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It’s the night before the big state exam, and your third grader is engulfed in fear. The test is new, harder, and computerized. He’s not sure how he will perform or whether he’ll even finish the test. He is about to take the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC exams‎.

In theory, visual learners should thrive on the Common Core standards. These standards emphasize skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking–areas that are typically strengths of visual learners–and place less emphasis on rote memorization and straightforward calculations.

When most parents were in grade school, excelling in math meant calculating the right answers. They were taught tricks for memorizing multiplication facts, dividing fractions, and remembering the order of operations for solving equations, often feeling a pang of excitement when they figured out a correct answer. Yet with the Common Core standards, which most states have now adopted, coming up with the correct answer is no longer the primary goal of teaching math.

Math is a skill that is integrated into almost all aspects of our lives. While children receive formal math instruction starting in Kindergarten, even at a very young age, they can begin to learn fundamental math concepts through play and engaging activities. Try some of the ideas below to build your preschooler’s pre-math skills.