Dear Parents,

Your child’s class is starting a mathematics unit on multiplication and division. Multiplication and division are basic computational skills that children must eventually master in order to succeed in higher levels of mathematics. The focus of this unit is on developing an understanding of the processes of multiplication and division in order to develop strategies for multiplying and dividing whole numbers up to 5 x 5. Children will use counters, number lines, and arrays to develop their understanding.

In this unit, your child will:

• Model multiplication and division up to 5 x 5
• Find strategies to multiply and divide up to 5 x 5
• Pose and solve story problems involving multiplication and division.

Encourage your child to share different strategies used to multiply and divide.

We use multiplication and division in many day-to-day situations.
Here are some suggestions for activities you can do at home:

• Look for things that come in groups of 2, 3, 4, and 5. Create problems. For example: Bikes have 2 tires. How many tires are on 4 bikes?
• Use a deck of playing cards, using only the 1s (Aces) to 5s. Shuffle the cards. Flip the first card. This represents the number of groups. Flip the second card. This represents the number of objects in each group. Have your child draw a picture to match the cards, and write a multiplication and division sentence to match the picture. Continue until all cards are used up.