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Every guide in the Math Prizes resource hub, newest first. Page 14 of 16.

The Power of 'Yet': Rewiring 'I Can't Do This' at the Kitchen Table

The Power of 'Yet': Rewiring 'I Can't Do This' at the Kitchen Table

The word yet sounds too small to matter. But watch what happens when a stuck kid hears I can't do this yet instead of I can't do this.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 10, 2025 · 5 min read
Your Child Knows Facts One Day and Forgets Them the Next: Here's Why

Your Child Knows Facts One Day and Forgets Them the Next: Here's Why

The multiplication facts your child knew cold on Tuesday are gone by Thursday. It isn't laziness, and it isn't a red flag. It's how memory works.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 9, 2025 · 5 min read
What COPPA Actually Means for the Math App on Your Kid's Tablet

What COPPA Actually Means for the Math App on Your Kid's Tablet

COPPA is thrown around like a badge on every kids app, but most parents have no idea what it actually stops a company from doing. Here's the plain version.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 8, 2025 · 5 min read
What to Review Before Each Grade So Math Doesn't Feel Scary Day One

What to Review Before Each Grade So Math Doesn't Feel Scary Day One

You don't need a summer boot camp. A little targeted review of the right skills is what keeps day one from feeling like a wall.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 7, 2025 · 4 min read
What Your Kid's Math Report Card Actually Means

What Your Kid's Math Report Card Actually Means

A 3 out of 4 is not a B, and a 2 is not failing. Here is what those marks really tell you about your kid's math.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 6, 2025 · 5 min read
Third Grade Math Is Where It Gets Real: Here's the Full Picture

Third Grade Math Is Where It Gets Real: Here's the Full Picture

Third grade is the year math stops being counting and starts being thinking. Here is exactly what changes and where kids tend to slip.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 5, 2025 · 5 min read
What Spaced Practice Is and Why It Makes Math Stick

What Spaced Practice Is and Why It Makes Math Stick

A kid can nail every multiplication fact on Friday and blank on Monday. Spaced practice is the reason, and it is also the fix.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 3, 2025 · 5 min read
Set Up a Homework Spot That Actually Cuts Down on Battles

Set Up a Homework Spot That Actually Cuts Down on Battles

Most homework battles aren't about the homework. They're about where and when it happens. Fix the spot and the routine, and half the fight disappears.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 2, 2025 · 6 min read
The Praise That Actually Builds Math Confidence (and the Kind That Doesn't)

The Praise That Actually Builds Math Confidence (and the Kind That Doesn't)

Telling your kid they're smart at math feels kind. It also quietly teaches them to quit the second a problem gets hard. Here's what to say instead.

Parent Prize Portal team · July 1, 2025 · 5 min read
The Best Board Games That Secretly Teach Elementary Math

The Best Board Games That Secretly Teach Elementary Math

A second grader who groaned at a worksheet spent forty minutes doing the same math for fun. The trick was a board game and a fistful of dice.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 30, 2025 · 5 min read
Choosing a Kid's First Tablet: What Actually Matters (and What Doesn't)

Choosing a Kid's First Tablet: What Actually Matters (and What Doesn't)

The best first tablet for kids has almost nothing to do with the specs on the box. Here is what a software engineer checks before handing one over.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 29, 2025 · 5 min read
Why Screens Before Bed Wreck the Next Morning (and What We Do Instead)

Why Screens Before Bed Wreck the Next Morning (and What We Do Instead)

The tablet at bedtime feels like a win. The next morning tells a different story. What screens before bed actually do, and the routine we swapped in.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 28, 2025 · 4 min read
Equivalent Fractions: Why 1/2 and 2/4 Are the Same Pizza

Equivalent Fractions: Why 1/2 and 2/4 Are the Same Pizza

Why 1/2 and 2/4 are the same amount of pizza, explained the way it should be taught: with something kids can actually see and hold.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 26, 2025 · 5 min read
What Timed Tests Do to Kids Who Know the Math but Freeze on the Clock

What Timed Tests Do to Kids Who Know the Math but Freeze on the Clock

Some kids know their facts cold and still bomb the timed test. Here's what the clock actually measures, and how to build fluency without the freeze.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 25, 2025 · 5 min read
You're Bad at Math and Terrified of Passing It On: Here's How Not To

You're Bad at Math and Terrified of Passing It On: Here's How Not To

You can be terrible at math and still raise a kid who isn't scared of it. What actually gets passed down, and the small ways to stop the handoff.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 24, 2025 · 5 min read
My Second Grader Still Counts On Fingers: Is That a Problem?

My Second Grader Still Counts On Fingers: Is That a Problem?

Your second grader still counts on fingers for 6 plus 5, and you are wondering if you missed something. Here is what it actually means and what to do.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 23, 2025 · 5 min read
Seven Questions to Ask Before You Download Any Math App

Seven Questions to Ask Before You Download Any Math App

I build kids apps for a living, so I know where the traps are hidden. Here are the seven questions I ask before I let one onto my own kids' tablet.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 22, 2025 · 5 min read
Back to School Math Prep: Two Weeks to Shake Off the Rust

Back to School Math Prep: Two Weeks to Shake Off the Rust

Two weeks before school starts, ten minutes a day of the right practice does more than a whole summer of worksheets. Here is what to actually work on.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 21, 2025 · 5 min read
Why the Math Looks So Different Than When You Were a Kid

Why the Math Looks So Different Than When You Were a Kid

Your kid brings home a subtraction problem solved with a number line and no borrowing in sight. Here is what those new methods are actually doing, and why.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 20, 2025 · 5 min read
What Every Second Grader Should Know in Math by June

What Every Second Grader Should Know in Math by June

A plain checklist of the 2nd grade math skills that really matter, how to check each one at your kitchen table, and what to do about the shaky ones.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 18, 2025 · 5 min read
How to Build a Daily Math Habit That Survives Busy Weeks

How to Build a Daily Math Habit That Survives Busy Weeks

The families whose kids stay strong in math aren't doing more. They're doing a little, every day, in a way that survives the week from hell.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 17, 2025 · 4 min read
Why New Math Looks Nothing Like Yours, and How to Help Anyway

Why New Math Looks Nothing Like Yours, and How to Help Anyway

The homework says 'make a ten' and you have no idea what that means. Here is what new math is actually doing, and how to help even when it looks foreign.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 16, 2025 · 5 min read
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation in Math, Explained for Regular Parents

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation in Math, Explained for Regular Parents

Sticker charts work until they don't. Here is the difference between the two kinds of motivation, and how to use rewards so they actually build a math kid.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 15, 2025 · 5 min read
Do Math Games Actually Work, or Are Kids Just Playing?

Do Math Games Actually Work, or Are Kids Just Playing?

Some math games build real skills. Some are just a math skin over button-mashing. Here's how a teacher tells the two apart.

Parent Prize Portal team · June 14, 2025 · 5 min read
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