You will need:

1 hershey bar

Fractions and Chocolate Bars

When introducing the concept of fractions, use one chocolate bar. Offer 1/2 of the bar to your child. Then have your child offer 1/4 of his/her piece to a sibling. Then ask "What fraction of the original chocolate bar did (sibling) get?" Soon your child can learn halves, fourths, eighths, etc. (Plus you get to eat chocolate.)

You will need:

pictures of food cut from the newspaper/magazine/grocery ad
change

Write a price on each food item you cut out. Can of soup=50 cents , etc.  Then allow your child to choose several items he  would like to purchase, add up the cost, and count out the change to you.

This is a fun game for kids to do on their own.  You will need: pipecleaners and three by five index cards with different shapes and their names drawn on them.

Give your child a stack of cards, some pipe cleaners, and let him make the shapes.  Pipe cleaners can be used over and over.

This is sung to "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and was written by Suzy Red.

Nine times one is 9
Nine times two, it is 18.
Times three is 27
These nines are just like heaven!
Nine times four is 36!
Nine times five is 45!
Times six is 54!
Go on a little more!
Nine times seven's 63!
Nine times eight is 72!
Times nine is 81!
Nines we love you!
You're the only number family 
With so many clever tricks!
Now I can even sing you:
9 X 4 is 36!

This song was shared by Ginger  Monette on the Homeschool High School Yahoo Group. It is sung to "Pop, Goes the Weasel."

There are 2 cups in 1 pint
And 2 pints in 1 quart
There are 4 quarts in 1 gallon
And that's how you measure liquid.

This is sung to "Oh, My Darling Clementine."

There are seven days, There are seven days, There are seven days in a week,

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

Tusday, Friday, Saturday

The Square song-- This is sung to "You Are My Sunshine."

The Triangle Song--This is sung to "Pop, Goes the Weasel."

This is sung to "Home on the Range" and is from the wonderful book "Chalkboard Songs."

Six times one is six.
Six times two is twelve.
Six times three, I know is eighteen.
Six times four's twenty-four.
Six times five is thirty.
Six times six is thirty-six.

Six, sixes are true!
Six times seven, I know's forty-two.
Six times eight's forty-eight!
Six times nine's fifty-four!
Why didn't I know that before?

This is sung to "She'll be coming round the mountain"  and you can use it for any numbers.

She’ll be doing her times tables when she comes. (repeat)

She’ll be doing her times tables cause she’s smart and cause she’s able

She’ll be doing her times tables when she comes.

1 times 1 is 1 when she comes

1 times 2 is 2 when she comes

1 times 3 is 3,  1 times 4 is 4,

1 times 5 is 5 when she comes.

1 times 6 is 6, 1 times 7 is 7,

1 times 8 is 8 when she comes,

1 times 9 is 9 when she comes,

1 times 10 is 10, 1 times 11 is eleven,

1 times 12 is twelve when she comes.

This is sung to "Oh My Darling, Clementine"

There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in the week.
There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in the week.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

(to the tune of "Skip to my Lou")

Skip count, skip count, count by 2's
Skip count, skip count, count by 2's
Skip count, skip count, count by 2's
We can count to 20.
"2, 4, 6, 8, 10,12,14,16, 18, 20!"

Skip count, skip count, count by 5's
Skip count, skip count, count by 5's
Skip count, skip count, count by 5's
We can count to 50.
"5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50!"

Skip count, skip count, count by 10's
Skip count, skip count, count by 10's
Skip count, skip count, count by 10's
We can count to 100.
"10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100!"

Skip Counting

If you have tile floors, try this game :

Have your child start at the end of the room on one square. If doing "3's", quietly count (and step on tiles), "1...2...."and then outloud, "3", then quietly "4....5...." , outloud "6". The child could either step on each tile, or hop to the next number (so hopping on every 3rd tile). You could also do this by drawing squares on your driveway with chalk, or putting out pieces of paper in a path for him to step on, or something like that. Also, try setting out a poster with the numbers 1-100 on it, organized in rows of 10 and then have him place a button on the correct numbers, 3,6,9, etc. and he will begin to see a pattern.

Multiplication Game :

Whenever a multilication fact came up that your child has a hard time with, write it on a small card (about 1/2 an index card works best) with the answer ex: 4 x 7 = 28. Then each morning before math make an obstacle course through the kitchen and dining room. The number fact cards are placed on the dining table. In the kitchen tell the child the complete fact, and let him repeat it and write it down on scratch paper. Then let the child say it, the parent says go and the child races through the course to find the matching fact card on the table, and back to the kitchen.

These are great for kids who need hands on help with math facts!

This song, which was recently posted on the Games for Learning group site, was a song that my daughter learned in kindergarten to help her learn to write her numbers.

The Number Song 1 -10
(To the tune of Jimmy Crack Corn)

Make a circle round and round
Make a circle round and round
Make a circle round and round
To make the number zero

Start at the top and come straight down
Start at the top and come straight down
Start at the top and come straight down
To make the number one

Around and back on the railroad track
Around and back on the railroad track
Around and back on the railroad track
To make the number two

Around we go and around again
Around we go and around again
Around we go and around again
To make the number three

Down and across and cut it in half
Down and across and cut it in half
Down and across and cut it in half
To make the number four

Down and around and give it a hat
Down and around and give it a hat
Down and around and give it a hat
To make the number five

Down we go and then around
Down we go and then around
Down we go and then around
To make the number six

Over and down and that is all
Over and down and that is all
Over and down and that is all
To make the number seven

Make an S and slide back up
Make an S and slide back up
Make an S and slide back up
To make a number eight

Around and down and that is all
Around and down and that is all
Around and down and that is all
To make the number nine

Make a one and then a zero
Make a one and then a zero
Make a one and then a zero
To make the number ten

Is your child a visual learner? Does he need lots of hands-on practice? Math can be made fun and show your child it can be used in the real world by trying these ideas.

1. Shopping-- This is a great opportunity to practice counting skills, estimating, and multiplication and division.
A. Have your child count out the money to give the cashier and then count the change.
B. Check to see which product is a better value by comparing prices on different brands of the same item. (You can also divide by ounces to get the price per ounce.) How much can you save?
C. Give your child a list of items on your shopping list and have them find the items and add up the prices. You can let them round the cost to the nearest ten.
D. Have your child estimate how many items you can purchase for $25.00. Is he correct? Did you purchase more or less?

2. Baking-- This is a great opportunity to learn about fractions and measurement.
A. Make a pizza and cut it into fourths.
B. Divide a Hershey's bar into eights. If there are two of you how many equal parts can you get?
C. Make brownies and measure the ingredients.
D. Get a gallon milk container, a quart container, and a pint container. Fill them up with water to find out how many pints are in a quart and how many quarts are in a gallon.

3. Telling Time--
A. Use a clock and count around by fives. This is an excellent way to learn the five times tables.
B. Talk about weeks. There are seven days in each week. How many days are in four weeks?
Five weeks? etc. This is an excellent way to learn the seven times tables.

4. Shapes--
Show your child basic shapes such as a square, a circle, a rectangle, and a triangle. Have a shape hunt around the house for objects shaped like one of these items.

5. Money--
A. Have the kids count the change in your purse or your pocket.
B. How many ways can you make a dollar with change?

These are just a few ideas to help you start using items around the house to teach math. I have learned that the more they realize that they actually use math in everyday life the more they are willing to learn.

Here are some math games that I use to enliven my teaching. Some I have learned over the years from teaching in public and private school and some have came from the excellent yahoo group "Games for Learning" which can be found here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GamesForLearning/

Math Games:
"Poison Sixes"
We use this game for addition or multiplication facts. Materials needed: 2 dice
For addition game: Each player takes a turn rolling the dice. Then the score is added together and recorded on a piece of paper. The first one to reach a score of 50 wins. Here's the catch: If you roll a six, then you lose all your points and must start over.
For multiplication game: This is played the same except the numbers on the two dice are multiplied. The first person to reach a score of 100 wins.
Candy Counting"
I use a one serving size bag of skittles for this game. Before we begin the game, we estimate how many candies will be in the bag and record the information. Then we open the bag and place our skittles on the table. We then estimate how many of each color we think there is and record the information. We then draw a graph and label all the colors. We compare our estimate of each color to the actual amount after we graph it. Then we add all the candies together and compare the actual number with the estimated amount.

"Crazy Shapes Hunt"
Introduce a shape. Then take 5 minutes to go around the house and see how many times you can find the shape. This game also works with perpendicular and parallel lines.

Learning the days of the week song:
(tune: The Munsters)
Dum, Dum, de dum, (snap, snap)
Dum Dum, de, dum, (snap, snap)
There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,
There's Thursday and there's Friday,
and then there's Saturday, (snap, snap)
and then there's Saturday. (snap, snap

can also be used to teach the days of the week in a foreign language)
(spanish version)
Dum, Dum, de dum, (snap, snap)
Dum, dum, de dum, (snap, snap)
There's domingo and there's lunes,
there's martes and miercoles,
there's neuves and there's viernes
and then there's sabado, (snap, snap)
and then there's sabado. (snap, snap)

Dice Game

Roll the dice (you can use as many as you want) and who ever can "answer" the fastest, gets a point. Play up to a certain point. You can use this game for addition or multiplication. Or you can use it for subtraction by using two dice and just answering the fastest.

Playing Cards Game

Use a deck of playing cards and divide the deck equally. Each player puts their stack face down in a pile. Each person flips a card face up and the person who answers first, again gets a point. Aces can be 1's, Jacks 10's, Queens 11's, and Kings 12's. Again, this can be used for addition, multiplication, or subtraction.

Here are some games that use common items around the house:

Laundry

(This game actually accomplishes two goals, since your dirty clothes are sorted.)
1. Take your dirty clothes from the hamper and estimate how many there are. Count and find the correct amount.
2. Sort the clothes into two piles--whites and colors. What fraction is colored? What fraction is white? What are the percentages of each?
3. Find the total amount of clothes. How many items would you wash if you washed one load per day for a week? (7x?) How many items would you wash if you washed two loads of this amount each day for a week? (14x?)

Phone Number Game

1. What is your phone number?
2. Put it in order from least to greatest, and then greatest to least.
3. Multiply all the digits together. (Substitute one for zeros.)
4. Write your phone number in words.
5. Say your phone number as a number.
(This game will also work for your zip code.)