This! Math Challenges for Families
SUMMER MATH OPPORTUNITIES
Dreambox Learning is an engaging, self-adaptive tool to help students learn in a way that enables them to think and make sense of mathematics. Available throughout the summer, students can log into Dreambox to practice standard specific skills, at just the right level. The program will be monitored by Suffield Public School staff throughout the summer who can be reached through email for any questions or concerns by clicking here.
The 2020 Commissioner's Summer Math Challenge stresses the importance of maintaining math skills during the summer. Schools compete based on student population and grade level. The program identifies the schools with the highest percentage of participating enrollment and the highest number of badges earned by participating students. Registration instructions, district reporting forms and all other materials are available below.
Registration for Grades 1-8
Summer Math Log
Summer Math School Reporting Form - Form must be completed by October 2, 2020.
Student Certificate
Message to Parents and Students
Math book author and fluency guru, Greg Tang is offering a Summer Math Challenge for students in grades K-6. This challenge encompasses a game board by grade level chock-full of challenges and puzzles for your child to complete over the summer. Students who complete the board can be entered by you to be eligible for a prize drawing.
Click the image above to find out more about this fun challenge!
Click the image above to find out more about this fun challenge!
MORE WAYS TO EXTEND MATH THIS SUMMER!
The below math activities below will help you keep your child's mathematics fresh in fun and engaging ways. Here you will find online resources, apps, mathematics literature and suggestions for how to get your child involved in coding. Like a menu, you can mix and match ideas. Any options you choose are sure to be winners!
Greg Tang Math (So many games, so little time! Try Kakooma for amazing challenges!)
Calculation Nation - Illuminations (check Parents and Educators for Parent resources)
Fun Brain Math Arcade (25 engaging math arcade games)
Cool Math (try Lemonade Stand and others)
Mr. Nussbaum’s Math Lab (try Tony's Pizza Fraction Shop!)
Math Playground (math, logic and word problems, oh my!)
Adapted Mind (play games and learn at the same time)
Calculation Nation - Illuminations (check Parents and Educators for Parent resources)
Fun Brain Math Arcade (25 engaging math arcade games)
Cool Math (try Lemonade Stand and others)
Mr. Nussbaum’s Math Lab (try Tony's Pizza Fraction Shop!)
Math Playground (math, logic and word problems, oh my!)
Adapted Mind (play games and learn at the same time)
Coding
Coding is one of the most critical skills that a child can have in a 21st Century world and beyond! Get your kiddos excited about coding with the activities below:
- Take a course with your child about coding at Code.org - perfect for students and adults alike! Participate in your own family “Hour of Code” by exploring one of the websites below to dive into coding!
- Kodable Kids has some easy lessons that you can do with your PreK-5 grade student. Help your child build foundational coding skills all the way up to reading and writing code.
- Check out some amazing projects at Made with Code from Google. Here kids can change their face into a kaleidoscope masterpiece, mix their own music or help Riley from Disney Pixar's Inside Out solve some of life's little problems.
- Look under "More Math Apps" below for more coding apps and websites.
Math Apps are sure way to keep kids practicing their math skills. There are many wonderful apps to choose from, so here's a list of iPhone, iPad and Android apps for your 3-5 kiddos to try.
2048 24 Game - Math Card Puzzle (Worth the $1.99) Motion Math Zoom
Telling Time Match 10 Alien Math
Math Party Math Evolve King of Math
Close to 1000 Birds ‘n’ Blocks Name that Number
Pick-a-Path Numbler Prime Smash
Ninja Prime
More Math Apps
2048 24 Game - Math Card Puzzle (Worth the $1.99) Motion Math Zoom
Telling Time Match 10 Alien Math
Math Party Math Evolve King of Math
Close to 1000 Birds ‘n’ Blocks Name that Number
Pick-a-Path Numbler Prime Smash
Ninja Prime
More Math Apps
- Hopscotch (iOS) is the next level up from Daisy the Dinosaur. It includes more characters and commands but sticks to the basic principles of programming for young coders.
- Lightbot: Coding Hour (iOS, Android, Web) is a free programming puzzle game that provides leveled challenges for kids to employ logic and computational thinking. Move the robot to achieve the level's objective, but keep to the path provided. A paid version of this app is available in the App Store and Google Play Store for both platforms, as well.
- Scratch (Web only) is a free, visual programming language from the MIT Media Lab. Use it to create stories, games, and interactive experiences.
- Cargo-Bot (iOS) is a newer app that has coders commanding a robot to move boxes in strategic ways.
- Save the Animals (iOS and Android) is a coding game that directs animals down safe paths through different environments. Learn basic coding principals while saving the animals!
- Turtle Academy (Web only) is a free web tool that helps you learn programming basics in a visual way. Make the turtle character perform different actions with step-by-step instructions as you learn how the programming language works, or explore on your own in the "Playground" area.
- Tynker (Web only) is another free programming tool that focuses more on teaching you how to program rather than just providing the means to do so. The basics are free, but there are premium features that can be purchased. Parents, be sure to check out the "Parents" section to learn more about how this tool can impact your child.
Mathematics + Reading = The Perfect Combination.
See if you can find the mathematics in each of these great books. Remember books can and should be enjoyed by kiddos and parents together!
Math Curse by Jon Scieska and Lane Smith The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill
The Multiplying Menace Divides, by Pam Calvert & Wayne Geehan Can You Count to a Googol? by Robert E. Wells
Sir Cumference Series by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan A Remainder of One by Elinor Pinczes
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy
What Comes is 2s, 3s and 4s? by Suzanne Aker Math for All Seasons by Tomie dePaola
Fraction Fun by David Adler A Million Fish, More or Less by Patricia McKissack
How Much is a Million? by David Schwartz If You Made a Million by David Schwartz
The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang Math for All Seasons by Greg Tang
The Best of Times by Greg Tang The Lemonade War Series, Jacqueline Davies
Pi: A Math Adventure, by Elinor Pinczes Guinness Book of World Records by TIME Inc.
Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
The Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert & Wayne Geehan
The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places by Cora Lee & Gillian O’Reilly
Math Talk: Mathematical Ideas in Poems for Two Voices by Theoni Pappas
For suggestions for even more books, visit And Next Comes L
See if you can find the mathematics in each of these great books. Remember books can and should be enjoyed by kiddos and parents together!
Math Curse by Jon Scieska and Lane Smith The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill
The Multiplying Menace Divides, by Pam Calvert & Wayne Geehan Can You Count to a Googol? by Robert E. Wells
Sir Cumference Series by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan A Remainder of One by Elinor Pinczes
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy
What Comes is 2s, 3s and 4s? by Suzanne Aker Math for All Seasons by Tomie dePaola
Fraction Fun by David Adler A Million Fish, More or Less by Patricia McKissack
How Much is a Million? by David Schwartz If You Made a Million by David Schwartz
The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang Math for All Seasons by Greg Tang
The Best of Times by Greg Tang The Lemonade War Series, Jacqueline Davies
Pi: A Math Adventure, by Elinor Pinczes Guinness Book of World Records by TIME Inc.
Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
The Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert & Wayne Geehan
The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places by Cora Lee & Gillian O’Reilly
Math Talk: Mathematical Ideas in Poems for Two Voices by Theoni Pappas
For suggestions for even more books, visit And Next Comes L