Numbing the Pain of Numbers – Teaching Kids Math

Most kids consider it one of the most puzzling subjects they have to study, but no matter how hard it seems, there’s no cutting corners on this one – Mathematics must be learned and learned well if we’re to achieve any form of success in life. You don’t gain a sudden mastery over the subject when you’re well into teens if you’ve never done well at Math all through your formative years because this is one subject that mandates a very strong foundation and a passionate love for numbers and the abstract. Teaching primary schoolchildren Mathematics comes with its own challenges, and if not done right, can end up jeopardizing the kids’ chances of doing well in the subject all through life. Here are a few pointers that will come in handy when you’re faced with an eager bunch of kids waiting for their very first Math lesson:

• Use Objects: Counting on fingers and toes or using pencil and paper are techniques that make their entry much later in the process, but the use of objects to teach basic Math like counting is a tried and tested method that delivers desired results. Starting with their toys is a good idea because of their familiarity with these objects.
• Games Help: Kids are often at a loss to understand how Math has anything to do with the real world, and the best way to explain the relationship to them is through games. Board games like Monopoly focus on buying and selling property and handling money in the process while card games teach the concepts of probability right from childhood. Computer and video games designed to teach Math are also a great help.
• Tell Stories: Show me a kid who doesn’t like stories and I’ll show you a lion swimming in the Thames. Narrating stories that require your students to keep track of numbers as the tale progresses does wonders in boosting their mental thought processes.
• Money Concepts: Set up an imaginary shop, give your students money and send them on a shopping expedition. This is the best way to teach them about adding and subtracting and making sure they receive the right change. You could also work in a few small multiplication problems by asking them to buy two or more of the same item.
• Routine Matters: While there is an ongoing debate on the best ways to teach Math, some routine methods that form the basics of understanding the subject cannot be given up altogether. Only by mastering these principles and learning to use them with ease and without much thought in solving higher order problems do we become adept at the art of processing and working out solutions to complicated Mathematical problems. If the basics are not strong enough, it’s going to be a constant struggle to keep pace as the lessons progress. Each concept is going to be an uphill struggle, one more difficult than the next, and when it gets too much to handle, that’s when the love affair with Math collapses and a hatred of the subject starts creeping in. 

By-line:
This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick,who writes on the subject of an online degree in classical studies. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

Comments

[Kaz Maslanka]

Hi,
I just wanted to express that I feel too many maths teachers don't teach that maths is a language as well as a system. If I had been taught the beauty of it as a language I might not have waited till I finished a degree in art to pursue it.

Thanks,
Kaz