Mathematics, We're Loving It!

As parents, do you have difficulty getting your children to love and enjoy Mathematics? I belong to the old school method of learning Math. The teacher teaches, we will listen, imitate the ways of solving the problem and try to achieve the 'standard' set of correct answers the teacher has. If the answers are wrong, we lose marks. Mathematics to me is like an error made, will cause me my opportunity to pass the subject. That is why I have never enjoyed it. I feared it to be exact.

 

Cultivating the Love for Mathematics

As an educator myself, I do not wish the children under my charges experience Math this way. Then, how can we get children to say "Mathematics, we're loving it!"?

The key is to have a positive attitude to influence them. Children have to be given the opportunity to explore, apply and learn from mistakes through reflection. They will also understand that a productive struggle is part of the process of problem solving. In this way, children internalise concepts by making connections with previous knowledge, persisting through productive struggles, sharing of ideas through active discussions, trial and error as well as assimilation.

The role of the Teacher

Teachers need to challenge children with interesting problems so that they could provide explanations and justify their own learning. Teachers can also ask questions to stimulate children’s thinking and help scaffold their learning process.

In conclusion, I feel that teachers should walk out from the shadows of the traditional methods of teaching mathematics by giving children the opportunity to investigate, discover, reflect and learn from errors.