Continual News Coverage of Economic Crisis Creates Math Learning Opportunity for Children

While Parents Stress About the Stock Market, Children Can See Practical Applications for Math Skills They Learn in School

(Baltimore, MD, October 15, 2008) – The current global economic turmoil and non-stop news coverage, while distressing to parents, creates a unique math learning opportunity for children.

As news of the stock market fluctuations and financial services crisis is publicized each day, an opportunity is presented to demonstrate to school-age children the real-life applications of basic math concepts, such as addition, subtraction, percentages, and averages.

"While this is a turbulent time for families, there are ways to use the economic information that is shown on TV or online to help children grasp basic math concepts without causing them undue stress about the overall economy," says Judy Ann Brown, mathematics program manager at Sylvan Learning. "Helping children develop the habit of demonstrating their knowledge of basic math, be it addition and subtraction, or multiplication and percentages, will serve to create a more stress-free, and many times, fun way for children to learn these concepts," Brown concludes.

The math experts at Sylvan Learning offer tips for parents that can serve as a guide to explain math concepts to children:

• Have your child track the closing number for the stock market each day and calculate the difference as a number and a percentage.
• Have your child note how the cost of gas varies from station to station in your town. How much less would you pay at station #1 versus station #2 for a full tank of gas?
• Use the changes in interest rates to pose a math question about how much interest she would pay if she needed a loan to buy a toy. How much interest she would earn if she placed her money in a savings account?
• Use coupons to demonstrate subtractions skills. If a store doubles coupon values, have your child calculate the savings. Or, if you use a coupon that takes cents off an item, have him calculate the new price.

For additional ideas concerning how to teach the value of math in everyday situations, parents can log onto http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/form_math_booklet.cfm to download Sylvan Learning’s Math Activity Booklet that provides 30 days of math writing topics, trivia, questions and puzzles.

About Sylvan Learning

Sylvan Learning is the leading provider of in-center and live, online tutoring at home to students of all ages, grades and skill levels. With approximately 30 years of experience and more than 900 centers located throughout North America, Sylvan's proven process and personalized methods have inspired more than 2 million students to discover the joy of learning. Sylvan's trained and Sylvan-certified personal instructors provide individual instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and test-prep for college entrance and state exams. Sylvan helps transform unique kids into uniquely inspired learners with the skills to do better in school and the confidence to do better in everything else. For more information, call 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com.