Summer is almost over. It happens so fast, really, though I say this from the standpoint of a teacher--and not as a parent (although I have a three year old who does his share of crawling up my legs in boredom.) I know that for most of you, the end of July starts feeling like the final stage in a marathon: you're counting the days until you can send your kids back to school and enjoy your morning cup of coffee in peace.

Still, there are a couple weeks of summer left, and it is the perfect time to help your child review and practice number concepts that may have gotten left on the back burner for most of vacation. Strong math skills are critical for young learners to excel, and all too often the focus in the early grades is unduly put on reading.

Without a solid understanding of numbers, children in first and second grade can really struggle as new and more complex mathematical concepts are introduced. But a good foundation in math depends on a whole lot more than algorithms and repetition. While the workbooks that many kids do over the summer can build confidence, what they rarely do is build comprehension. Children need to understand the concepts behind number operations in order problem solve with flexibility.

So, while a grade-level appropriate workbook might have been a great way to practice and review some concepts at the beginning of the summer, now is the time to set it aside, and start playing with numbers.

Following are a few activities that you can integrate into your daily routine at home that will give your child practice with the most fundamental concepts in math: comparing, quantifying, counting on, counting back, etc. Mastery of these apparently simple skills is actually what allows young learners to problem solve with flexiblility and apply multiple strategies when encountering new math problems--rather than relying only on a memorized algorithm.

· While cooking dinner: take a handful of dried pasta, beans, etc and have your child count the pile. Notice how she counts. Is it by ones? Twos? Challenge her to count it in at least three different ways.

· While driving to and from anywhere: count by twos, fives, tens, and ones. Once your child has mastered counting forward (to 100) practice counting backwards. Then shake things up by starting at random numbers (i.e. "count by twos starting at 46" or for an even greater challenge ask your child to count by twos starting at an odd number like 37.)

· While eating breakfast: ask your child to estimate how many pieces of cereal might fit into a measuring cup. Talk about what it means to make an estimate (in school I tell kids it's a "good guess") and what might be a reasonable or an unreasonable estimate.

· Anytime: ask your child to compare amounts of objects. Buttons, beads, marbles, stickers, etc are all fun objects to count and compare: which has most? Which has the fewest? How do they know?

· Before dinner: tell your child you need his help finding out what the family wants for dinner. Give him two menu options and have him take a survey of what each family member prefers. Surveys are a great way for children to practice collecting and organizing data. Other survey ideas: let your child use the phone to poll relatives on their favorite color, food, sport, etc. Or take a clipboard and a pencil to the park for some informal tallying.

· If you only have 3 minutes: Ask your child a bunch of quickie questions to get them thinking about the number system. "What comes before 21?" "What comes after 56?" What is one more than 18?" etc.

· If you have 5 minutes: Grab a ball to toss in the yard. Every time you toss your child the ball ask a question relating to a number pattern (such as any number plus one, any number plus two, doubles facts, any number plus 10.) This activity is especially great for hands-on learners. If your kiddo stumbles on a particular fact, keep coming back to it until it becomes familiar.

· If you have 10 minutes, ask your child to solve a problem using pictures, numbers and words. Using multiple approaches helps children become flexible with their problems solving, and encourages them to double check and support their thinking. Problems can be as simple as: how many legs are in our family? To something more complex-such as how many fingers and toes (knees, elbows, and tongues!) are in our family all together?

Almost anytime and anyplace presents itself as an opportunity for playing with numbers, once you're in the mindset. So have fun, and give your child a head start on the school year by using numbers daily in various settings.