Functional math
Last updated
Functional math is the practical math used in daily life, such as handling money, telling time, measuring and following a schedule.
Topic: Math instruction
In plain terms
Functional math skills help students live and work as independently as possible: paying for items, budgeting, cooking with measurements, reading a bus schedule or tracking hours at a job. These skills are taught with real materials and in real settings when possible, and they can be connected to grade-level standards on number and measurement.
How it shows up in an IEP
Functional math goals are often measured in community or simulated tasks, using task analysis or accuracy on real problems. They fit transition planning well.
Example
A high school student uses a calculator to compare the price per ounce of two cereal boxes at a grocery store and picks the better buy in 4 of 5 trials.
Related terms
- Next-dollar strategyThe next-dollar strategy is a money skill where a student pays by giving one more dollar than the dollar amount of a price.
- Community-based instructionCommunity-based instruction is teaching skills in the real places a student will use them, such as stores, banks, bus stops and workplaces.
- Functional goalA functional goal targets the everyday skills a student needs at school, at home and in the community, outside academic subjects.
- One-to-one correspondenceOne-to-one correspondence is matching exactly one number word to each object counted, so every item is counted once.
On IEP Atlas
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