Welcome!
Our numeracy newsletter articles aim to bridge the gap between the classroom and your home, helping you to support your child’s numeracy understanding in a fun and engaging way. Numeracy goes beyond just addition and subtraction. It’s about applying maths concepts to solve problems and make sense of the world around us. Through these newsletter articles, we hope to provide families with some helpful hints and tips to increase their numeracy skills.
In our previous article, we focussed on numeracy activities that could be done in the kitchen with cooking and shopping ideas.
With this article, as we approach the AFL finals, we are looking at numeracy ideas with a sports focus.
Watching sport at home
Probability:
- Language: Encourage discussions and ask questions like what is the probability of your AFL team making the finals? Impossible? Certain? What data supports your answer?
Arithmetic:
- Scoring: Practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication as players and teams score points or as they receive votes in the Brownlow Medal count.
- Time: Calculate the remaining time in a quarter or game.
- Statistics: Track player statistics like their score for the game, rebounds in basketball or netball, runs and wickets in cricket, or tackles in AFL.
Fractions and Percentages:
- Goal Percentage: Calculate the percentage of goals scored by a player.
- Free Throw / Super Shot Percentage: Determine the percentage of free throws made in basketball or Super Shots scored in netball.
- Winning Percentage: Calculate a team’s winning percentage based on wins and losses.
Data Analysis:
- Trends: Analyse trends in player performance over time.
- Predictions and extrapolation: Make predictions about the final score and compare them to the actual outcome.
- Comparisons: Compare statistics between different players or teams.
Going to the game
As well as all the Numeracy involved with watching sports at home, when you go to the games in person you can involve your children in the planning and also incorporate numeracy into your conversations when you are at the game:
Budgeting:
- Ticket Costs: Research ticket prices for different seating sections and calculate the total cost for your family.
- Food and Drinks: Estimate the cost of food and drinks at the ground. Create a budget and track your spending.
Getting to the ground:
- Cost: If applicable, calculate the cost of parking or the train ticket.
- Timetables: Use public transportation timetables or estimate driving and walking time to the ground so that you arrive in time to see the start of the game. Digital tools such as PTV Planner and Google Maps could be used to assist in the planning to arrive on time.
Remember:
These activities don’t have to be complex. Keep it fun and engaging!
As the ‘Numeracy for Families’ newsletter is a new addition to MWSC, we seek feedback from families about the current content and suggestions about new content moving forward. Please complete this short 2-minute survey if you are able: https://forms.gle/GP392C45N3Kkovxz9
Mrs Tijtje Keatley and Ms Cassie Morris
Learning Specialists