The Three Best Math Questions to Ask Your Kids

For many of you, today is Day 2 of the Coronavirus Homeschool Experiment. And my guess is that it's starting to get real.

You scoured the internet for great ideas all weekend, and then somehow you used them all on Monday and now it's Tuesday morning and your kids are finishing breakfast and the reality is sinking in...how the $*^&# do teachers do this every day?

Well, I have good news! You don't have to have a lesson plan in order to help your kids think about math. In fact, there are a few easy questions that you can use to guide your kids' conversations into fertile mathematical territory in almost any situation. 

Question 1: "What do you think?"

Very often, your kids will ask you a question that has a quick numerical answer: What do 7 and 7 make? How many days until I turn six? How much is 3 groups of 4?

It's very tempting to simply answer the question and move on. But I'd recommend that you prolong this moment by turning the question around: "What do you think?"

Often, your child will have some sort of intuition about their answer. You can follow their line of thinking wherever it goes, showing your child that even their most informal intuitions about math are worth embracing and sharpening.

And even if they're clueless, you can use that as a moment to show them how to find the answer themselves. That's the beauty of math: you don't have to be the answer key. You can just show them how to find the answer themselves. Arrange three rows of 4 goldfish and have your kids count them out. Turns out, the answer is 12!

This shows your child two things: First of all, they can solve this problem, and similar problems, using the method you shared. And secondly, math is something that can be investigated, explored, and learned all on your own. It's nice to have a parent to bounce ideas off of, but the next time they need to figure out 5 groups of 2, they might not have a grown-up handy. But maybe they have some goldfish...

Question 2: "How do you know?"

Let's turn it around. Your child doesn't have a question for you. Instead, you've asked your child a math question (For example: you asked them how old they'll be in 9 years). And they've given you their answer.

Again, it's tempting to either tell them "Right!" or "Not quite!" but you'll want to delay that for the moment. Instead, ask them "How do you know?"

No matter what your child's answer, they got it somehow. The task of putting that strategy into words, however, is quite a challenge. In fact, it's one of the most important challenges in a kid's mathematical development.

After all, math isn't just about the correct answers. The core of math is about correct arguments. And if you can't explain to someone why your answer is right, then how sure can you be that you haven't made a mistake?

But what if they got the question wrong? Well, I'll share a moment from yesterday, while my son and I were building a 9x6 raised vegetable garden. I asked him to figure out 9x6 so I knew how many square feet of lawn the bed would take up.

"45"

How do you know?

"Well, first I did 9x5, and then... oh."

See? Once again, I wasn't the answer key. He caught his own mistake simply through the process of explaining his approach.

Of course, sometimes your kids don't catch their own mistake. But then their explanation will give you a great sense of their thinking before you explain the correct answer. There's really no situation where "How do you know?" is a bad question to ask.

Just like with question 1, the goal is to hear as much of your child's thinking as possible. They don't get the chance to share their thinking nearly this much at school. Take advantage of this opportunity!

Question 3: "What is your strategy?"

This question is a great one for any math game. The idea here, of course, is to hear what strategies your child is thinking about. But even more, this question is to remind your child that there is a strategy to find in these games. 

One of the best aspects of a math game is the way that it encourages kids to build connections between mathematical ideas. 

Way back when I started teaching, I had a math support group for middle schoolers. We played a game called Frac Jack where I dealt cards that each had a fraction written on it. The goal, as in blackjack, is to get as close to 1 without going bust (going over).

These kids truly, truly hated fractions. But in the context of a game, they started talking about the relationships between their cards. "You've gotta hit! You have 2/12, that's barely anything!" 

Over repeated versions of the game, their strategies got more sophisticated, and their mathematical skills with fractions got even stronger! They didn't even mind pulling out pencil and paper to figure out if they went bust when they got 3/5 and 4/9.

All that to say, asking about the strategy of a math game is a great way to get your child focused on the relevant math. Here are some other questions you can ask in most math games:

• What is my strategy on my next move? How can you stop me?

• What is the best space on the board? Why?

• What is the best card in the game? Why?

• What is the highest point total you could possibly earn in this game? How could you earn it?