Students today are taught math differently from how their parents were taught. I am sure that there were times when your child brought their math work home to share and you couldn’t help wondering “You solved the problem and got the right answer, why did the teacher take marks off though?” or “Why do you have to solve the same problem in different ways?”
How many times have you caught yourself helping your child with math at home, but felt unsure about what the teacher asked, or did not understand the meaning of the mathematical language? Math jargon can be intimidating sometimes.
Schools and teachers do different things to help parents and caregivers feel included and familiar with school mathematics. You might have attended math nights at your child’s school, the teacher might have sent home newsletters explaining what the students are learning and how you can assist your child at home.
Math instruction changed and evolved just like everything else in today’s world. The research that is available to educators today provides valuable insights into how to teach math so students grow to understand, love, and feel confident with mathematics. In the past, the math that was taught focused heavily on procedures. You learned the steps, therefore you can solve the problem. Nowadays, helping students to develop their conceptual understanding (understanding of mathematical concepts) is the centre of math instruction. Students are taught not to memorize, but to reason, problem-solve, and to be able to communicate.
Today we know that being fast in math does not equate to being smart. Not a single famous mathematician developed her/his theory by being fast. It took time, hard work and dedication to produce a desirable outcome. The pressure of time increases anxiety, hinders thinking, and promotes a feeling of dislike for the subject.
An educator’s job is to prepare students for the future. The Future Of Jobs Report 2018 (page 12) provides a list of the top 10 skills that students will need to acquire jobs and to be successful when they grow up. Analytical thinking, complex problem solving, and creativity are ranked among the highest competencies. In today’s math classrooms, students are provided with opportunities to gain knowledge and understanding, solve problems collaboratively, share (communicate) their thinking while developing their confidence in the subject.
Playing games with your child is always a great opportunity to have some quality family time. When the games have embedded math in them, it’s even better. The importance of playing math games with your child should not be underestimated. Games are always fun, stress-free, and being wrong is not counted as a scary thing. The game-like environment encourages children to take risks, try again and again, use strategies, practise and learn new skills. There is a wide range of math games on the market that are suitable for different age groups. Here are just a few that I have recently learned about:
This post was inspired by the work of Dr. Matthew Beyranevand and Dr. Hilary Kreisberg. You can join their Parent Facebook Group - Adding Parents to the Equation to get ideas on how to support your child with learning mathematics at home.
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