Mathematics is pure logic. It is very simple, fused with our everyday life. There is no need to be afraid of mathematics (though many people are). And we can not deny that our life usually consists of a sequence of mathematical tasks. From simple one, to more complex. If you have any problem, you need to allow yourself abstract thinking. And you will find more than one solution for sure. If we act on the basis of certain behavioural patterns, we gain certain outcomes. We experience these results as achievements or failures. This could be compared to mathematical equations. So, we may adjust or change the patterns which lead to unsatisfying results. Again mathematics is on the scene, like an invisible friend.
To help your child learn mathematics, you don't have to be an #expert. Read some of these tips to get interesting ideas and start teaching.
What do you need to help your child learn mathematics-master the material or what?
Perhaps you have to be a very good mathematician. You must have an enviable knowledge in arithmetic and geometry? Or, you have to bother with calculations?
You do not need any of this.
In fact, parents might be better teachers than those hired from the side.
Why?
Parents know their little ones. They approach with patience, attention and love. They want to find the system and the rhythm that suits their child. That's exactly the point of any successful teaching. It may sound weird, but parents are much better mathematicians than they imagine. Every day, mathematical operations pass through our heads. We are in constant touch with numbers. Whether we calculate the time needed to reach some destination, or how much money we need to buy basic foods.
Many parents have helped children in mathematics. They speak about calculations, encouraging them to plan a daily budget, and so on. Children like it, they feel as they get an important task. With such an approach, kids are motivated to learn, remember and readjust.
Here are some tips you can use while showing math to your child:
1. Write words and expressions which you use to explain mathematics.
It's easier to keep your little ones engaged when you write the information. For instance, write down your daily schedule showing the time and activities. Include a distance record, home budget information and detailed weather forecasts. Of course, you should write such information in large letters. Let it look like a reminder and put it in different places in the house. This will produce an appropriate mathematical environment.
2. Share mathematical knowledge with your kids by choosing one area at the time.
Let's choose the distance, for example. You can start measuring the corridors, entrances, windows, and rooms in your home. Then talk about it with your kids, specifying certain dimensions. The best method is playing with children. Instead of saying: "Let's crawl a little," try with: "Let's crawl 30 meters - it's twice around the living room."
Introduce them to the world of three-dimensional shapes by showing the space of rooms.
3. Daily newspapers.
Open any page and focus on advertisement numbers and weather forecasts. Or the price of gold and silver in the economic section. A printed version of phonebook might be a good practical source too. You can play a memory game. The task is to read phone number and to repeat it. From the first to the last digit. And in reverse order, as well. You can also ask your kid to extract repeating figures from a phone number. Each of these tasks can keep you together. While you are having fun, you learn math.
4. Try with time zones, teaching mathematics and geography at the same time.
Use the map of the world with marked time zones. Explain that when it is noon (lunchtime) in Belgrade, it is one hour less in London. So, simple subtract operation is learned along the way.
Move over the map, find Philadelphia, the United States. When there is eight o'clock in the evening in Philadelphia (sleep time), it is ten o'clock the next morning in Tokyo.
Add 14 hours to Philadelphia time, and you'll calculate time in Tokyo. Now you may ask your kid to calculate time in Philadelphia on the bases of the given time in Tokyo.
5. It is time to spice everything with simple logical tasks.
I am sure you can invent some examples like: “One and a half-fish costs one and a half dollar, how much do you need for 5 fishes?” Be patient, do not reveal the answer even if the kids fail. Let them think a while. When the answer is good, give them another test e.g. “The train has nine wagons. Which is the middle wagon?”. There is only one correct answer.
6. Make some fun in the kitchen.
Give a chocolate board to your kid and ask him to share it in a way that each family member gets the same number of cubes.
Or ask to divide the bread into 4 equal pieces (repeating that pieces are quarters). Make children count the plates on the table, toys or favourite books on the shelves. Play dominoes with your kids. It is a good way to develop an understanding of numerical sequences.
7. Dictionaries and encyclopedias provide plenty of interesting mathematical facts.
You can have fun and also learn a wide range of information. For example, the cheetah runs 96 kilometres per hour. The elephant can move with a speed of 48 kilometres per hour, which is half of the speed cheetah moving. Painter Rembrandt was born in 1606 and lived for 63 years; "When did he die?" - you may ask the child. Picasso was born 212 years later. The heart is beating 70 times per minute, 100,000 times during the day. The Statue of Liberty in New York is 46.5 meters high, the Eiffel Tower in Paris is 300 meters high. From this type of information, you can create a new mathematical problem every day. Ask your child the question: “If we want to climb Mount Everest in five days, what is the distance we have to walk every day?”
8. Let s develop abstract thinking.
Seems philosophical and it is. Only a thin line separates mathematics from philosophy. Open your mind to learn from your kids this time. Children s imagination is on a high level and parents tend to drop them to the ground, down to the rational world. This time restrain yourself from such an attempt. Ask simple questions (no matter in which context) like "Spoon or fork?". Listen to the answer with care. Move further: "Marble or ball?" Give them total freedom. Write down the answers, they might be very creative. Continue with something like: "Cat, dog, lamb, goose - who doesn't belong to the group?"
As you can see, mathematics is basic, comprehensive and inevitable science. Not only chemists, programmers, electrical engineers physicists use mathematics. Economists, writers, painters, musicians, composers need math as a base for their professions. Mathematics is a fascinating journey which connects parents with children. With the language of mathematics, there are no limited destinations.
Comments