When children are given a math worksheet or they hear a teacher give directions to get out math books, there tends to be rolling eyes or grumbling and groaning. Samantha Durrance of the Southern Regional Education Board states, “One side effect of the tendency to see math as an inborn trait, rather than a skill to develop, is math anxiety: a negative emotional response to mathematics tasks”.
She explains that math anxiety in children can sometimes be influenced by the adults in their lives. As children head back to school, parents and teachers can help children make meaningful connections not only to best set them up for success in math, but to learn to enjoy doing it.
The Value of Fun Math
Shainah Frasca, a Colorado Springs mother, says children are more excited about math when it’s something they love. Sorting and counting gummy snacks or making a number into a creative design that children can giggle and laugh about creates more meaningful mathematical experiences. When children see that you love math, and that numbers and math tasks can be fun and enjoyable, they will start to love it as well.
Finding Math in their World
Teaching children meaningful math skills helps them to make authentic connections with their world and cultivates critical thinking skills. Starting small, such as identifying numbers they see around them as you drive across town and counting out allowance after chores, leads to a larger impact. Consistent modeling, conversation, and practice can help children foster the ability to comprehend mathematical concepts.
Math is a skill that we all use every day. Children are exposed to these topics from a young age when parents, siblings, or guardians spend time doing memorable activities with them such as reading picture books at bedtime or counting out the amount of treats they get to have after a meal.
Colorado Springs mom, Stephanie Sorrell, notices that those real-world connections create a fun, meaningful atmosphere for learning. While counting stuffed animals, Sorrell will ask, “if you have two stuffed animals and I give you three more, how many do you have now?” This allows children to connect numbers and equations to their world. She also has a chore chart where points can be earned or taken away, and children do the adding and subtracting of the points on a whiteboard.
Breaking Down Word Problems
When a child sees a word problem, they are faced with multiple pieces of information that they must take in a decode in order to determine what words and numbers are available, what the problem is asking, and what steps they need to take to solve it. This is a lot for many children and can be overwhelming, especially if that child also struggles to read.
As we talk and read to a child, the words that are spoken are helping to build their language comprehension and their vocabulary. This can increase their exposure to common “math words,”, such as various number words, add, take away, more than, less than, and multiples of, to name a few. It can also increase their ability to comprehend written text and build their confidence when faced with a math problem.
Additionally, encourage children to tackle word problems with manipulatives or visuals. From M&Ms to pennies, a hands-on approach to these problems can help children apply value to the numbers in the problem and better enjoy going through the steps to solve. Drawing out the problem can also be a creative approach to determining what the problem is asking and why the answer makes sense.
The Value of Numbers
Christine Kahoe, a math interventionist at Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning in District 49, loves to teach children the value that numbers have. She wants children to understand that numbers are everywhere, and that math is used in every part of your life. Kahoe uses multiple strategies to help apply meaning to math, such as using the topic of “money” to teach place value, financial skills, fractions, decimals, and more.
Simply telling children what numbers make when added together or that they scored a 70% on an assignment isn’t necessarily meaningful. Instead, meaning is applied when children are introduced to these facts in engaging ways and are given the opportunity to practice and apply their understanding in a way that excites them.
We can help children to enjoy math, love solving problems, and have fun manipulating numbers by addressing multiple math skills in ways that make sense to them.
