Math Problems That 8 Year Olds Can Do By Themselves

How to Write a Problem that Your 8 Year Old Can Do Alone

Kids who are 8 years old typically are in second or third grade. At this age, your child likely will become more aware of his or her skill set, and experiencing success on his or her own can increase your child's motivation to tackle increasingly difficult math problems.

In second grade, students generally develop their abilities to add and subtract numbers up to 100. If your child is still in second grade, you can create practice problems that include both operations. You also might include some word problems; however, be sure they aren't overly challenging since it's important that your child experiences success.

In third grade, students begin studying multiplication and division. Once your child has been introduced to basic multiplication and division facts, you can help him or her gain practice - and confidence - by creating problems using the numbers zero through 12. You also should include word problems to help your child become familiar with the higher-order thinking involved.

Sample Problems by Grade Level

Second

1. 20 - 5

2. 6 + 7

3. 14 - 4

4. Frank begins his day with 14 pennies and finds 9 more on the street. How many pennies does Frank have altogether?

This problem requires carrying a number, which students usually learn at the end of second grade. Carrying is necessary when numbers have a sum greater than 10. For this problem, have your child add the 9 and 4 first for an answer of 13.

Since 13 is bigger than 10, have your child write the 3 in the answer space and carry the 1 over to the next place value, which is the tens place. Then, add the 1 that was carried to the 1 in the problem for an answer of 2. The final answer is 23 pennies.

Third

1. 3 x 12

2. 5 x 9

3. 4 x 1

4. If there are 6 people in a store, and each person buys 5 items, how many items are sold in all?

Notice that this problem includes only numbers that your child will be familiar with from basic multiplication tables. The answer is 30 items.

5. At Meg's birthday party, there are 21 slices of cake and 7 guests. How many slices of cake can each guest eat?

If your 8 year old is proficient in multiplication, try giving him or her a simple division problem. For this problem, your child may recognize that 3 x 7 = 21; therefore, 21 ÷ 7 = 3. Each guest can eat 3 slices of cake.