Goals are about outcomes.
We tend to think we need to change the result but really it’s the habits behind the results that needs to change.
Here’s an example I think you’ll relate to.
Not having a clean bedroom is a result of the lagging measure of your habits.
You may have your child spend an hour cleaning their room after it’s a huge mess. But what you really want is for them to think about putting things away as soon as they are finished using them. You want them to keep up, little by little (incrementally), and not after it’s become an overwhelming project.
I know…good luck with that, but maybe you just start with baby steps and maybe you even start by developing healthy math habits, first.
A goal you set is something that you can probably achieve if you have good habits as a baseline.
Goals can be tricky. What happens if you don’t reach your goal? Do you feel defeated? Was your goal realistic? Was the timeframe realistic? Did you have the prerequisites to attain your goal? Did you enjoy the process?
Habits play a role that help you develop solutions to everyday issues so you can focus your attention and energy on other things.
For math, the more space you free up by knowing basic math facts, fluently (the ability to recall and use basic math facts in your head comfortably and quickly without stressing), the more you can focus on more complicated parts of a math problem that need your attention.
This is exactly what Page A Day Math does for math practice to build fluency.
Page A Day Math helps your child develop excellent math habits, rather than goals. It helps you give your child a little practice each day that’s effective, meaningful, and never overwhelming, so your child develops a habit of completing math practice often and enjoys the process.
Help your child develop positive lasting math practice habits. It will aid them for the rest of their life.
You never know, it may lead to a clean bedroom too!
Curriculum Alignment
Page A Day Math Kits are aligned with and support Pre-K - 4th grade math curriculums including Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Saxon, and Abeka and support concepts learned in the Standards for Mathematical Practice which were created to ensure that all students graduate with the math skills needed to succeed in their careers and higher education.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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You probably forgot what you studied just a few days later!
Cramming isn’t a long-term solution for remembering important information. You know that!
It's the same for children learning math. Materials that promise "quick" solutions or provide only a month or two of practice won't build math fluency.
An intentional steady pace with a focus on a solid foundation rather than a 'quick' foundation, works.
How can you help your child develop a solid math foundation in a way that is effective and fun?
You can make math intentional. You can find QUALITY MATERIALS. You can schedule short daily practice sessions. You can make this time easy-going and fun.
You probably do this for reading. You plan time. Make it happen. Maybe it’s a bedtime routine? Whatever 'it' is, it IS intentional.
Learning MATH requires INTENTION like learning to read. There are tons of math facts workbooks and freebies out there. But do they make the best use of your time and your child’s time? Are all math facts supplements created equal? Do they support your learning philosophy and your child's math curriculum?
If your intention is long-term math fluency and a love for math then you'll want to find materials that aim for this too.
Page A Day Math is an Award-Winning "Favorite Math Supplement". parents love it because it is easy to use, has 6 months of practice that makes sense for children learning a new subject, works on handwriting, and is full of helpful features that kids need. It works and is 100% guaranteed.
What is important when choosing a math supplement?
Be intentional about your child's math development!
Our math kits provide step-by-step practice for more than 6 months. They give your child exactly what they need to learn PRE-K Math, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, or Division.
Curriculum Alignment
Page A Day Math Kits are aligned with and support Pre-K - 4th grade math curriculums including Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Saxon, and Abeka and support concepts learned in the Standards for Mathematical Practice which were created to ensure that all students graduate with the math skills needed to succeed in their careers and higher education.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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Many mornings I hike up a mountain trail called Blackets Ridge in Tucson, AZ. It’s about 6 miles round trip with 1685 ft elevation (the Empire State Building is 1250 feet tall).
On the way up you’re like OMG how am I going to do this. The end is so hard to get to.
As you go up, you see hikers coming down and they’re ALL SMILES.
Why? Because they have a huge sense of accomplishment. You see their faces screaming...I DID IT!
Hiking a challenging trail takes time, patience, and practice to get to the end. Getting into good hiking shape doesn’t happen overnight.
Day one you go a short way and come back. Day two you go a little further and come back.
You build up stamina little by little.
One day, you get to the top of the mountain. You see a view you’ve never seen before. One that you can only see as a result of practice. Nothing can buy this view. You can only see it firsthand with persistence, patience, and practice.
It gets easier and easier each time you try. And then you get to say, “I DID IT!”
Your child goes through the same process learning math.
They are nervous at first. They don’t know if they can do it. It’s hard. Mistakes are made.
But sure enough, with practice, a little each day, your child improves quickly and feels encouraged. Their smile gets bigger and bigger. They know they are getting better and better. Then, THEY want to keep going.
It’s up to you. Your child can not do it alone. They don’t know where the trail is to get to the top of the mountain. You are the guide.
There is no magic.
Help your child develop their math superpowers.
The Page A Day Math Fluency system is the only system with 6 months of ongoing tactile practice kids absolutely need in order for the math to become automatic and easy.
Don’t wait any longer. The summer is here, the perfect time to build your child’s knowledge and confidence in math.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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Title 1 Funds can be used to purchase Page A Day Math workbooks.
See Press Release below.
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TUCSON, AZ--– PAGE A DAY MATH, providers of ongoing, step-by-step math practice announced today that schools can use Title I Funds to purchase their award-winning workbook sets for Pre-K - 4th grade students to take home over the summer. The sets help students rebuild and strengthen their math-fact fluency while filling in COVID-19 learning gaps, so they don't start the new school year behind.
Learning loss due to COVID-19 is a major concern for teachers, administrators, and parents. Researchers are currently predicting a “COVID-19 slide” for students that will be particularly pronounced in math. In a normal school cycle, the “summer slide” is always more conspicuous when it comes to math, and now, due to remote learning and/or COVID-19 protocols in the classroom, a full 50% loss in mathematical learning gains is expected. Schools are actively searching out ways to mitigate this impact, especially for low-income, at-risk children for whom access to technology and resources is limited.
Schools can utilize Title 1 funding to purchase and distribute PAGE A DAY MATH kits that will help K-4 children improve their math-fact knowledge without becoming overwhelmed or frustrated. All that is needed is a pencil and 5-10 minutes per day.
“What has happened to children this year is devastating. As a former educator, and a mother, I can’t imagine learning basic math on the computer. My hope is to be able to provide a solution to so many families who are worried about their child’s education. The secret, especially now, is to make it fun!” - Janice Marks, Creator and Owner at PAGE A DAY MATH.
Marks created PAGE A DAY math because, as an educator, she witnessed firsthand the gaps in a child’s math education. She was astonished by the reality that even top-performing schools produced students with very low math fluency. Her own daughter struggled with math, which produced anxiety and insecurity throughout her educational journey.
“We want to change the trajectory of children's lives through math—especially with the toll remote learning has had on them. Helping children remember essential basics will allow them to understand and answer math problems easily and confidently later on. Math is so foundational to a child’s overall success, and these early experiences with math are critical." - Janice Marks, Creator and Owner at PAGE A DAY MATH
PAGE A DAY MATH was designed by Marks, is backed by research, and loved by thousands of families for its step-by-step tactile approach, consistent encouragement, and ease of use. Lessons are divided into focused kits (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), completed independently by children over a 6-month period. Additionally, print and cursive handwriting and math review practice books are also available.
"This is such a great, easy to implement program for students and fits into any busy family schedule with just a page a day to reinforce math skills," said Andria Danko, MA. Ed, a kindergarten teacher at Vannoy Elementary School in Castro Valley Unified School District, in CA. “Kids forgetting their basic math facts due to the summer slide is so real and happens due to lack of daily practice. This program keeps their knowledge base of math on track and growing.”
For more information, please visit www.pageadaymath.com or contact Janice Marks at janice@pageadaymath.com or call 520-780-1079.
About PAGE A DAY MATH
PAGE A DAY MATH is a learning company that creates math products for students in Pre-K to 4th grade. Preschools, elementary schools, and at-home learners use PAGE A DAY MATH products for their unique design and high educational value. PAGE A DAY MATH was created by an educator who saw detrimental gaps in math fluency and was frustrated by her own daughter’s lack of self-confidence. PAGE A DAY MATH has an incremental, cumulative approach that makes it easy and fun for kids to build strong math fluency. For more information visit https://pageadaymath.com/
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It's up to us as parents to foster that innate ability and introduce math in a way that’s fun and relates to our everyday lives. We’ve mentioned before that there are only 58 seconds of math included in the average six-hour preschool day. Less than a minute of math time is not enough to foster interest and curiosity.
So, you’re ready to teach your preschooler some math! But how? Here are some tips and suggestions to get you started.
Make Math Fun
Sometimes when people hear me say that I encourage parents to do math with their young kids, they imagine I mean math drills and long lessons. That is not what I mean. Math should be fun! From pointing out math while you’re reading to measuring ingredients as you bake cookies—math can be part of a lot of the fun things you are already doing.
Here are ten easy, fun ways to bring math into your preschooler’s everyday activities.
Page A Day Math was designed to provide a little bit of math every day in the way kids learn best. Just one page a day means it’s not overwhelming. A few minutes is all it takes, which can easily be fit into your schedule.
Page A Day Math books present new facts while continuing to review older ones, giving your child the amount of repetition needed to truly learn concepts. Plus, your child will get practice writing out numbers and equations each day. Not only does this help them learn, but they can go back and see how much their handwriting has improved. Completing books and seeing how much they have progressed gives kids a huge sense of accomplishment!
Make Math Part of Everyday Life
You don’t need to drop everything you’re doing and give your child a math lesson. In fact, it’s better to point out math in the everyday activities you already do. This helps to make math something that isn’t scary or overwhelming, it’s just part of your routine. It also helps kids see why math is important—you use it all the time!
Write It Out
Don’t just talk about math—write about it! Writing things down actually stimulates parts of the brain that aren’t activated when you’re just looking at or talking about something. Kids learn better when handwriting is involved. Just as your preschooler is learning to write letters and understand what they symbolize, have them write down numbers as well.
Repetition
I loved reading to my kids when they were little, but sometimes they wanted to hear the same story over and over again. Kids like repetition—it’s how they learn. This is true for math as well. You might feel like you’re talking about the same thing over and over, but that’s what’s going to help your child really understand concepts.
Does Early Math Really Matter?
We know that preschool-aged children are ready for math, but does it really matter if they get it now or after they start kindergarten? Yes! Research tells us that early education in STEM has many positive benefits, and not just within STEM subjects.
Early STEM learning promotes socio-emotional development in children and helps with later learning in all subjects. Early learning in math and science improves language development, literacy, reading comprehension, and writing skills. STEM learning is actually similar to language learning in that immersion as early as possible and in as many environments as possible leads to better learning.
Other studies have shown that early math skills are not only a predictor of future success, but are one of the best predictors. Kids who enter the school system with better math skills perform better and experience more success in fifth and eighth grades.
I think when parents hear someone say preschool math is important, they get nervous. There are a lot of adults out there that don’t like math. The idea that they should be teaching it to their young children feels daunting.
Think of it like you would think about reading to your child. You’re not diagraming sentences, you’re just reading together. Similarly, you’re not doing algebra, you’re pointing out numbers and patterns in your daily activities. Pretty soon it will become second nature, and your child can grow up loving math.
Are you ready to get started teaching math to your preschooler?
Click here to download our counting and numbers coloring book for free!
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Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
Is your child doing well with their addition facts but struggling with subtraction? You are not alone. It is extremely common for students to learn addition easier than subtraction. Nearly every child struggling with subtraction that I have worked with has the same issue—they don’t know their addition facts well enough.
It might sound counterintuitive, but revisiting addition math facts is what will help your child get over their subtraction struggles. In this blog I’ll explain why knowing addition facts inside and out is critical to learning subtraction facts, and how addition facts help kids truly understand what they’re doing when they subtract.
What Is Subtraction?
What is subtraction, anyway? This might sound like a question with an obvious answer, but if you ask a child, you’ll get all kinds of answers. Subtraction means takeaway. Subtraction means minus. Subtraction means making less of something. These answers are all correct, but they don’t demonstrate an understanding of subtraction that kids need in order to be fluent in subtraction.
When you are solving for an equation like 7 – 3 = x, you are looking for the difference between 7 and 3. Another way it could be solved is by asking, “What number plus 3 equals 7?” Why does that work? Because subtraction is the inverse of addition.
Using Addition to Subtract
Does it really matter that subtraction is the inverse of addition? Or does that fall under the category of things you learn in school that have no use in the real world, like making dioramas and taking care of an egg baby? Please pay attention, because unlike whether you can climb a rope or play the recorder, this one matters a lot.
We’ve written before about math fluency and about how those with number sense do well in math partly because they can use numbers flexibly. For example, someone with number sense might forget what 6 x 9 equals, but they know that 6 x 10 = 60 and then if they subtract 6 that’s 54, so 6 x 9 = 54. People with number sense don’t get stuck when they don’t know an answer, because they usually can find another way to figure it out.
Having number sense and math fluency means you don’t just know answers, but you also understand how numbers and operations relate to each other. I’m a big proponent of kids learning addition facts first by themselves. Why? Because once they know these facts and understand them, they can use them while learning other operations.
Once kids know that 3 + 4 = 7 backwards and forwards, that’s a tool they can use when solving 7 – 3 = x. What is the difference between 3 and 7? What plus 3 equals 7? Using their knowledge this way is known as subtraction-as-addition reasoning, and it shows that a child is not just memorizing facts, but that they understand the relationships between numbers and operations. It shows that they are developing number sense.
Kids Need More Addition Practice
This brings me back to my original assertion—that most kids who are struggling with subtraction need more practice with their addition facts. Once your child knows their addition facts fluently and understands the connection between addition and subtraction, subtraction will become much easier for them.
If your child is having trouble seeing the connection between addition and subtraction, try using physical objects instead of written equations. I have 7 apples. That is the same as having 3 apples plus 4 apples. If I start with 7 apples and eat 3, I will only have 4 remaining.
Studies have shown that many students solve subtraction problems more efficiently when they use their addition skills. Research has also shown that students who understand the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction demonstrate better conceptual knowledge and do better at subtraction.
It’s understandable that you want to move on to the next operation, but kids need a lot of practice to truly gain math-fact fluency in addition. Encourage them to keep practicing until it becomes second nature. This will truly make subtraction so much easier moving forward.
Lots of students struggle with subtraction. In fact, lots of adults struggle with it as well. You and your child are not alone in this. If you find your child struggling with subtraction, I encourage you to go back to having them practice their addition facts. It can make all the difference!
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
It’s adorable to see. Children use their fingers when they learn to count. They do this over and over. It’s fun to watch and also an important part of learning math.
But when does this strategy become unsuitable for a child that’s getting older and in school learning to add and subtract?
Great question!
Kindergarten is the golden year when defining and modeling learning goals, expectations, and grade appropriate foundational skills are so important.The only problem is that we often don't know exactly what they are. Now with our kids learning so much at home we need to be even more aware of what they are.
As parents we want the best for our children. We don’t want them to reach the next grade unprepared.
Unfortunately, many students don’t have a solid grasp of the skills taught the previous year. I see this all the time with math. Parents are often unaware their kids are behind (or just don't know what to do to help) until the situation has become stressful.
Kids know when they are behind. And it is stressful for them so as parents we have the responsibility to make sure our kids have the skills, they need to be relaxed and confident, each step of the way.
Remember - Math comes easily for kids who start early. Once they get started they have an appetite to learn more and seem to learn more quickly too. I never suggest that you push or create stressful learning situations for your child or have them do more than what is appropriate for them. But kids who start early simply like math a lot, are good at it and want to do more.
Here is a guide that works well. (If you believe your child has fallen behind, they can always catch up. I can help you make a plan that works.) (link to schedule to book an appt)
Pre-k – Kids can learn addition really well by 3-5 years old, research tells us. Start your child in Pre-K and they’ll enter Kindergarten already knowing addition well and then be able to learn subtraction facts to 20-10=10 by the end of Kindergarten, multiplication and division in 1st grade.
Kindergarten – This is when Addition facts should become automatic up through 10+10 or even 12+12. I recommend teaching one math operation at a time. I’ve noticed that teaching addition and subtraction together can be complicated for many children. I like showing fact-family relationships after a child has mastered addition and subtraction is introduced. They are able to make more sense of it then.
I’ve also seen firsthand that children who learn addition really well first, learn subtraction in a faction of the time. I believe the understanding comes more easily when they are taught separately.
When I work with kids entering kindergarten, they learn addition and subtraction by the end of kindergarten very well.
1st grade kids can learn multiplication (often division too) and continue working
on addition and subtraction.
2nd grade kids can learn division easily if they already know multiplication well. Continue to review addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
3rd grade continue to improve fluency in all 4 math operations
When this schedule is followed, kids meet math goals with ease. They are not stressed, because math is easy and fun for them.
I’d be happy to help you plan a math success path for your child if they are getting started, catching up or excelling and they want to get even further ahead. janice@pageadaymath.com.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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UUUUGGGGH. Why does this happen?
Every time I meet a parent whose child is visibly behind in math by 2nd grade, I feel so sad and frustrated.
Why?...
...because their child was already behind in Kindergarten, and no one brought it to their attention or told them what to do to easily get their kids to grade level or ahead, without a tutor.
I can tell you with certainty, whether your child is in Kindergarten or already in 4th grade, exactly what they need to do to excel in math.
Book a math plan strategy appointment with me and I'll create a plan to help your children be confident and successful in Math.
Look, no child should be behind in math or feel nervous about it…ever.
It’s a perfect science. 2+3 is always 5.
So here’s my beef with math, or the lack of it, and why so many kids are falling behind at such a young age and parents aren't aware and/or don't know what to do about it.
School facts…preschools simply don't do much math and are often against it, like it’s going to stress the children out or something. I’ve heard time and time again…”we don’t do worksheets,” “we are play-based”…. well what does that mean? Math isn’t fun? Why is learning to write letters and read okay, but math is not?
Fact...Pre-K kids LOVE math and are good at it. Why would you not introduce math to them early? (research fact: aptitude for learning complex concepts in Pre-K is high)
With Covid, your kids are at home and it's easier than ever to pick up on where they’re struggling and help them. Now, you’re more aware of what your child is doing/not doing in school.
Adults who’ve had a crummy experience with math may be keeping kids from early exposure to math because of previous feelings and experiences. They’re often the ones making decisions about how much your child will be exposed to math in Pre-K and Kindergarten. They can assume your child won't like math because they didn’t.
Unfortunately, this is a huge problem with early math exposure.
Here is what happens. When your child is young, they have lots of play time and free time. As they go to school they get busier and busier. They keep up with homework and activities.
But they don't make time to work on the foundation anymore, and most teachers and schools don't tell you to either.
So parents, it’s your responsibility to recognize the gaps and fill them in before they become too overwhelming to correct. I only realized this after my daughter was way behind in 2nd grade and made it my mission to help parents recognise this so their kids can recoup the knowledge they’re missing.
All of a sudden your child is in 2nd grade and they are getting word problems and double-digit addition, subtraction, and borrowing, but they STILL don’t know addition well, and I mean fluency, not counting on fingers. Fingers are fine in Pre-K and Kindergarten.
At some point early on they need to KNOW (like they know their name) all of their math facts without hesitation.
Strategies?? Yes, strategies are great in the beginning, but your kid needs to know math facts in order to do math. Strategies won’t work forever. They take too long. Your child needs to build fluency starting in kindergarten.
Multiplication comes along…virtually impossible to learn when you don’t know addition or subtraction. Forget about long division if you don't know subtraction or multiplication.
If every child started addition in Pre-K and got to kindergarten knowing addition facts through 10+10, was finished with addition and subtraction by 1st grade, and then learned multiplication in 1st grade (solidifying addition and subtraction), then learned division in the beginning of 2nd grade, they would LOVE LOVE LOVE math and be confident for the rest of their education with math. This is a great way to get your kids confident and competent at math!
If you are not doing this and are waiting for your kids’ school to cover everything, then I can pretty much guarantee that your child will unfortunately have difficulties with math by 4th grade, even if their school says they are doing a great job.
I was met with this situation over and over again.
Make sure you start teaching your child addition before kindergarten. If you have questions about what to do, just make an appointment with me and I'll create a math plan with, free of charge.
If your child is behind or you're simply not sure where they are, you need to figure it out fast and start helping them catch up right away so they don’t suffer later in math classes. I am confident my suggestions will help you and your child and am willing to give my time to anyone who wants to help their child.
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Practicing numbers on paper improves children’s penmanship, but beyond that, is it really so important? So much is done online in the classroom, so why put such a strong focus on handwriting and legibility? I don’t have an answer for this—I have many answers for this.
Writing Uses More of the Brain
The act of putting pencil to paper and writing a number uses more of the brain than simply typing in an answer. The tactile nature of the books, especially since they are perfectly sized for small hands, make them more stimulating than a keyboard. The connections that the brain makes when hands are writing are stronger than when hands are typing.
Putting pencil to paper actually stimulates a portion of the brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS acts as a filter for information, directing you to what is most important to pay attention to. The stimulation of the RAS, through handwriting, triggers your brain to pay attention in a way using technology does not.
Other studies have shown the difference in brain activity when a child writes a word versus simply studying the word. The areas of the brain associated with learning experience more activity when children are writing.
While I value this research, I don’t think it’s very surprising. As parents and teachers we can see the differences between writing and online learning in our children’s behavior. Just by observing kids while they are using a computer and using a paper and pencil for similar tasks, there is clearly a contrast. Watch the movement of your child's eyes, how they are sitting, and the thinking that goes on when a child is holding a pencil and looking at their paper versus holding a mouse and looking at a screen. It’s really interesting.
Writing Lets You Slow Down
Compared to typing, writing is a slower process. This allows your brain time to think and concentrate on what you’re writing about. With more time to process, deeper connections can be made. Studies have shown that students learn better when they can actually process information, and that writing by hand allows them to process better.
Slowing down also gives kids a change to notice and correct their mistakes. On a computer or tablet, they are often not given the time or opportunity to correct problems in a way that allows them to think and process the mistake in their own time. Once you need to use an eraser, things slow down, and that’s a good thing. What do you think is going on inside your child's head when they are erasing? They are already thinking about the next step and how they can correct their mistake. They wouldn’t be able to slow down and do that if a screen had already moved them on to the next problem.
Writing Improves Your Writing
This one seems rather obvious, but it’s more important than you might think. When you practice writing numbers, just as when you practice writing letters, your penmanship improves. But in a technology-loving world, is this really important? Yes. Do you know that I have seen children get an answer incorrect, not because they didn’t know how to do the problem, but because they couldn’t read their own work! They couldn’t tell the difference between their 7s and 9s and 4s.
This matters a lot when solving math problems and it can cause a lot of frustration. It also leads to lower scores, lower confidence, lower self esteem, and a longer time needed to finish homework. Kids know when they have illegible handwriting. They hear about it from their teachers, parents, and friends. It hurts their egos. As kids advance and math becomes more difficult, working through a problem will involve writing more numbers on scratch paper. Some teachers require that students show their work. You can’t effectively show your work if your numbers aren’t legible.
Writing Helps You Remember More
Whether it’s because it’s a slower process, or because it activates more of the brain, writing helps you remember content more easily. When students take notes on a lecture by hand, they retain more of the information than those students who typed their notes. When we engage across multiple senses while we learn (like touch and sight), we are better able to recall the information.
Writing Helps You Perform Better on Tests
It makes sense that if writing something down helps you remember it better, you would perform better in a test of recall. But we actually perform better on a test or other type assignment when we are encouraged to write out solutions.
Math teacher William Hinkley compared his students’ success while using an online math homework program. Half of the students used it as they had been all year, while the other half watched a short video reminding them of the importance of using pencil and paper and were required to turn in their paper as part of their homework grade. The students using paper while completing their work outperformed their peers by about 13 points.
The Program for International Student Assessment has been testing students all over the world in math, reading, and science since 2000. The organization that administers the test compared results for students using computers to practice vs. pencil and paper. They found that an increase in computers being used in the classroom correlated with lower test scores.
This is so important for parents to understand. We have been using math software and apps for years now, but our scores on national tests are not improving. What does that mean for your child learning their foundational math skills on a computer?
Writing Helps You See Progress
One reason parents love the format of Page A Day Math is that children can go back and look at the books they have already completed. They can see how much they have improved in penmanship and math when they compare book five to book one. They can hold concrete evidence in their hands of everything they have learned in a way they can’t with online work or worksheets.
I developed Page A Day Math to help students learn their math facts as well as deliberately practice their number writing. Good penmanship in math isn’t just helpful to the teacher grading tests—it actually helps students process and learn their math lessons.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
There are people who are concerned about increased technology in the classrooms, while others fear the arts will lose out when STEM is pushed, but I have a different issue with STEM being suddenly encouraged in middle school and high school. For many students, it’s already too late. STEM should be part of our children’s education starting in preschool.
When Are Children Ready for STEM?
There are some who balk at the idea of STEM in preschool. How can three-year-olds be expected to study engineering? Obviously science and technology education look different at three than at thirteen. I’m not talking about preschoolers building their own mousetrap cars or memorizing complicated words with long definitions. I’m talking about them having fun exploring cause and effect, making observations, and talking about why things happen. It can be as simple as comparing how quickly a leaf falls vs a rock or figuring out which toys float in the bathtub and which sink. As parents we sometimes need reminding that we don’t need a textbook to teach science or be scientists ourselves to get our kids interested in STEM.
Children are naturally curious about their environment. As I’m sure won’t surprise any parent, preschoolers ask an average of 76 information-seeking questions every hour. They already are tiny scientists! And it’s okay if you don’t have the answers to these questions. The questions are more important than the answers. What’s meaningful is having the conversation and figuring it out together. Parents sometimes introduce a bias against science because they themselves don’t feel confident in the subject. Don’t let your own discomfort around science or other subjects get in the way of your child learning. It’s completely appropriate to say, “That’s a great question! I don’t know the answer. Let’s look it up together!”
According to the Center for Childhood Creativity, before the age of one a child can make inferences, draw conclusions about cause and effect, and reason about the probability of events. Young children develop more than one million neural connections per second. Once these are developed, they go through a sort of pruning process in which synapses that are not being used are eliminated. That’s why it’s important to introduce science, math, and reading early.
Benefits of Early STEM
Research tells us that early education in STEM has many positive benefits, and not just within STEM subjects. Early STEM learning promotes socio-emotional development in children and helps with later learning in all subjects. Early learning in math and science improves language development, literacy, reading comprehension, and writing skills.
STEM learning is actually similar to language learning in that immersion as early as possible and in as many environments as possible leads to better learning. How many of us didn’t learn a foreign language until middle school or high school? While not impossible, we know that it’s much easier to learn a language when you’re younger. Science is the same way. Waiting until middle school or high school, or even late elementary school, to expose students to STEM makes it more difficult for them to become excited and learn.
Kids who engage in science activities from a young age develop positive attitudes about science. Science activities can be anything from baking to playing in the tub and questioning why things happen the way they do. This participation and excitement about science has been shown to correlate with later science achievement and even makes them more likely to pursue STEM careers. Even for those students that won’t end up working in the tech or science fields, STEM education promotes the kind of critical thinking skills that we all want our children to possess.
Dangers of No Early STEM
Part of the problem with introducing science later in a student’s education is that by then, many have already decided it’s not for them. Most young people’s view of and aspirations in science are formed during their primary years and solidified by age 14. By fourth grade, a third of students have already lost interest in science, and by eighth grade, that rises to half of all students.
Why does this matter? The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that between 2018 and 2028 there will be three percent growth in non-STEM occupations while STEM jobs will see growth of eight percent. Demand for these positions continues to rise, and 93 percent of STEM jobs have greater than average salaries.
So, am I saying that we should all want our children to go into STEM? No, of course not. We want our children to be able to grow up and do anything they want to. But by providing early exposure to math and science (or any other subject) in a way that’s fun, kids will be more excited and want to continue to explore.
Let kids be little scientists by fostering their curiosity about the world and encouraging them to ask more questions. That will make the road to becoming a big scientist (or anything else in the STEM field) easier.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
Page A Day Math sets are not nearly as expensive as after-school learning centers like Kumon, but they aren’t super cheap, either. Especially during these uncertain times, we are all thinking long and hard about every purchase. Do we really need this? Could we do without it? Even when thinking about our children and their educational needs, we have to make hard choices. All of this leads many parents to ask us, “Couldn’t I just print out free worksheets from home?”
Of course you could print worksheets at home, or even purchase cheaper collections of tear-off worksheets or 50-page practice books online or at the dollar store. But first, let’s take a closer look at how children learn math as well as what Page A Day Math gives you that no other on-paper, app-based, or learning-center program provides.
The Order Matters
MIT Professor Steven Pinker once described math as being “ruthlessly cumulative.” What he meant was that when kids learn math, they can’t start just anywhere and go in just any sequence. Math has to be taught in a certain order because until children learn the more fundamental skills like addition and multiplication, they won’t be able to master higher-level skills like algebra and calculus.
The process of learning addition or learning multiplication is cumulative as well. You don’t begin teaching multiplication at 6 x 7 = 42. Why not? Because math is cumulative. You start out learning multiplication at 0 x 0 = 0. After the zeroes you move to the ones. This is how children learn what is really happening when they are multiplying. It’s how children develop math fluency rather than simply memorizing multiplication tables.
My point here is, if you’re going to print out math worksheets for your child, you need to make sure the lessons are cumulative. Your child needs to start gaining automaticity with the facts before moving on.
Lots and Lots of Practice
We’ve talked before about how much practice children need in order to become fluent in math and gain automaticity. It’s a LOT! There is not enough time in the school day for the amount of practice a child requires to become fluent in basic math. This means that any worksheets you print out will likely require multiple copies.
As children learn new facts, they need to continue practicing the old ones as well. So that means if your child is learning their seven times table, and you’ve printed a worksheet covering the seven times table, you’ll also need to keep reprinting some of your previous worksheets.
Some of the practice books you can find online or at the drugstore cover a lot of topics, but they don’t provide the depth kids need to achieve fluency. They can be good for learning, but by themselves, they don’t provide enough practice for children to gain automaticity. Tear-off sheets are also lacking in depth, and are difficult to contain and organize. With Page A Day Math, children can go back and look at each book they have completed and be proud of their accomplishments.
Wait, How Many Pages?
Page A Day Math was developed to give children the right kind and the right amount of practice they truly need to have a solid foundation of math-fact fluency and math sense. In order to achieve that, each Page A Day Math kit provides between 140 and 182 pages of math facts. The pages are double-sided, so if we’re comparing them to single-sided worksheets, you would need to print out between 280 and 364 math worksheets to provide your child the amount of practice they’ll get with Page A Day Math.
Page A Day Math is also incremental, cumulative, provides six to nine months of practice, the right amount of practice per day, and reinforces good handwriting habits. We’re not trying to squash your idea of printing out math worksheets, but we are trying to give you a better idea of how much time and resources you would truly need.
I don’t know about your printer, but mine would need several ink cartridges to get through that many pages. At about $40 a pop, it would likely be cheaper to purchase Page A Day Math. Plus, Page A Day Math is full-color, has the fun math squad characters, and contains jokes and completion certificates to keep your child engaged. You can invest in Page A Day Math now and not have to pay a lot for tutoring later!
Math automaticity is achieved through cumulative learning, repetition, and practice. Brandi at MamaTeaches.com said it best in her review of Page A Day Math. A former classroom teacher herself, she found the Page A Day Math curriculum to be
“well-planned out…straightforward, and comprehensive…That means that there’s no more guessing as to what to teach and when. There’s no more rushing to make copies of pages for the kids to complete. And, most importantly, there’s no more wondering if what you’re teaching them is enough.”
So, in answer to your question, yes, you can print out worksheets. That’s what I did for my own daughter when she was struggling with math. Let me tell you, if Page A Day Math had been around back then, I would have used it in a heartbeat. It would have saved me time, money, and from worrying whether I was providing the right material at the right time. I developed Page A Day Math to keep parents from needing to print out hundreds of worksheets. And yes, it’s worth it!
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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As a supplement, Page A Day Math is the perfect complement to any math curriculum. It provides just the right amount of daily, incremental practice to help children master their math facts--a crucial component of math fluency. Many other curricula teach math facts on some level. However, you rarely find enough systematic, dedicated math facts practice incorporated in a curriculum for children to achieve real mastery and fluency. This is where Page A Day Math comes in. It gives your child that focused practice, on math facts alone, needed to automatically recall them when necessary without being overly burdensome. In fact, one of the things that parents consistently say they love the most about Page A Day Math is that it isn’t overwhelming. With just a single page, front and back, of practice per day, you can easily incorporate this program with your current math curriculum.
As a stand-alone curriculum, Page A Day Math offers a complete math facts program. This program teaches children all their math facts, from 0+0=0 all the way through division 144/12.
This is done through the presentation of a new math fact each day while reviewing what was already taught, in a systematic and scaffolded way. From the preschool to early elementary years, Page A Day Math provides the instruction children need to prepare them for future success in more advanced math and beyond.
Additionally, Page A Day Math teaches more than just math facts. It teaches proper handwriting--a critical skill for academic success. (Because you can’t get the right answer if you can’t read what you’ve written.) And it teaches a growth mindset. The Math Squad is there with your child every step of the way, encouraging them and showing them that they are fully capable of learning new things, growing their skills, bouncing back from mistakes, and having fun with math. The Math Squad’s number one goal is to show your child that, no matter what their past experiences have been, they can be a math person!
Page A Day Math is also the perfect review product for older children. Most kids will typically do fairly well in the early years even if they haven’t memorized all their math facts. But if they don’t have them memorized, they will often struggle as soon as they begin to encounter more complex math. If you see this start to happen, as I did with my daughter, Jordyn, you should check out how using Page A Day Math can catch them up and help them excel by giving them that critical math facts foundation. Most parents report that they begin to see a real difference in their child’s math confidence and fluency after just three to four books.
To see how other parents are using Page A Day Math, check out some of these parent and teacher reviews.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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I had so many books, and still do, for my son and daughter. From the very beginning, I was reading to them and allowing them to explore books themselves. We went to the library and listened to other people read books. As they got older, I made sure they saw me reading my own books. We. Had. Books. Covered. So, why wasn’t I doing any math?
Why Isn’t Early Math a Priority?
There have been many studies proving the benefits of reading. Studies on early math began later. Likely due to a combination of our lives and livelihoods becoming more dependent on technology, and the realization that, compared to other countries, our students aren’t doing so well in math, more focus has now been put on studying early math education.
We’ll get into what that research tells us in a bit, but before we do, I want to dig into my own behavior as a parent to young children. Looking back, it seems so obvious to me that I should have been doing more with numbers and shapes and problem-solving. I would never have completely left reading up to someone else to teach my children. Why did I think math I should do that with math?
I don’t have a good answer to this question. Some parents tell me that they didn’t like math or weren’t good at it, but I enjoyed and excelled in math, so that’s not it. When my kids were toddlers in the grocery cart, I would literally narrate everything I was doing at the store because (a) I was sleep-deprived and needed to remind myself and (b) what a great way to teach new words. Math could have easily been a part of those grocery store trips. Counting fruit, naming their shapes, adding up vegetables in the cart—math is a part of everyday life. Maybe it’s just harder to see?
My point here is that I’m not talking about trying to explain square roots to a three-year-old. Math can easily be incorporated into your interactions with your young children, regardless of whether you enjoyed it or were good at it. And it can make a big difference later on.
What the Studies Show
Research now tells us that early math skills are not only a predictor of future success, but math is one of the best predictors there are. Kids who enter the school system with better math skills perform better and experience more success in fifth and eighth grades.
But maybe my child isn’t ready for math? Not true. Evidence suggests that early math skills, like addition and subtraction, are actually an innate ability. Babies as young as six months can tell when one item has been taken away from a pair. Young children’s brains are rapidly developing, including the “math parts,” from the get-go.
Okay, so math is important. But my child goes to preschool, so they can teach him math. You’re right, they could. But they’re not. Researchers found that children attending preschool programs for six hours a day received an average of 58 seconds of math a day. Not even a full minute of math! What’s more, it is often taught in ways that promote memorization over problem-solving and logical thought. (counting isn't really math)
What Are Other Countries Doing?
Clearly many other countries are doing something that works better than what we’re doing in the US because their children score higher in math assessments. It’s tricky to tease out exactly what is making the difference, but there are some theories.
One idea is that kids elsewhere excel in math because more of them attend preschool. Only 69 percent of four-year-olds in the US attend preschool. This number is even smaller for three-year-olds (barely 50 percent). As a comparison, 97 percent of four-year-olds in the United Kingdom attend preschool.
10 Easy Ways to Incorporate Math
The great news is that adding math to the everyday life of your young child is not difficult. Math is truly all around us. It’s really just a matter of recognizing opportunities to point it out. Here are some ideas for including “number talk” into what you are probably already doing.
Whatever the reason other countries are excelling at math while we fall behind, the research is clear. Early math skills are an important predictor of future success, and our kids are ready for math younger than many of us thought. There are so many easy ways to consciously incorporate math into your child’s everyday activities. I just hope new parents today get the message that I didn’t—read and do math with your children!
All of our Math Kits have a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Give your child the start they need and the practice they need to bring out their math superpowers! Only you can do that. Don't depend solely on school to help your child learn math the way they really need to know it.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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I’m glad you’re here. We need to have a chat about math anxiety. No, not your child’s math anxiety. Yours. ;)
It turns out that your anxiety around math can actually rub off on your children. But don’t worry, because we’re going to provide you with lots of tips to ensure you don’t spread your math anxiety around.
What Is Math Anxiety?
So, what is math anxiety, anyway? Is it even a real thing? Yes, it’s real, and it affects a LOT of people. If doing math problems makes your heart race and gives you clammy hands, you’re not alone.
Math anxiety is described as experiencing negative emotions when engaging in activities that require math. It has also been expressed as experiencing panic, helplessness, paralysis, and mental disorganization when you’re required to solve a math problem. Studies have revealed that more than 90 percent of adults in the United States experience some level of math anxiety, with 17 percent suffering from a high level.
Researchers have actually studied the brain activity of people who suffer from math anxiety in order to get a better understanding of it. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images indicate that the brain activity of those with math anxiety is significantly different than those without it.
When individuals in these studies engaged in math problems, those with math anxiety showed more activity in the amygdala and the insula. The amygdala is what controls our fear response, while the insula plays a role in processing pain. Those that suffered from math anxiety also showed lower activity in the areas of the brain associated with working memory and numerical reasoning. So, yes, math anxiety is real, and it’s not pleasant.
How Can Parents’ Math Anxiety Impact Their Kids?
Of course, nobody wants their child to suffer from math anxiety, but it turns out we could be unknowingly impacting our children’s relationship with math because of our own anxiety. Even parents that don’t have math anxiety say things that impact how their child feels about math without even realizing it.
One study showed that when mothers told their daughters that they themselves were not good at math in school, their daughters’ achievement dropped almost immediately. Just the way we talk about math can impact how our children feel about it, how they approach it, and how well they think they can do.
Do you remember that Barbie doll that came out in the mid-1990’s that said, “Math class is tough!” and everyone lost their minds? No? Am I dating myself? Parents and educators didn’t want Barbie discouraging girls from excelling in math, but parents (and even sometimes educators) unwittingly share this message all the time.
Do you ever say, “I’m not a math person,” or “it’s okay if you don’t like math” to your child? Seemingly innocuous comments can have a big impact on our kids and how they think about math. And today especially, our kids need math in order to have every opportunity open to them.
Another more recent study found that when parents with math anxiety helped their kids with math homework more than once a week, the kids ended up doing worse in math. If the math-anxious parents did not help their kids, the kids did fine. So, yay, math anxiety is not genetic! And, holy cow, how do I help and not hurt my kids?!
How Can You Overcome Your Math Anxiety? (At Least Enough to Fool Your Kids)
Math anxiety is something that can develop early. If you have it, you have likely had it for a long time. I know it’s not something that you can just turn off, but there are ways that you can lessen the impact that it has on your children. Here are some useful tricks, tools, and reminders to help your child have a healthy relationship with math, whether or not you do yourself.
Math anxiety is a real thing, and it can be hard being a parent with math anxiety who is trying to encourage your child to have a healthier relationship with numbers. But it’s definitely possible and worth it.
The most important thing is simply knowing that your words and expectations impact your child’s beliefs and self-esteem. You may have had a tough time with math, or even believed you weren’t a math person, but your child can still be a math star. And you can make it happen.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
To those parents, we say, “Fantastic! Because neither are we!”
Page A Day Math is designed to help your child develop math fluency, not simply memorize a bunch of equations. In order to move on to higher-level math in middle and high school, students need to have developed automaticity with their basic math facts.
Page A Day Math helps your child develop that automaticity, not through timing and memorization, but in a way encouraging fluency and understanding. But, what does that mean? Aren’t memorization and fluency the same thing?
They aren’t, and the difference between them is what separates the students who simply remember the answer from the students who truly understand math.
What Is Fluency?
So, what is fluency? And how is it different than memorization? Memorization refers to being able to quickly recall the answer to an equation. It does not involve making any connections, and speed is the main focus. Fluency is different in that the main focus is not speed, but rather making connections. Students gaining fluency are encouraged to notice relationships and use strategies to get to an answer.
Teachers who focus on memorization and those who focus on fluency are both after the same end result—automaticity. Automaticity is the ability to perform a task quickly and effortlessly without needing to engage the mind in the low-level details needed to do it. What is the answer to 10 + 10? You know the answer is 20 without actually doing any computations in your head. In fact, you can’t help but think of the answer once you have gained automaticity.
So, if both methods are aimed at automaticity, what’s the difference? It turns out it’s a big one. Math education researcher, author, and educator Gina Kling describes three developmental phases that students go through in math. The first is counting. The second is using reasoning strategies to find an unknown answer. The third is mastering their facts. Students who only use memorization go from phase one to phase three. By leaving out phase two, there is certain conceptual knowledge that they don’t understand, which will make higher-level math more challenging.
Why Is Fluency Important?
To understand why fluency is so important, it helps to think about language. Have you ever played the game Taboo®? When you play, there is a word you are trying to get your teammates to say, but there is a list of words you are not allowed to use. So, if the word is “giraffe,” and you’re not allowed to say animal, neck, tall, long, or spotted, you might say, “this is a four-legged creature and the part of the body between its head and shoulders is very lengthy.”
How are we able to do that? It’s because we’ve mastered language fluency. We are flexible in our understanding of words and can work with them to get where we need to go. Could you play Taboo® in a foreign language? I can still remember preparing for presentations in French class and being terrified that my teacher was going to ask questions? Why? Because I had memorized what I was going to say. I could say the words I had memorized in the order I had memorized them, but I had no understanding of the language. Needless to say, I did not get far in French and was relieved that my university did not have a foreign language requirement.
Let’s apply this idea of flexibility to math. When a student has memorized their math facts and takes a test, if they come across 9 x 6 and cannot think of the answer, they simply get it wrong. A student who is working on math fluency might also forget 9 x 6, but they could reason that 10 x 6 is 60 and 60 – 6 is 54, so 9 x 6 must equal 54. Do you see the difference?
Memorization has its place in education. When there is a piece of information that cannot be easily connected to other information we know—like an address, year, or phone number—memorization is appropriate. But, when new information can be easily linked to something that we already know, memorization can limit our understanding.
Automaticity is essential for students in math. If a child has not automated basic skills, it will be difficult to master new skills. If a child has to think consciously about multiplication while learning fractions, the result will be cognitive conflict and fatigue.
Just as we learn word pronunciation and meaning before reading, math facts must be mastered before doing higher-level math. Can you imagine trying to read a novel while consciously thinking about the meaning of each word? You couldn’t do it. Just as we learn words over a period of time and master language in many situations—reading, writing, talking—math must be taught the same way in order to achieve fluency.
How Does Page A Day Math Help with Math Fluency?
So, how do we get our kids fluent in math and help them gain automaticity? They need a LOT of practice. And not just any practice. Constant testing, especially when under time constraints, can lead to math anxiety. Our kids need a chance to practice at their own pace over a long period of time.
Page A Day Math gives your child the chance to make connections as they practice. Each book in a series builds on the previous book. Your child isn’t being rushed. The idea is to provide consistent practice in a comfortable space at their own pace. Page A Day Math fosters math fluency through step-by-step, no-pressure, fun lessons that your child will enjoy.
Math automaticity has been found to be a strong predictor of future success in mathematics. Gaining math fluency and automaticity takes time and practice—a lot more time than is provided in the classroom. Page A Day Math provides the amount of practice necessary to achieve automaticity in a format that promotes fluency over memorization. Help your child love math and set them up for future success with Page A Day Math!
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
One of the most common questions we get from parents when they learn about Page A Day Math is, “Is this for me?”
Not so much as a question of whether they like the product, but more a question of whether the product was created with them as the intended audience.
And we always say—Yes!
But how is that possible? When some children are being homeschooled and some hop on the bus each morning? When some are in a Montessori classroom and others in a more traditional setting? When some enjoy math and excel at it while others struggle? How can one product be for all of those groups?
Simple.
Page A Day Math works for everyone because it is an educational supplement that can work with any curriculum. It provides what nearly every math curriculum lacks—the time and practice necessary to gain math-fact automaticity.
What Is a Supplement and Why Do I Need One?
A supplement is something that completes or enhances something else when added to it, and that is exactly what Page A Day Math does.
Children in preschool are counting items and learning which numerals stand for which number names (as in 5 means five).
By first and second grade they are learning addition and subtraction, and by third and fourth grade, multiplication and division.
Every math topic learned thereafter is built upon these core skills.
In algebra, to solve for x in 5 + x = 15, addition and subtraction need to come automatically.
When comparing fractions, multiplication and division must be second-nature in order to find least common denominators.
Math builds on itself, and in order to succeed, kids need to do more than know how to add or multiply.
They need to know and understand their math facts so well that they take almost no effort.
How do students gain this automaticity? Practice, practice, and more practice. They don’t need to do a lot of practice every day, but they need to practice math facts consistently while they are learning them in order to commit them to long-term memory.
No matter what curriculum your children are using to learn math, they don’t include the practice necessary to gain automaticity. They simply can’t. There aren’t enough hours in the school day, plus, a curriculum that included that much practice would be enormous!
Math curricula provide a wide breadth of information and topics, plus they are designed for every student. Page A Day Math provides great depth of learning for math facts specifically. Plus, it provides enough practice for any level of math student.
It will make math easier for your children for the rest of their lives.
Who Can Use Page A Day Math?
Page A Day Math kits are appropriate for anyone with students between pre-K and fourth grade, no matter how they approach education.
Are you a:
Then Page A Day Math is for you!
Can I Commit to One More Thing?
One of the greatest things about Page A Day Math is that it’s a quick activity over a long period of time. Your child will spend 10 to 15 minutes a day with Page A Day Math—probably even less time once they get going. It’s an easy activity to fit into busy schedules. Practicing with the workbooks each day for a short time makes it into a habit. The books are small and easy to take places as well.
While the time spent each day is short, a Page A Day Math kit will provide your child with six to nine months of math practice! That means once you choose Page A Day Math, you won’t have to think about any more math supplements for awhile (phew!). Plus, if you and your child find it beneficial and enjoyable, after six to nine months you can move on to the next kit.
Whether our kids go to a private school, public school, or are homeschooled, as parents, we all want what is best for our children. Using Page A Day Math gives your child the amount of practice they truly need to master their math facts and be ready for higher-level math skills. It’s a fun way to make the rest of their math journey easier.
So, yes, in answer to your question, Page A Day Math is for you.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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For example, we hand them giant, clumsy pencils and teach them to write giant, awkward numbers and letters, in giant, awkward workbooks.
Yet children are small-sized people with SMALL hands.
It makes no sense!
Throughout my career as a teacher, I’ve seen so many young children struggle to write numbers when they’re expected to write them huge.
Yet, when they write them at a more reasonable size—not as small as you or I would write them, but certainly smaller than what most workbooks and schools teach—it’s easy!
This is exactly why, with Page A Day Math, the number size your child learns to write at is smaller than what you may be used to seeing.
Parents who’ve already bought and loved Page A Day Math for their kids, when they first saw the number size, worried the numbers were too small for their child...only to be amazed at how successfully their child—who struggled to write the numbers when they were expected to make them large—could write these smaller numbers.
And I bet it’ll be the same for your child.
Click here to get your child’s Pre-K Starter Kit, so your child can begin learning math—including writing numbers clearly, correctly, and at a size that’s manageable for small hands—before they even start school!
Remember, I offer a 60-day money-back guarantee (no questions asked), so there’s nothing to lose by introducing your child to Page A Day Math.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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Often parents don’t have the chance to see their own child in the classroom. How can we help our kids feel confident when they become school-age?
As parents, we can be proactive and make sure our kids feel prepared by exposing them to enough reading, math, sharing, waiting their turn, etc.
A child that has been exposed to early math skills before kindergarten will feel more confident. Early math practice will help them develop that confidence.
With older children, parents should make sure their kids are able to perform at grade level or beyond.
1. Let your child make mistakes!
None of us love making mistakes, right?
But successfully fixing them? That feels great, whether you’re an adult or a young child.
Plus, it catapults learning, because when you’re able to see exactly what went wrong and correct it, you know both what to do, and what NOT to do, next time.
It’s SO important for children to have the opportunity to learn from mistakes, starting as young as possible. Whether they’re working on math activities, printables, or handwriting sheets - it’s crucial to give your child feedback, so that they can figure out what went wrong.
As tempting as it may be, at times, to fix everything for them, they’ll miss out on the process of fixing their mistake, and in so doing, miss out on the opportunity to learn.
Plus, figuring out what went wrong and making it right is incredibly empowering, and builds confidence.
2. Encourage your child to finish what they start
Finishing what you start is another simple, powerful way to boost confidence.
Page A Day Math books, for example, include an exciting, simple rewards system, so your child can reward themselves and celebrate their progress as they complete each section of the book; and again for finishing the book. Whether your child is working on Pre-K Math activities, Addition worksheets, or even higher level multiplication and division worksheets - they will receive recognition on each page!
This rewards system helps your child experience the joy of feeling proud of themselves, over and over...all while they improve their math sense and fluency. Solid math sense and math fluency are what will lead to better math scores all throughout their schooling, and ripple into other areas of their schooling and lives.
I visited a 4th/5th grade classroom this week and worked with several 5th graders struggling with simple addition. I wondered if the parents knew their children were struggling and lacked the basic math skills to thrive. These children lacked confidence. They knew they were behind their peers. These children were very capable but, unfortunately, lacked adequate practice.
As adults, it’s our responsibility to make sure our kids have sufficient practice to be successful.
Click here to get your child a Pre-K Math Starter Kit or Handwriting Kit and advance your child's confidence before they even start kindergarten!
Remember, I offer a 60-day money-back guarantee (no questions asked), so there’s nothing to lose by introducing your child to Page A Day Math!
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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We are all spending extra time in the home right now - which creates a perfect opportunity to find out exactly where your child is with their math skills. Math fluency is essential for building higher-level math skills later on. Does your child know their math tables like the back of their hand? Or are they still hesitating, struggling, and squirming with certain numbers?
It might seem easier to leave the teaching to the teachers, but they’re feeling overwhelmed in this transition too! Do your child a favor, assess their basic math fluency so that you can help them develop their math superpowers while they are at home! Our Math Kits come with free assessment sheets for this exact reason - to provide you with a concise view of the exact skills your child needs extra support on. You can always email us and we’ll send you our assessments as a gift.
2. Create an education plan now, to avoid headaches later!Teachers have been given a whole new set of challenges in 2020. With all the online learning, it’s a whole new way of teaching. I don’t know about your kids, but mine have been overwhelmed after being given a laundry list of tasks to do by their teachers. This keeps them busy - but it’s not the same thing as being hands-on in a classroom setting! If online learning continues into the Fall, parents will have to become a lot more comfortable with supporting their children's learning at home.
You’re probably asking yourself “How do I do it all?”. If you have younger children, this means providing them with programs they can work on to build their confidence, math fluency, and handwriting. We created our Math Kits to include everything your child needs for 9 months of math practice. This will help them excel in future tests and be prepared for the rigors of school by the time the new school year comes around!
3. Form an opinion on your child’s school and education programWe see this time at home as an opportunity for parents everywhere to ask themselves: How do I feel about the education that my child is receiving? Do they know as much as I thought they knew? Even in a traditional school setting - children still require extra practice at home. Often teachers simply can't provide enough practice time in school for all their students to truly know what they need to know, catch up if necessary or get ahead if they are willing and able. This gap is intensified by the fact that most teachers now have to teach lessons over Zoom instead of in the classroom!
By forming an opinion of your child’s education and true level, you can begin to supplement their learning with at-home practice - which can help your child reach their full potential, both in school and in their future hobbies and career path! Opportunity is the greatest gift you can give your child, and no one can fix an issue that hasn’t been discovered yet.
Here are some of our suggestions for making the most of this time at home! Click here to visit our website and to view the collection of our fun and engaging Math Kits, perfect for building your child’s math fluency, handwriting, and confidence this summer so they will be ready for next year.
Drop a comment below to let us know what your plan for education at home looks like for your child!
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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I became curious about the importance of repetition in learning when I started helping my own children with math at a very young age. Since that time I have learned a tremendous amount about the science behind why repetition is not just beneficial to learning, but critical to it. So I wanted to share with you a to-do and to-NOT-do list for repetition in learning. But first, a little more on why it is so important.
Repetition strengthens those pathways in the brain that are vital for the quick, effortless recall of information. Over time, skills that children practice repeatedly become automated. And as children discover how easy things that were once difficult can become, it turns into confidence! "As well as strengthening connections in the brain, repetition has strong emotional implications for young learners. Children enjoy repetition because it helps them feel confident with a new skill and allows them to actively participate." Baudin, Jessica. "Repetition, repetition, repetition is good." Intellidance,http://blog.intellidance.ca/blog/2-09-2011/repetition-repetition-repetition-good. Accessed October 1, 2018."
Children love repetition that seems tedious and monotonous to adults. We all know this because of how many times a child will ask for the same story, or song, or rhyme. Why do these things never seem to get old? Jessica Baudin explains more. "Children use repetition to practice skills such as anticipation, prediction, and cause and effect. Being able to predict what happens next in a story, dance class, or even daily routine leaves children feeling confident and secure, thus contributing to their self-esteem."
These little sponges of knowledge come hardwired to learn. But that doesn't mean there aren't better and worse ways to go about using repetition when trying to teach new information. Here are a few tips to remember.
When you're looking to introduce new information - think bite-sized. Trying to learn a single new math fact a day may not seem like a lot. But consider that that means 30 a month and 180 in six months! The goal is to make the task manageable, not overwhelming. And as they start to see success, it builds their confidence. Soon, even young children begin to notice how many new things they are learning.
For example, if you practicing with flashcards try mixing one new math fact a day with a few they're a little shaky on and a bunch they know really well. Their success will make them excited to do more, and the new learning will add up fast!
"As you may have guessed, spaced repetition involves repeating what you are trying to retain—like a new math equation, the sentence structure of a foreign language, a new vocabulary word, or a new jiu-jitsu move—over a period several days/weeks. Research has shown that repeating something twenty times over the course of one day is less effective than repeating something ten times over the course of a week." Tri. "Why Spaced Repetition Is Important to Learning and How to Do It." Examined Existence, https://examinedexistence.com/why-spaced-repetition-is-important-to-learning-and-how-to-do-it/. Accessed October 1, 2018.
Think of repetition as playing the long game. You may repeat a new skill a lot when it is first introduced. But don't forget to follow up on it over the course of the several days and weeks. The goal is to commit the new skill or information into long-term memory. So exercise those little brains by asking them to repeatedly recall the information over longer periods of time after short breaks of not practicing. This is the best way to reinforce those neural pathways.
One of the most important things for any learning experience is the right mindset and environment. Try to bring a positive upbeat attitude. And pick your timing carefully.
The great thing about repetitive learning is that a quick session can be worked in multiple times a day. Look for times when your child is likely to be receptive. You could try quizzing math facts at bath time, in the car, or over dinner. Just because it's learning doesn't mean it has to feel like school. Aim for 10 to 20 minutes a day of practice.
But if that isn't working, for whatever reason, remember that any time spent practicing is better than none. Focus on the big picture, if you think practice is drudgery, they will start to as well.
Kids naturally think repetition not just fun, but funny . . . hilarious even. I learned the value of this teaching my own kids their math facts. Be silly. Make them laugh. Incorporate practice into playtime. Adults often find repetition boring. So there is no better way for everyone to enjoy the process than to make it a game.
One of the tricks I discovered while teaching is that some kids really enjoy timing themselves while they work. Inexpensive egg timers (mini-hourglasses) work great. Some children love to flip them over and see how many flash-cards, math problems, etc. they can complete before it runs out. Just remember to introduce this as an optional game, not a mandatory timed test.
After discussing the to-do's of using repetition in learning, the Thou-Shalt-Not's are fairly self-explanatory.
PAGE A DAY MATH implements all of these critical elements of repetitive and incremental learning into its program by:
And don't forget that if your child is not ready to complete even a page a day, less than that is fine! Progress is progress, and the goal of PAGE A DAY MATH is to teach every child that they can be a "math person" one math fact at a time.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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In this age of technology, when even young children often do school work on a computer, it can be easy to dismiss handwriting as a trivial skill. But the evidence shows that the benefits of sustained tracing and handwriting practice reach far beyond penmanship. In fact, the benefits extend to every single subject, even for older children.
The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Handwriting
Research shows that handwriting supports literacy and reading in ways that technology can't. A study published by the National Institute of Health found that when children had experience forming characters by hand, instead of typing them, it helped them identify them better later. “[H]andwriting is important for the early recruitment in letter processing of brain regions known to underlie successful reading.” James KH, Engelhardt L. The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children. Trends in neuroscience and education. 2012;1(1):32-42. doi:10.1016/j.tine.2012.08.001.
Experts have also found that taking notes longhand, instead of typing them, gives older students some similar benefits:
Doubek, James. "Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away." April 17, 2016. https://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away.
So if there are so many good reasons to have students write by hand, doesn't it make sense that they should be taught to do it well?
When students first begin to take the time to write neatly, it slows the pace of work. But, over time, speed improves and the benefits begin to show. First, they develop handwriting that they can read themselves – which means fewer mistakes! Second - and no less important - others can read their handwriting. Again, this means fewer errors from misunderstanding teachers. And then, because writing neatly becomes easier, their minds are freed to focus on other things. "[L]abored handwriting creates a drain on mental resources needed for higher-level aspects of writing, such as attention to content, elaboration of details, and organization of ideas." Spear-Swerling, Louise. "The Importance of Teaching Handwriting." http://www.readingrockets.org/article/importance-teaching-handwriting Accessed Sept. 23, 2018.
OK, But Tracing for Older Kids?
Tracing actually has its own benefits completely separate from handwriting. And those benefits extend to students much older than those you would typically think of when you think about tracing.
Tracing can be a calming, even soothing task - like the popular coloring books for adults. And, just as with handwriting, it helps students commit content to memory. Tracing is a form of kinesthetic learning, reinforcing the content as well as training their brains in the proper way to form letters and numbers.
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a group of nine 4th and 5th graders who needed to work on their math skills. When they began to work with the PAGE A DAY MATH program, they were resistant to tracing at first. But as they progressed with the program they began to enjoy the process. They learned that it was not about racing to get a page done, but about carefully following the steps, tracing the facts with their best handwriting. And in only about seven days they started to show improvement in some remarkable areas. Not only did their handwriting and math skills improve, but they were also able to sit and work more patiently!
So tracing can be an invaluable activity, not just for kindergartners, but for students learning multiplication and division as well.
Tips for Tracing and Handwriting Success
Check to be sure your students are using a correct and relaxed pencil grip. Here is a chart that demonstrates common pencil grip errors. The correct position is illustrated in diagram J.
[Pencil Grip Postures Chart used with permission by Aussie Childcare Network]
Make it fun! I love to have colored pencils available for students. It helps make tracing and handwriting enjoyable. And it encourages children to slow down and focus on the process, rather than just rushing to complete the task.
For all of these reasons, PAGE A DAY MATH incorporates both tracing and handwriting at every level. It develops legible math handwriting while teaching math facts in a fun and encouraging way.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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One of my most eye-opening experiences came when I began teaching pre-algebra at one of the nation's top charter schools. When I started the job, I was quickly brought to reality by the fact that many of the children did not have a good grasp of the basic math facts needed for the higher-level pre-algebra work.
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At what age should you begin teaching children their math facts? The answer may be earlier than you think.
Research shows that school success and achievement in the middle school years can be linked to the math skills children have when they start school. In fact, the link is so profound and far-reaching, that one of the nation's top economists and math research experts, Greg Duncan, named early math skills as the best predictor of later success. (Duncan, Greg, et al. School Readiness and Later Achievement. American Psychological Association, 2007. Vol. 4. No. 6. 1428-1446.)
That's more than behavioral skills - more than social skills - and even more than literacy skills.
Here is just one of my first-hand experiences.
One of my most eye-opening experiences came when I began teaching pre-algebra at one of the nation's top charter schools. When I started the job, I was quickly brought to reality by the fact that many of the children did not have a good grasp of the basic math facts needed for the higher-level pre-algebra work.
So, in addition to assigning daily practice in math facts to the entire class, I made myself available at lunchtime - every day - for the entire school year. I encouraged everyone to come. Some students came and some didn't.
What was so startling was the transformation that took place in the children who came consistently! These kids started out in tears, hating math, and not believing in themselves. But by the end of the year, they were earning A's and B's! And even better than that - they had a newfound confidence. They knew they were smart!
What worked the magic? The answer is simple. They had regular practice learning their basic math facts in just a relatively short amount of time per day. Don't miss the most important takeaway from this - it's profound and worth repeating. It was knowing their basic math facts (knowledge gained with just short practice sessions daily) that made all the difference in these students' ability to perform higher-level math.
So when do you start teaching math facts?
The earlier the better. Preschool through 3rd grade is the optimal time to build a strong math foundation (Mongeau, Lillian. "Early Math Matters: Top Researcher Discusses His Work." EdSource December 1, 2013. www.edsource.org.).
But It's OK if you didn't start early.
But what if your child didn't receive solid math basics in the preschool through 3rd-grade years? The good news is it's not too late. As my personal story shows, even short, daily sessions spent practicing basic math facts can work miracles. The key is consistency over time.
Automating your child's ability to recall the basic math facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division not only helps them perform higher-level math quickly and efficiently, but it also builds crucial number sense and a deeper understanding of how math really works. And it can transform how they feel about learning and themselves. I have seen, with my own eyes, children go from not feeling like they're smart to having confidence and knowing that they are a "math person".
In a later article, we will explore some of the best ways to catch up if you didn't start early.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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There are two glaring areas, Mindset, and Skills. They are not mutually exclusive. When our children are young 3-6 years old, they are introduced to many new things. The earlier they are introduced to different topics, the more they will know and the more comfortable they will be with them.
Children exposed to early math, between the ages of 3-6, in a fun and encouraging way will probably feel more comfortable with math and enjoy it more.
Here are a few activities parents shared with me that they do with their children to make math part of their daily life fun and fit it into their busy schedules.
1) At the dinner table, they ask their children math questions in a playful, realistic way. Their children look forward to these games while spending together.
2) On the way to the bus stop or in the car on the way to school they ask each other math questions and math facts. Parents enjoy answering their children’s questions as much as asking them. This time allows their children to play the “teacher” which causes them to think about asking the questions. Asking questions also triggers thought about the solution.
Playing number games creates a great mindset for math. Simply put, it is fun because it creates meaningful interactions, causing us to think creatively and make pleasant memories!
Here’s the article. Share your comments. Which state do you live in? What do you think the reason is for low math and reading skills? How can we solve this ongoing problem?
No significant change in average mathematics score for fourth-graders compared to 2015
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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My 2nd-grade daughter came home in tears, certain that she wasn’t smart because she had been placed in the lowest math class. However, when I met with her teacher, I discovered that my daughter didn’t know her math facts. Her placement test showed a lack of fluency in that essential foundation, but instead of prescribing more practice, her teacher had already written my 6-year-old daughter off as not a “math person.”
I started Page a Day Math because there was no incremental, cumulative program of daily practice that introduces new concepts at a gentle, incremental pace while cementing cumulative knowledge with regular practice.
In just a few months of creating makeshift worksheets for my daughter, she not only caught up but the following year she tested into the highest math class. This had a huge impact on her confidence: not only was she a “math person” but she had put in the work to get there. At such a young age, just a little daily practice propelled her ahead of all the students who weren’t getting the same kind of regular review.
This inspired me to become a math tutor, volunteer math teacher, and eventually a full-fledged math teacher for 5th and 6th grade pre-algebra. During my time as a teacher, I saw the painful, stressful results of students struggling with basic math facts fluency. A broken foundation made each new grade advancement ten times harder than it needed to be.
After years of personal experiences as a math teacher and tutor, I truly believe anyone can be a “math person.” This led me to create Page A Day Math, which features adorable math books and tools that are exploding with color, fun, encouragement from the Page a Day Dog Math Squad, “Mo, Jo, Flo, Bo and Zo,” and inspiration for both child and parent.
Janice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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MAKE MATH REAL
USE EFFECTIVE TOOLS
PRACTICE MATH OFTEN
1. As adults, we know what it takes to get into physical shape or acquire a skill. Learning to dance, or memorizing lines in a school play takes time, practice, perseverance, consistency, and a great attitude. This holds true for our children when learning. There is no quick fix to learning and of course, that applies to math too! Children need time to learn new math facts and new math concepts.
2. When a child learns a new concept on a given day, it does not mean they will retain it the next. They may need to review 10s of times until it ‘sticks’. This is completely normal and part of the learning process. It takes time for new concepts to go from short term to long term memory. It takes time to acquire greater understanding so these concepts can be used automatically in higher-level problem-solving.
CREATE A ROUTINEJanice Marks
Janice began her career in education to pursue teaching pre-algebra at BASIS Tucson North, a charter school currently ranked as the sixth-best STEM school in the country by Newsweek. There she found joy in teaching math, working with parents, and inspiring children to believe in themselves and thrive. This experience, along with helping her own children succeed in math, led her to develop the Page A Day Math system.
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