Parents often ask why their children are doing poorly in math, particularly in grades 2-6. For young children, abstract quantities can be daunting, especially when taught in the context of skill drills. Many children do not find immediate meaning in numbers as symbols, although that is what parents and math teachers hope to convey to them.
Children in third through fifth grades who are having difficulty with procedural operations, such as long division and multi-digit multiplication, very often have not had any kinetic activity associated with the learning of the multiplication tables which are the basis for their computations. They become distracted from the procedures of multiplication and division by their concern over the "blank space" in their knowledge of multiplication tables and they lose momentum.
Parents often say that they download tables form the Internet or they use flash cards. Another, perhaps better, alternative is to provide art and craft materials for the student to use in writing his or her own personal multiplication tables. When the tables are personalized and used frequently with pride and familiarity, students gain in experience, confidence and expertise.
Children tend to enjoy having their own personally crafted multiplication tables from 1x1 through 12x12. They use these with pride and confidence. Even taking them to the supermarket to compute the total cost of multiple items will help to make the applications of arithmetic real and valued to a child.
Making a child's learning experiential is of utmost importance in creating interest in math and developing skills. Many are not aware of the essential uses of elementary mathematical and spatial concepts in daily lives. Heightening awareness of these events is essential to pointing them out to children and sharing experience with them.
Just as parents read to our children, so should they communicate a reliance on mathematical principles. This may vary from family to family depending on individual pursuits and interests. For some families whose common interest is sports competition, a short discussion of the role of sports statistics could make that dreaded skills homework more interesting and relevant to a child's life. Others may be interested in video games, which use computer programming that requires trigonometric applications. Cartoon animation programming uses principles of topology, the mathematics of mapping in space.
Road trips and map reading are also mathematical adventures for parents to share with children. Topographical maps use numbers in an obvious way, while road maps with scale measurements open the discussion to ratios and scale.
The history of measurement and attempts at standardization can become real when discussing money or the differences among the metric, imperial and U.S. measurement systems.
Toddlers, even with a rudimentary understanding of concrete quantity, can enjoy games of "which is less and which is more?" Counting games and rhymes abound and have been traditionally used to accustom children to quantitative symbols even at very young ages.
Perhaps the most useful tool of all in developing a child's math ability at an early age is precision in language. Most students who have experienced the "drill and kill" math experience in school are shocked when they start to solve math word problems as a mathematical exercise. These applications of the skills so long deemed to be the foundation of math education are daunting to children who have been trained to believe that mathematical studies begin and end with computation.
If children learn mathematics as a foreign language, with symbols and grammar of its own, they are better able to handle the rigors of higher mathematics - with its whole new set of symbols and logic - and they are more productive students. Reading to a child, discussing concepts of "more and less," "before and after," "twice as much" and hierarchical classifications such as supermarket shelf organization and street name organization can pay off in a child's mathematical performance.
Students will often pose frustrating questions of various types to teachers or parents. Frequently, these questions are not really questions at all, but more of a whining complaint accompanied with the motive to waste time or sidetrack the teachers lesson plan. Some of your most spontaneous, off the cuff, answers may include: " Because I said so," or; "Because we are having a test tomorrow." These words may slip out of our mouths even though we aware that these responses are inadequate. Sometimes however, the question is a legitimate one. A question we may have even asked ourselves from time to time. "Why do we have to learn math?" Below are a list of 6 good reasons to learn math. Also included is a possible assignment to give students to help them learn the reasons.
1. Simple math concepts build on themselves. We need simple math concepts to work into more advanced math concepts. Even if you get a job working with people, you will very likely still need math. Advanced math is needed for a near infinite list of many popular careers such as:
Jobs for unskilled labor are becoming harder and harder to come by. Getting a good job with good pay will depend on your special skills that not everyone can offer. Math is one of those skills. Even if your job involves working mainly with people, it is very likely you will still have to use math. Learn math and get the job of your dreams.
2. Math is needed when you must decide how to create the very best arrangement for furniture, equipment for large groups of people at work or for a special occasion at home. Simple math concepts such as multiplying fractions and manipulating ratios make it easy to adjust cooking recipes to the number of people you want to serve. Learn math and make your personal life function better.
3. Math can help you create art. Not only will you want to get the correct sizes and color mixtures, math is used in almost every aspect of art. Major universities offer an entire class called "Mathematics in Art and Architecture". Techniques like tiling, tessellation, perspective, pattern, and symmetry are some of the concepts used in art that require the use of math. Make yourself and your world more beautiful. Learn math.
4. People will often try to make you to believe something that isn't true and may use math that seem to prove what they say. If you know how to check the math, you can steer clear of being the fool. the shady business of using math to lie is the subject of a classic book, "How to Lie With Statistics" by the author Darrell Huff. Written some 50 years ago, most of the deceptive math tricks described in his book are still being used on a regular basis. Even if someone is not trying to deceive you, it is possible that an error was made. For example: A laboratory test may show that a person has a particular disease. If mathematical errors were made in the analysis, the person may not have the disease at all. It is important to be able to understand any information that comes to you with a claim of "mathematical proof". Don't be fooled. Learn math.
5. Math is essential in personal finance issues and budgeting. In your personal life, you may use math to plan how budget your money. On the job you may need to plan how your company will spend money. Learn math and grow rich.
6. Learning math and solving problems is a mental exercise that improves your general thinking ability. It is like exercise for your brain. Want to become smarter in every way? Learn math.
It should be obvious that there are many more than 6 good reasons to learn math. The next time a math student asks you "Why do we have to learn this" make this simple assignment:
Read this article and write one unique paragraph on "Why should we learn math?"
To your success and prosperity,
JoLynn Colbert