DISCOVERING MATH PATTERNS Pass any playground and you’ll hear the age-old sounds of young hands clapping and snapping in perfect rhythm to sing-song chants: Clap-clap-clap-snap-snap, clap-clap-clap-snap-snap. Even very young children enthusiastically join the rhythmic games and create new patterns of their own: Snap (pause) snap-snap-clap-clap-clap; snap-(pause)-snap-snap-clap-clap-clap. Jump ropes smack the ground and skippers rock back and forth rhythmically, deciding when to enter the rope. Math is the farthest thing from their minds as they giggle and clown. But just as running and laughing are intuitive parts of childhood, so is the process of discovering and predicting patterns. As children progress in school and begin engaging in more formal math problem-solving, the ability to look for and apply number patterns can be an invaluable tool. There are many ways that parents can help transform this natural love of patterns into a mathematical talent. Follow the suggestions below to help instill math confidence in your children and strengthen their fascination with numbers. Real-Life Examples Encourage your child to discover geometric patterns in nature (shells, flowers, animals, pine cones, rocks); in architecture (archways, doorways, stairways, floor tiles, windows); in clothing and home fashion (designer labels, t-shirt logos, neckties, quilts, wallpaper, and floor tile); and in technology (computer-generated graphics and logos). Help your child notice other patterns that occur in everyday situations. For example, television commercials are often scheduled at regular intervals. Help your son or daughter make a table, record the times and predict when the next commercial will be aired. For example, if a commercial was shown at 7:20, 7:35, 7:50 and 8:05, work with your child to predict when the next three commercials will air and test your predictions. Once your child determines that the first four commercials are 15 minutes apart, he or she should be able to predict future commercials for 8:20, 8:35 and 8:50. Create, Extend and Explain Number Patterns Have fun as a family by making up number patterns. Encourage other family members to discover each pattern, predict the next three numbers in the pattern, and explain how the pattern works. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 … (35, 40, 45)      Add 5 to the previous number. Count by five’s. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 … (14, 16, 18)      Add 2 to the previous number. List the even numbers. Count by 2. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 … (13, 15, 17)      Add 2 to the previous number. List the odd numbers. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 … (32, 64, 128)      Double the previous number. Multiply the previous number by 2. Add 1 to the first number, then 2 to the next number, then 4, then 8, etc. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49 … (64, 81, 100)      Multiply each number by itself (1 x 1 = 1, 2 x 2 = 4, 3 x 3 = 9, 4 x 4 = 16). Find the perfect squares of the counting numbers. Add 3 to the first number, then 5 to the next number, then 7, then 9, then 11, etc. By Anne C. Patterson