10 Ideas to Get Back into Math after the Summer

Here are 10 quick ideas that can help you get that math brain going again after the long summer break:

1. For the younger ones: Try out skip counting during the car rides. Or the even younger ones: Just count the white cars together. This is a fun activity that involves math and makes the car rides a bit more entertaining for everyone.

2. How long will it take to get ready in the mornings? 5 min in the bathroom, 15 min for breakfast, 7 min to get dressed, 2 times 5 min to change the outfit, etc… You get the idea. Let your student figure it out, and they have already done some math for the day. Similar problems would be “How long does it take to get to school” or “At what time do I need to go to bed?”

3. How about baking a few batches of cookies? In understand that you are probably busy organizing your kids’ schedule and getting the last-minute items they need for school. But they will love those cookies as a back-to-school treat! And they will learn a ton about ratios making them.

4. You wouldn’t think how much vocabulary is needed for math. Write and draw some colorful index cards with math vocabulary and place them throughout the house (mirrors, windows, fridge are perfect locations). Those terms will stick in no time.

5. The beginning of the school year is a good time to talk about allowance. How much can I save in a year if I get x amount per week and only spend y? Depending on your allowance policy, this problem can become quite complicated (think rewards, chores, penalties, interest, etc.). And I never had a student that wasn’t interested in figuring out how much money they will have.

6. Board games and card games are perfect if you have a student in 7th grade: Get a head-start in probability by rolling those dice.

7. Middle schoolers can benefit from car rides, too! Practice operations with negative numbers and fractions, until you think your student can do them forwards, backwards and upside down. They will be so important!

8. If you want to get prepared for 8th grade math or Algebra 1, focus on understanding expressions and equations (here is that vocab again). Those concepts become a bit more abstract, but you can still have fun with those. You can replace x by silly words, names, or symbols, and make up problems for each other. Math becomes easier with a laugh in between.

9. The big hurdle for most geometry students is the proofs, so better get ready for those. There is no need to do geometry yet. Just simplify expressions and solve equations by writing down and explaining each step (e.g. this step is using the commutative property). Once you know how to explain each step while solving problems, you are ready and well prepared for the geometric proofs.

10. A quick preparation becomes harder for higher math classes: For Algebra 2 I recommend reviewing Algebra 1 material. Maybe you kept your chapter tests or some other test material? Going through those is the fastest way to figure out how much you remember. My tip for precalculus students and AP calc students is to review some basic functions and a bit of trig to get started. That should get the math brain going!