The following are strategies that your child can draw upon when trying to work out problems in math (and elsewhere too sometimes). Each one has its place depending upon the problem. I encourage students to approach problems in many ways and encourage the acceptance of many approached.

Guess and Check: This strategy calls upon the student to make a logical guess at an answer followed by working out a check to determine if the answer is correct.

For example: I have 9 coins totally 48 cents. What coins are they?

9 quarters would not be a logic guess and neither would 9 pennies.

But the student might guess 4 dimes and 3nickels and 2 pennies. The CHECK by finding the total (in this case being 40+15+2=57 cents.) Too much!!

Adjusted guess would be: 3 dimes 3 nickels and 3 pennies

Total (CHECK) being 30+15+3=48 cents

Sometimes there is a need for several adjusted guesses dependent upon the students ability to analyses original guesses logically and not just randomly guessing.

Draw a picture Sometimes a story has many details that can more easily sorted through if the students draws a basic sketch illustrating it. Then the child is not required to "picture it in their mind." The student can more easily see a plan of action.

Make a table and look for a pattern This approach is workable when the students is sorting through statistics and predicting . For example, if one baseball cards came in pack of 6 for $3, how much would 24 cards cost? 6- $3 --- 12- $6 ---------------24-??

Look for clue vocabulary to determine operation ( +, -, X, or division) There are many vocab. clues that will help a child determine if they add, subtract, multiply or divide.

Subtraction: If within the story, something is spent, flies away, is lost or goes away in any way, the amount that is LEFT can be determined by subtraction. Also, if the story asks for comparisons like "How much taller, smaller, less or more etc?" than the DIFFERENCE between the items can be found through subtraction.

Multiplication or addition: These are similar functions because they involve "putting things together" or finding a "total." If the students has multiplication skills then some problems they can use them on some problems IF they recognize when it is appropriate to be used.

Since multiplication is repeated addition (3X5= 3+3+3+3+3) , if a story calls for a total where the addends are the SAME SIZE/ AMOUNT, then multiplication is indicated.