Putting Math Into Family Life: What's Possible for Working Parents?.

A set of parent-child math activities designed to help busy, working parents do math with their children as part of everyday situations such as cleaning up and making dinner included basic steps, variations, and information on working with children were developed for families with elementary grades children aged approximately 5 to 11 and distributed at a variety of workplaces to groups of parents who had differing occupations, education levels, ethnicity, and family structures. The activities had titles such as How Much is on the Floor?, How Much Longer?, What's Fair?, How Much Do We Save?, Wish List, and Number of the Day. Seven parents were interviewed 2-4 weeks after they had completed the activities with their children and the ways in which they used and adapted the activities did not appear to relate to their education, mathematical comfort and expertise, or job. The following results were noted: (1) parents used and repeated the activities that fit best with their family life; (2) parents' use of the written materials seemed related to family interaction styles; (3) parents differed in how they prepared for working with their children; (4) parents valued the concrete information on working with children, even though they didn't always use it; (5) parents occasionally added more real-life math skills to the activities; and (6) parents thought their children learned useful skills. (Contains 7 references.) (MO) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) tg. This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Putting Math Into Family Life: What's Possible for Working Parents'? Marlene Kliman, Jan Mokros, and Alana Parkes TERC, USA Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position cr policy. Abstract We report on parents use of a set of parent-child math activities designed to help busy, working parents do math with their children as part of everyday situations such as cleaning up and making dinner. In our initial study with a small and diverse sample, parents' use of the activities did not appear related to their education, mathematical comfort and expertise, or occupation. Instead, parents drew upon their knowledge of their children, family interactions, and the situations they regularly face at home. Eleven employees are gathered around a table in the lunch room at their workplace. Their occupations range from receptionist to project leader. Some have a high school education, others have finished college, and one has a doctorate. Some work closely together, others are barely acquainted. Their ages range from mid-20s to early 50s. As they open their lunch bags, they chat about what brings them together: children and math. After a few minutes, Lina, a member of the company's human resources department, welcomes the group to this workshop on putting math into everyday family life. She gives everyone a booklet of math activities for families, and she explains that they'll start by doing one of them. She describes the activity: First, someone chooses a "Number of the Day," then everyone comes up with ways to make that number. If Number of the Day is 11, one solution is 8 + 2 + 1. Lina invites the group to come up with other solutions. Before long, everyone is engaged. Some work alone, others talk to a partner. Some challenge themselves to fmd unusual solutions; others try to solve the problem as they think their children would. After a few minutes, Lina asks for volunteers to share their ways to make 11. These include 13 2, 99 ÷ 9, 22 x 1/2, and 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 7. She records their ways on chart paper. Next, Lina raises the question of when working parents can find time to do this activity with their children: In my house, it can be a challenge to find time to do math with the kids. I pick them up on my way home from work, and when we get home, we're all tired, and I 've got to make dinner and do the laundry. Sometimes, we do Number of the Day while we're doing evening chores. Are there some times you can think of when you might be able to do Number of the Daymaybe even tonight?We report on parents use of a set of parent-child math activities designed to help busy, working parents do math with their children as part of everyday situations such as cleaning up and making dinner. In our initial study with a small and diverse sample, parents' use of the activities did not appear related to their education, mathematical comfort and expertise, or occupation. Instead, parents drew upon their knowledge of their children, family interactions, and the situations they regularly face at home. Eleven employees are gathered around a table in the lunch room at their workplace. Their occupations range from receptionist to project leader. Some have a high school education, others have finished college, and one has a doctorate. Some work closely together, others are barely acquainted. Their ages range from mid-20s to early 50s. As they open their lunch bags, they chat about what brings them together: children and math. After a few minutes, Lina, a member of the company's human resources department, welcomes the group to this workshop on putting math into everyday family life. She gives everyone a booklet of math activities for families, and she explains that they'll start by doing one of them. She describes the activity: First, someone chooses a "Number of the Day," then everyone comes up with ways to make that number. If Number of the Day is 11, one solution is 8 + 2 + 1. Lina invites the group to come up with other solutions. Before long, everyone is engaged. Some work alone, others talk to a partner. Some challenge themselves to fmd unusual solutions; others try to solve the problem as they think their children would. After a few minutes, Lina asks for volunteers to share their ways to make 11. These include 13 2, 99 ÷ 9, 22 x 1/2, and 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 7. She records their ways on chart paper. Next, Lina raises the question of when working parents can find time to do this activity with their children: In my house, it can be a challenge to find time to do math with the kids. I pick them up on my way home from work, and when we get home, we're all tired, and I 've got to make dinner and do the laundry. Sometimes, we do Number of the Day while we're doing evening chores. Are there some times you can think of when you might be able to do Number of the Daymaybe even tonight? Everyone jumps in with ideas: In the car, driving home. That's the only time we get to talk. When I'm braiding my daughter's hair. It takes an hour, and she always gets bored. Bed time. I tell him a story. We could do a little math, too. When we're cleaning the house.