I hope you’ve had a great start to your summer vacation! Last week, I had some requests for math material suggestions (books and websites) for extra practice over the summer, and I thought the information would be useful to everyone.
For basic operation practice (e.g., math facts, times table, basic computations/concepts), there are many books on the market such as Math Smarts (ISBN: 978-1-897164-15-0), My Ontario Math Workbook, Tree House Ontario Math (ISBN:9781894854733). Many of these books are available at Target, Walmart, Scholar's Choice or Chapters.
During the school year, we used the textbook series Math Makes Sense. We didn’t use the accompanying workbook very much (other than a few pages here and there). You can contact the publisher, Pearson, to purchase the workbook. It's about $11, and each lesson begins with a quick "review" section. You can also Google “Math Make Sense grade 5 workbook”, and locate a copy uploaded by a teacher in Saskatchewan. It doesn't match perfectly with the Ontario version, but it is close. The textbook is also available from the Toronto Public Library. Most of the copies are for use in the library (the one at the Thorncliffe branch is located in the Children’s Reference area), but a few copies can be borrowed for a few weeks (they’re presently holds for the copies at different branches across the city, but you can add your time to the list and request to have it shipped to the Thorncliffe Park branch).
This year in math, we focused a lot of problem solving. I firmly believe that students need to master basic computations (e.g., add or multiply numbers), AND apply them to solve problems and real-life situations (e.g., know when to add, subtract, multiply or divide). The following are a few books that promote some of the higher-order thinking we’ve been practicing in class: Groundworks: Reasoning with Number (ISBN-13: 978-1404520318), Road to Reasoning (ISBN: 9780070947528). The second book is very expensive, but you can check to see if the library has copies. Also, if older brothers and sisters attending UofT or York, they have access to the Faculty of Education libraries at the universities and can borrow books from there.
A great free resource is the EQAO website. You can download questions from previous years (I would recommend ones within the last 5 years, as the test today is a bit easier than the ones given when the test first started 10 years ago). Most of the questions on the test are open-ended problem solving questions, and would be a great practice for students next year. The questions are designed for Grade 6 students (at end of the school year), and may be too hard for your child right now. You can modify the question for them by changing the numbers (e.g., instead of 5 digits, change the numbers to 4 digits), or by breaking the questions down for them (e.g., if it involves 3 steps, give the question to them 1 step at a time).
While I believe academics are important, I also want to encourage students to take some time to relax and have fun. After working hard for 10 months, students need some “downtime” and decompress before entering Middle School. Spend some time outside, and be active! As adults, we can become burnt out if all we’re doing is work - students also need a balance between working hard and having a chance to play! Summer’s also a great time to spend time as a family - there’s a lot of learning to be done through board games (e.g., logic, reasoning, communication, taking turns, patience and character building).
I wish you and your families all the best, and have a great and wonderful summer!
