Mathematics is one of the most important subjects your kids will learn in school. It is also among those that will be most helpful for them later on in life. These seven tips will help you make your kid into the Math rock star that you want in the classroom:
Set Aside Your Own Distaste For The Subject
Just because you did not have a good experience with Math growing up should not mean that you pass that on to your child. Give your child a clean slate and allow them to sort their feelings about the subject on their own. If they discover that they like it, there is a big chance that they are going to be good at it later on. After all, a person can never fully be an expert on something if they do not love it in the first place. So, leave your biases outside of the door.
Stop Talking About How Hard Math Is
Constant talk of the difficulty of Math is not productive. It tempers the kid’s enthusiasm for the subject. It can scare, discourage and demotivate children from engaging with the thought of dealing with numbers. No matter what your feelings about Math are you should make sure that they appreciate the challenge it gives. Go the positive route so that they will not have an internalized fear of it.
Start Teaching Them Early
Sure, children will eventually be learning about mathematical concepts as they grow up but starting them early is a natural step towards excellence in the subject. Teaching them the basics when they are still a year old or so is a great way to establish a strong foundation for analysis and computation in their young brains. It trains them to spot patterns and shapes and piques their interest and curiosity. Numbers are usually the first lessons that they will be able to easily understand so you may want to start with that.
Use Games When Teaching Mathematical Concepts
Games are effective in teaching mathematical concepts because they are interactive. For the underdeveloped mind of the child, it presents both a challenge and a responsibility for them to win. This may be able to bring out their competitive side as well.
You can probably do this initially by using puzzles and charts. Once they are already able to do some movements without the danger of accidents, you can move on to physical activities. If these concepts are already taught to them, another game-related tip would be to use smartphone apps to reinforce the concepts and test their knowledge about it.
Be Process-Oriented, Not Results-Oriented
A lot of us have a results-oriented approach to learning. This, however, should not be applied to children who are just learning about concepts. It is normal for them to not get the right answers the first time around. Instead, you should show them the right process on how to do it so they can come up with the correct answer on their own. Speed will come later on. Do not rush their learning process.
Make Them Understand The Relevance Of What They Are Learning
One of the ways that you can encourage your child to learn Math is making them understand the relevance of the things they are learning in the context of the real world. The knowledge that they are gaining every day in this subject will, later on, be useful when they are older. Cite the example of the importance of knowing how to convert money in your local currency to another. This gives them an appreciation of the urgency of learning.
Teach Lessons Progressively
The structure of the lessons that you will be teaching is a big factor in ensuring that your kid is going to excel in Math. The curriculum that will be implemented should be progressive in that it starts with the most basic. After those foundational concepts, the lessons should then be ascending in its difficulty. Kids do not have a background on these lessons yet so they have to be acclimated to what is expected of them.
Think of mathematical skills that have to be warmed up first before you get to the actual exercise. Math skills work almost exactly like that.
Conclusion
Parenting should not be hard. If you know the right ways to help your kids with different aspects of life, you will have fun as a parent. Apply the above-mentioned tips to help your kids excel in math. If you are a particularly a busy parent, you can hire a math tutor to take care of mathematical problems of your kids. A professional math tutor can help your kids enjoy math and have no fear of it.
Mathematics is one of the most important subjects your kids will learn in school. It is also among those that will be most helpful for them later on in life.
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I love your tip about stop talking about how hard math is. It’s so important for parents to understand how damaging such negative talk can be. I did all of what you suggested with my son (we used to count how many strokes it took to get to the end of the pool etc.) with all subjects and he loved school and learning.