Creative Ways to Help a Child with Math

My son, a third-grader, struggles with math. I am trying to throw it at him any way I can -- books and songs as well as flashcards. Do you have any suggestions? -- Math Problems
Answer: It's great to approach your son's struggles with math in several ways. He won't get bored, and one approach might work better than another. However, you can't just throw math at him. You need to focus on improving one skill at a time. Because math is a sequential subject, in which one skill is learned before another, you would work on addition before subtraction, and so on. Start with basic facts that he can't recall in less than three seconds, and don't leave a skill area until your son has truly mastered it.
Songs and chants can be very effective for learning basic skills. You can make them up. For example, "Two and two are four, four and two are six, six and two are eight, and eight more are 16." Go online and search for "math songs" to get more ideas. The advantage of this approach is that songs and chants can be enjoyed just about everywhere, from traveling in a car to doing dishes in the kitchen.
Many children's books are all about math -- especially addition and subtraction. We have a list of these books in Resources on the Web site. You can look in bookstores and online for even more books. Flashcards are always helpful, too, as well as games that focus on the skill you are teaching.
If you are teaching your son a basic skill, he will need to learn strategies that will help him figure out the answers when he can't swiftly recall them. Using his fingers can work for easy addition and subtraction facts. Laying out objects works for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Here's an easy trick for multiplication: For example, to get the answer for 3 x 4, draw three vertical lines crossing four horizontal lines. Count the intersections (12) to get the answer.