Meet with your child's teacher before the break. State your concerns about your child's math ability and interest level. Ask her to provide any suggestions regarding reinforcement or enrichment activities during the break. If your child has a specific weakness such as fractions, geometry or equations, she can provide extra worksheets or resource texts that address this topic. A mathematically gifted child may want enrichment activities that build upon past learning, or he may be ready to start the following year's curriculum. If you child is math phobic, inquire about any games or online activities that could stimulate his interest in mathematics.
Do not expect your child to spend hours completing math worksheets. Instead, create a doable schedule that includes leisure activities, family time, part-time work, chores and math review. If she has serious difficulty with the subject, consider hiring an older student or adult to tutor her for one hour a day, three times a week. Set up an appropriate reward system. For example, take your child on a special outing if she completes a certain number of worksheets.
Encourage your child to read books that contain math content. If you are a sports enthusiast, share your passion with your child. Show him how to read the statistics in the sports pages and calculate the different percentages. While watching a game, encourage him to compare the different players using yards gained and lost, hits and other criteria. Older students could use a spreadsheet to display this information.
Create projects that use mathematical ideas such as measurement and estimation. For example, if you are baking cookies, ask your child to calculate the ingredients required for a double batch. During the Christmas break, ask her to help you string up lights. She can estimate how many sets you will need and calculate the number of lights used. When shopping for groceries, she can keep a running total of all items in the cart or basket. She can calculate the unit cost of similar items and recommend the best buy.
Use board games to practice math skills. Designate one night a week as Game Night for the entire family and provide prizes for the winners. You can play games such as Monopoly, Mastermind and Cribbage.