Galileo once said: “The great book of nature can be read only by those who know the language in which it was written. And that language is mathematics.”
Maths is the one universal language. It is a way of understanding the world around us: filling up with petrol, going grocery shopping, budgeting for the month, cooking, setting an alarm clock, gardening, preparing a dinner party. All these things require mathematics.
Some of us think we are not going to need mathematics for our future careers, but we encounter mathematics every day – from painting our house to retiling – and should therefore be encouraged to see numeracy through as long as we can.
Often our parents’ own fears of maths rub off on us and we develop a predisposed and often untrue anxiety about the subject. In fact, mathematics is the one subject you never have to study for because, if you understand all the rules and strategies, you are able to apply them to any problem given.
A huge misconception relating to mathematics is related to word problems. Often marks are lost in this area and therefore we think that the child cannot do problem solving. In fact, the child can do problem solving but cannot read. Here reading and comprehension are the drawbacks, and not mathematics at all.
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AREAS OF NUMERACY, WHICH BECOME A CAREER
* Computer scientist – algorithms.
* Fashion designer – money (costing) and measurement (area, perimeter and diameter).
* Astronaut and pilots – make precise mathematical calculations, landing, taking off and exiting the earth’s atmosphere.
* Architect, builder and plumbers – work on measurement.
* Chartered accountant – whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, order of operations, exponents and general algebra.
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AREAS OF NUMERACY WE ENCOUNTER DAILY
* Baking: measuring quantities and sometimes doubling or halving to make more or fewer quantities.
* Counting down to playtime, dinner time or bath time with your children. If your children want to know how much longer it is until playtime, they need to apply their maths skills. It also creates structure and security.
* Shopping for clothing or food: the word SALE gives shoppers the same jolt as a vitamin B injection.
Next time you are shopping for clothing with your children, allow them to help you work out how much you are saving. This is a great introduction to percentages.
* Explore different banking options to grow your money: a 32-day notice, money market or savings account. You thought you would never need calculus.
Imagine how much easier calculus would have been had you been introduced to it early on in our school-going years.
Calculus is “the ability to help measure change over time in two or more variables, determining how much interest you receive in a certain time frame”.
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MAKING MATHEMATICS FUN
* Lego maths: Eeery boy in my practice loves playing with Lego so this is a real hit. They don’t even realise that I am using the blocks to find the solution to maths problems.
Ask them to build an object. For every individual piece is a unit, two-piece represents two and so on. As they build, get them to estimate the overall number of Lego dots there are.
Then count and see how far out they were. Subtract the two and see the difference.
* Treasure hunt: Creating a route based on same calculations. Everything that equals 10 means you are one step closer to getting the treasure. For example, the first stepping stone is 3 x 3 = 9, move to the next 10 x 1 = 10, therefore you take that route. Then 20 - 10 = 10… and you follow that route.
This practises bonds and tables.
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HOW TO RID MATHS OF ANXIETY
What is it? It can either present itself physically (nausea, shortness of breath, palpitations, sweaty palms).
Or psychologically (blanking, confusion).
Do you have maths anxiety?
A self test (Source: http://www.mathpower.com/anxtest.htm)? Rate your answers from 1 to 5; add them up and check your score below.
* I cringe when I have to go to maths class.
* I am uneasy about going to the board in a maths class.
* I am afraid to ask questions in a maths class.
* I am always worried about being called on in maths class.
* I understand maths now, but I worry that it’s going to get really difficult soon.
* I tend to zone out in maths class.
* I fear maths tests more than any other kind.
* I don’t know how to study for maths tests.
* It’s clear to me in maths class, but when I go home it’s like I was never there.
* I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep up with the rest of the class.
Check your score:
40-50 – you have maths anxiety.
30-39 – you are fearful of maths.
20-29 – at times.
10-19 – wow! Anxiety free.
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RESOURCES MAKE MATHS FUN
https://www.mathsisfun.com (If you have access to a computer, this is the site for you. Kids nowadays are glued to the computer.) This website incorporates all spheres of maths from Grade 1 and up.
To play with your little ones when you don’t have a computer:
* Bank Bank or monopoly (money).
* Shop shop (adding, subtracting, budgeting).
* Cook cook (capacity, weight and volume).
* Bob the builder (measurement and perimeter and area).
* Colour by number (patterns).
* Dot to dot (sequencing and number patterns).
In saying all of this, there are children who will have barriers to numbers, suffering from, for example, dyscalculia, which is a brain-based condition whereby children have no number concept due to their inability to make logical connections.
On the other side of things you will find the disinterested child who refuses to attempt anything because of a lack of interest.