Math can be a daunting subject for many, including the child as well as the parents. If you are one of those, who always made thousands of excuses to avoid attending math classes, make sure you don’t pass this on to your child. Math can be a difficult subject, but only if your basics and concepts are not clear. And this is exactly the reason, you need to start with early math for your child.
Math is a cumulative subject and gets better with practice and experience. If you are into the habit of cross checking facts or calculating on fingers, it’s probably the result of early math in your childhood. Early math not only makes you confident about the subject but also improves your reasoning skills, critical thinking, literacy skills and conceptual understanding.
Before we move forward, let us understand why children are scared about math and what are the things that you should not do, when it comes to math education.
Reasons Why Children Run Away From Math
First of all, it is very important to understand that math is not numbers, it is a wide subject with logic and concepts. Just memorising the numbers and formulas is not going to help, the child will have to understand the basics and clear the concepts. And again, this cannot be done if you sit with the math rules for an hour every day and tell your child to understand them.
You need to adopt creative and interesting ways to teach math to your child, especially toddlers. Yes, math education should start at an age of 2-3, when the child is learning to speak and listening to rhymes. Do not postpone numeracy skills to later years, you need to start it from the beginning. Some of the common reasons, that makes math so scary for children are:
- They do not understand the concepts and just memorise them
- They lack the understanding of symbols and signs
- They do not practice much
- The teaching methods are inappropriate
- They simply have this belief that math is difficult and they will not be able to do it.
As a parent, what you must not do when it comes to teaching math skills:
- Do not pressurise the child to learn math
- Do not stick only to the books to teach the concepts
- Do not underestimate the child, that if he cannot do it now, he will never be able to do it.
- Do not postpone numeracy skills to later classes
- Do not let your child think that math is difficult.
If you make it exciting for your child to learn math, he will never run away from it. Involve them in interactive and fun math activities.
How To Improve Your Child’s Math Skills
Math is not as difficult as it sounds, it can be as easy as teaching your child 1+1 = 2. The motive is to clear their concepts, drive away from the fear of math and teach them smarter calculation skills in a fun way. Below are some quick tips to help your child grow with smarter calculation techniques.
1. Make Math Interesting By Trying Different Approach:
Do not stick to the simple pen and paper technique. According to the studies, it is reported that a child understands and remembers anything better if taught to him using the visual technique or practical methods. So instead of simply telling the child 1+1 = 2, try it like 1 apple + 1 banana = 2 fruits. Make the most of math games to improve their numeracy skills.
2. Use colourful and different shaped objects to make them understand any concept:
By using different coloured shapes and sizes, you are actually teaching them to recognise colours, shapes and sizes. You can try the building blocks game, origami and board and spatial games.
3. Introduce Math In Daily Life Routine:
Math is not limited to addition, subtraction and number concepts. You can add math to your child’s daily routine and build a solid foundation. Try solving puzzles with them, play word puzzles with them, make different shapes with them using the clay, give them measuring assignments like who is tallest in the family, etc.
4. Adopt The Rewarding Method:
It is very important to praise the child and reward him when he does good. This encourages the child to do better next time and boosts confidence. Even if you are not much of a math lover, you need to show a positive attitude in front of your child. If you do not show enthusiasm, he will not be interested in learning it.
Numeracy skills are as important as literacy skills, do not ignore the importance of early math for your child. We believe in the self-learning method at Kumon, based on the interest and learning potential of the child. We understand that every child’s learning and understanding capacities are different and therefore, our expert instructors provide personal assistance to every child. Our weekly worksheets, helps the parents and child to keep a check on their progress. The Early Math Program at Kumon can help your child to have a clear understanding of basic math concepts and grow with smart calculation techniques. Enrol for our free parent orientation program to know more about the teaching methods at Kumon.
