Elementary Math

Elementary math means many different things to different people.  On this site, elementary math refers to the five main areas of math studies for kids between Kindergarten and sixth grade.

Five subject areas of Elementary Math

The five main areas of study are:

  1. Numbers and Operations
  2. Algebra
  3. Measurement
  4. Data Analysis and Probability
  5. Geometry

What exactly is learned between Kindergarten and Sixth Grade?

You can find a printable Grade Level Skills document in our Tutoring Area which outlines in very specific steps the skill requirements for each of these areas for all seven grades.

Do I know enough to tutor my kid?

Many parents have horrors when remembering their own math experiences from school, and feel they cannot tutor their child.  If you are one of these parents, what I say to you is – “Yes you can”. 

Learning elementary math may not have been fun for you, however with daily use throughout your life, elementary math has been solidified for you.

So let’s take the majority of the skills your elementary school student needs to achieve by the end of sixth grade, and see how you will fare as their math tutor.

  • You know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
  • Fractions and ratios seem to upset many people, but you most likely know all that is needed here also.  If you use recipes and can alter a cookie recipe that makes 24 cookies, to a recipe that will make 48 or 72 cookies, then elementary fractions will not be a problem.
  • You know the days of the week, months of the year and how to read a clock in both analogue and digital style.
  • You purchase things on a regular basis, so dealing with money is most likely easy enough for you.
  • You can recognize basic geometric shapes; you can most likely calculate the area of a shape and you understand volume.
  • The level of algebra required for these seven grades is not a huge amount.  What will most likely catch you here (if anything) is the language being used rather than what actually needs to happen.  You can bring yourself up to speed quickly by heading over to the different subject areas.

So how much math is covered by Elementary math Education?

Let’s do a few basic calculations here, to see just how complicated elementary math is.

  • Your child most likely gets 40 minutes of instruction daily each school year.
  • A school year is 180 days.
  • Elementary education consists of seven years.
  • (40 x 180) x 7 = 50,400 minutes

This means that in 7 years a child will receive 50,400 minutes of math tuition.

That is 840 hours, spread over Five subject areas (which we will assume for this exercise are evenly distributed), gives them:

168 hours of education in each subject area.

Can I help my kid catch up?

It has been said that a 12 year old in one summer vacation can master the entire elementary math curriculum.  Why is this the case? (if it is in fact true!) … well, just think about how much time in Kindergarten to Second grade is spent on simply teaching addition, subtraction multiplication and division.  This is nearly three years worth of the elementary curriculum! So, as a twelve year old, who can read and write, and probably having very little problems with adding and subtracting, they are at least three years ahead of the curriculum!


You as an adult will have no problems.  But, if there are some areas of basic mathematics that you have forgotten, simply spending a few hours a week reading through this elementary math resource to get completely up to speed.

Where to go from here?

So navigate through the different sections in the ‘Elementary Math’ section on this site to familiarize yourself on the subject material, some hints on how to teach it, and get the printable math worksheets to your kids, so they can also master elementary math.

By doing this, you will be giving them the great foundation in basic mathematics that they will need, to stay on top of their middle school math.

If you want some great Hints & Tips on tutoring in general, be sure to visit our online math tutor section.  This is a hub for tutoring information such as printable tracking forms, grade level expectations outlines, information on the importance of diet & nutrition and rest, and most importantly how to make math fun, and celebrating the achievements along the road!


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