Math Practice and the Ministry Exams

This photo has nothing to do with the following post. But just the same, Yay Team!

Hello Families,

Over the last week a couple of families have gotten in touch about having some extra work to prepare for the ministry exams. While I have sent some photocopies when asked, there is a great deal of free material on the internet.

That said, finding information on the internet is "like taking a drink from a fire hydrant" (Mitchell Kapor, via Lucacept).   

So apart from the sites listed on the sidebar of this blog, here are some sites I can recommend:

Math Frog, where you will find self-correcting games students can use to practice skills

Math Games, a site I am still exploring but that has many levels of practice available for students.

Bedtime Math, which has a "problem of the day" format with leveled questions to help the whole family get involved, and has tips for helping kids find math fun

Figure This! Math Challenges work different problem-solving skills, with and without calculation

A+ Click gives you math practice by grade level and by are of math, and lets you browse math question by thumbnail.

IXL provides math sheets with Canadian content links, so that you can see what kids need to know in our province

Math is Fun offers one of the best illustrated Math Dictionaries on the web


Most of these sites I found on the metasite Great Websites for Kids, sponsored by the American Library Association. This site provides sites for students to use that are from reputable sources and  offer sounds academic value, sorted by subject and rating.

For many of the students, current math errors are not a result of misunderstanding of concepts, but rather calculation inaccuracies and shortcuts in procedures that lead to errors. If this is the case for your child, having them practice their skills is still the best way you can help them. Ipod apps such as PopMath are painless ways to have them squeeze in extra practice on the go.

One of the best ways to help you child is still to check their homework. Insist they correct any mistakes you find, that they present solutions that are complete and diagrams that are fully labelled, and that they use the formula they are taught.

Thank you, once again, for all that you do to help your child, and please let me know if there are any questions I can answer.

Warm regards,
Kathy Napier