“I saw her struggling with the word problems a bit. Could you let me know how they did math problems in class, so we can follow the same way at home?” -FM

Hi FM -

We generally worked on word problems along with the concrete material, so this work may be very new.

I find the best way is to have a conversation about the way she might approach finding the answer. Talk about what she knows (based on what she has read) and what she wants to know (based on the question that is being asked).

You might even show an example of how you would solve a problem - drawing a picture, writing the numbers down, etc. Pick one way and show how you solved the question being asked.

The lovely part about these word problems is that the conversation helps to build number sense - the idea that many people may approach finding an answer in a different way. The calculation is not as important at this time, if the critical thinking-through is in practice! She has much practice in finding the calculations on their own, without the word problems connected.

I hope that helps. Feel free to go back to them or take a step back as you feel necessary.