Sunshine Math

 

Sunshine Math is an enrichment program designed to enhance your child’s journey through mathematics.  Sunshine Math consists of 25 activity sheets, featuring problems that include figuring the missing number in number sentences, exploring the symmetry of geometric shapes, and finding area and volume. The weekly activity sheets are designed to stimulate discussion of problem-solving strategies and higher order thinking. In a sample grade 3 problem, students solve a riddle involving odd numbers and greater and less than relationships. In another problem, students evaluate the chance of obtaining specific results with an equally divided spinner.

Each Monday, Rockets will receive a worksheet of problems that they may work during the week. Each problem is ranked according to its level of difficulty. The number of stars beside a problem indicates the level of difficulty and the number of stars your Rocket can earn for solving it.

Each Monday, a parent volunteer conduct a “help session” to discuss the most challenging problems of the week. Completed Sunshine Math papers are due on Friday.

Your role in Sunshine Math is to encourage and facilitate your child’s problem solving. During the week, allow time for him or her to think about each problem. You may need to read the problem to your child, explaining any new words encountered. Listen as your child shares his or her thinking. Feel free to suggest a strategy for solving the problem, offer “counters” or manipulatives, or listen as your child shares her or his thinking, but please DO NOT GIVE THE ANSWERS. In order for this program to be effective, the students must do their own thinking.

It is normal for a child NOT to be able to complete every problem on a worksheet. The process of reading, understanding, and approaching the problems is a valuable step in the solving of many types of problems. Remind your child that she or he is not expected to know the answer to every problem.