GETTING TO THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM IN MATH

 

OUR   CHILDREN

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                          Tammy Vu

                                                                                          4-23-03

                                                                                          Math G

                                                                                          Walton

                  Having a child is a big responsibility. Parents don’t get a handbook about raising a child when they get home from the hospital. It’s a hard job and some parents just want to find an easy way out. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why many children have a hard time in school and particularly in math, parents just don’t want to deal with it or they don’t know how to deal with it. I could tell you that this is the main reason why I had such a hard time in math. My parents and teachers played a major role in the reason why I had math phobia for so long.

            I find that some parents and teachers just don’t know how to explain math in the level that a child could understand. Therefore, the adult gets frustrated and the child gets frustrated and so the subject is left alone, never to be touched again.  Another interesting fact that I’ve discovered is that most elementary teachers try to avoid math because they don’t know it well enough themselves, this also goes for parents too.  This is a problem for so many children that grow up not knowing how to deal and cope with math because they didn’t have the proper guidance when they were a child.

Another reason is, the time. Parents are always on the go. Going to work, watching the kid’s and the everyday errands they have to make.  But, when they watch the kid’s, are they really interacting with them? In my case, whenever I had homework, my parents would talk among other adults and take a quick glance from time to time at what I was doing. They didn’t actually sit down and help me, because they didn’t know most of the subjects themselves, but there are ways in which parents can get involved with helping their child in math without a textbook or worksheets from the store.

So, I will be addressing this problem and how you can help your child build their skill in math with simple yet effective techniques.

First we’ll take a look at facts on why children have math phobia. Like I said, math relies on the teacher and how she or he explains and interprets the concepts like the book, “Why don’t our Children like Math?” says “Poor instruction in math relies a lot on worksheets and very little on talking about ideas and concepts—as a result, the understanding that is so important to learning math gets lost.” I see this all the time with parents also, they go to the store and buy workbooks for their child thinking that it will be the answer for their child to accelerate in math. But that’s not true at all.

Another fear of math might be because of the idea that math is a bunch of useless numbers on a piece of paper as Dr. Healy states “Most people think of math as arithmetic, the study of numbers and the rules or operations, such as addition and multiplication, that we use to manipulate them….Mathematics is a much greater science of relationships, which uses numerical symbols to describe fundamental truths about our universe. The numbers on a page represent powerful abstract concepts” (Your Child’s Growing Mind pg. 291).

In our class (Math G) I find it very helpful that we see if there are other possible ways to get the answers, as the same goes for children. We just don’t want to get to the answer, but how we got there is what counts. As Dr. Healy suggest “The human brain must think up the problems, try new solutions, and approach questions from different angles. It is important to learn the rules, but we must teach our children to move beyond the “one right answer” mentality (Your Child’s Growing Mind pg 296).

So what are some of the things that teachers and parents can do to help children understand math more?

Be patient. Children don't want red marks or incorrect answers. They want to be proud and to make you and the teacher proud. So, the wrong answer tells you to look further, to ask questions, and to see what the wrong answer is saying about the child's understanding.

Ask your child to explain how the problem was solved. The response might help you discover if your child needs help with the procedures, the number facts, or the concepts involved.

Help your children be risk takers: help them see the value of examining a wrong answer; assure them that the right answers will come with proper understanding.

“Through the years, we have learned that while problems in math may have only one solution, there may be many ways to get the right answer. When working on math problems with your child, ask, "Could you tell me how you got that answer?" Your child's way might be different than yours. If the answer is correct and the strategy or way of solving it has worked, it is a great alternative. By encouraging children to talk about what they are thinking, we help them to become stronger mathematicians and independent thinkers” (Helping your Child learn Math).

            Another important skill to teach your child is to imagine. To actually visualize something that is not there is an important aspect used in math as Healy says “I find that these youngsters lack another skill which can’t be taught in books –visual imagery, the ability to mentally “see” something that is not actually in front of them” (Your child’s Growing Mind pg 298). Some tips on how to help your child to do math in their head is:

 

1.    Help children do mental math with lots of small numbers in their heads until they develop quick and accurate responses. Questions such as, "If I have 4 cups, and I need 7, how many more do I need?" or "If I need 12 drinks for the class, how many packages of 3 drinks will I need to buy?"

2. Encourage your child to estimate the answer. When estimating, try to use numbers to make it easy to solve problems quickly in your head to determine a reasonable answer. For example, when figuring 18 plus 29, an easy way to get a "close" answer is to think about 20 + 30, or 50.
3. Ask often, "Is your answer reasonable?" Is it reasonable that I added 17 and 35 and got 367? Why? Why not? (Helping your Child Learn Math).

So, what are the basics to know in math? I was actually lucky enough to find that there was a site based on his book by Keith Devlin that summarized and narrowed my research on the basics to know math and here it is:

1.    NUMBER SENSE. This is not the same as being able to count. It's much more basic than that, and includes the ability to recognize the difference between one object, a collection of two objects, and a collection of three objects -- and to recognize that a collection of three objects has more members than a collection of two. Number sense is not something we learn. Child psychologists have demonstrated conclusively during the past 20 years that we are born with number sense.

 

2.    NUMERICAL ABILITY. This does involve learning -- both to count and to understand numbers as abstract entities. Early methods of counting, by making notches in sticks or bones, go back at least 30,000 years. The Sumerians are the first people we know of who used abstract numbers; between 8000 and 3000 B.C., they inscribed numerical symbols on clay tablets.

3.    SPATIAL-REASONING ABILITY. This includes the ability to recognize shapes and to judge distances accurately, both of which have obvious survival value. In addition to forming the basis for geometry, this ability is important for a lot of mathematical thinking that is not, on the face of it, visual or geometric.

4.    A SENSE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. Much of mathematics depends on "if this, then that" reasoning, an abstract form of thinking about causes and their effects.

5.    THE ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT AND FOLLOW A CAUSAL CHAIN OF FACTS OR EVENTS. A mathematical proof of a theorem is a highly abstract version of a causal chain of facts.

6.    ALGORITHMIC ABILITY. An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for performing a certain mathematical task -- the mathematician's equivalent of a recipe for baking a cake. In elementary school, we are taught algorithms for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers and fractions. Secondary-school algebra requires that we learn algorithms to solve equations. Algorithmic ability is an abstract version of the fifth ability on this list.

7.    THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND ABSTRACTION. Humans developed the capacity to think about abstract notions, along with acquiring language, 75,000 to 200,000 years ago.

8.    LOGICAL-REASONING ABILITY. The ability to construct and follow a step-by-step logical argument is fundamental to mathematics. It is another abstract version of the fifth ability.

9.    RELATIONAL-REASONING ABILITY. This involves recognizing how things and people are related to each other, and being able to reason about those relationships. Much of mathematics deals with relationships among abstract objects (Finding your Inner Mathematician).

Many people argue that they can’t do math, but if you have these nine basic abilities, then you can do math just fine, we just need to get the laziness out of us and work our brain.

Can we make math a fun game? The answer is of course we can! I just wish that my parents knew about this when I was still a curious little one. There are everyday experiences that offer great learning opportunities for children to learn math. Here are a variety of things they can do with the parent:

1.    Weighing - Putting a child on a scale represents an opportunity to compare pounds and ounces, and heavy versus light. Children may learn what size clothes they wear, and be able to judge what will fit and what won't (that's an early exercise in "spatial relation").

2.    Cooking - Adults pour, measure, divide, estimate time, and read labels every time they prepare a meal. Why not include even very young children in on the action? Before he can pour pancake batter or read recipes, a child can stir with a wooden spoon in a plastic bowl. Show a child how you follow a recipe step by step, and how you set the oven temperature. Remember to warn children about what's too hot to touch or eat!

3.    Managing money -- Children can touch, count, save, sort, and spend money (with supervision, of course). What better way to teach children about the value of money than by taking them shopping and showing them how much they must pay for items -- and how much they will save with discounts and coupons! As children get older, they begin to learn about working for money when they do household chores for an allowance.

4.    Around the house -- Household repairs offer children excellent opportunities to practice math skills. Let children watch as you measure a door frame, or hang a picture in the center of a wall. Children can help you make a list of items you will need to complete a project, including the number of tools. Everyday activities like setting the timer on the VCR or setting the dinner table are opportunities for children to count and work with numbers.

5.    Play -- Children keep score during store-bought games such as Sorry and dominoes. Children may also race against the clock or measure the distance they can hit or throw a ball. Help children make neighborhood activities and sports more than just good exercise.
When children pretend, they often create lifelike situations in which they may check a bus schedule, or gauge how much fuel is needed for a long car trip. Pretend play sometimes takes off from reading literature, much of which contains information about numbers and counting. Also, don't forget about math concepts involved in puzzles and blocks, both of which involve the whole child in learning (Math and the myth of 1,2,3).

Some other great tips on how to help your child is to:

1.    Use summer breaks to give your child a chance to shine in the next grade by reviewing basic computation skills with them. The next year’s math instruction will start out far more successfully.

2.    Don’t rush your child’s progress: don’t add new types of computation skills until the child has mastered the previous skills.

3.    Extra time on tests will give your child a chance to compensate for his difficulties. The point of a test is to find out what the child knows. For some children, rigid time limits hide what they know instead of showing their knowledge (Real Help for Real School Problems pg. 166). I am an example for this last one, I could remember clearly throughout my life, I was always so worried about the time, and everyone else finishing before me that I would go blank even if I knew the material.

I wanted to expand more on the part of play because most parents when looking into a preschool, and I’ve actually heard of a preschool like this; they often look if the child is being obedient, sitting in their chair, not talking or interacting with other children and looking in a book. But word of advice, THESE ARE CHILDREN! They need to move around, touch, feel, and explore! That’s how they learn as Dr. Healy says that “Many of the words used in math stand for abstract concepts, but the way the child learns them is—guess what!—through physical experiences with objects and events in daily life. Some of these concepts are: equal, greater, less, more, bigger, plus, take away……and so on….How many ways can you expose your child to the ideas of up/down, before/after, above/below? Anytime such ideas can be tied with language to everyday experiences, they seem interesting and understandable. I am concerned that many parents (and some teachers) expect computer software to “teach” math too soon, thus bypassing some critical steps” A fun activity given by Dr. Healy is “Making mud pies…is a readiness activity for algebra—the science of describing relationships of quantity. Measuring or comparing distances and sizes of objects is also important”  (Your Child’s Growing Mind pg. 301).

            Children love to do things with adults, that’s because we are truly their role model, everything that we do influences them. So playing games or using everyday experiences with them will allow them to gain knowledge and have fun at the same time. I help my little cousin who is four years old by sorting and categorizing all the fruits, cans, small and big boxes into the right storage. My child development teacher suggests that this will allow him to learn sets and groupings of objects. So this was something that he enjoys and is learning at the same time. I know I used Dr. Healy’s book a lot in this essay but she is a great author and I love her book. I just wanted to use one last quote from her, and that is “Parents’ major role is to help build the self-confidence, concepts, and the underlying skills with interesting and meaningful activities. Remember, an atmosphere in which wrong answers are viewed as a learning opportunity and children are encouraged to take intellectual risks may be the most important factor of all” (Your Childs Growing Mind pg. 308).

Bibliography

ERIC, Why Don't Our Children Like Math? ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. Charleston. 1989

Healy, J. PhD, Your Child's Growing Mind, Broadway Books. New York. 1987

Kantner, P., Helping Your Child Learn Math,

http://nipin.org/library/pre1998/n00109.html, viewed on April 7, 2003

Setley, S., Real Help for Real School problems. Starfish Publishing. 1995

National Association for the Education of Young Children, Math and Myth of 1,2,3. 1997

http://kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/math.myth.html, viewed on April 8, 2003

Devlin, K., Observer: Your Inner Mathematician, The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2000

http://www.nku.edu/~longa/htmls/mathbrains.html, viewed on April 7, 2003