f it's taught well, they don't.
I love teaching Maths and the kids I've taught seem to enjoy it too, even those who generally struggle with it.
It doesn't take that much to teach it well but unfortunately the way the UK curriculum has developed has led to a lot of teachers having to relearn how to teach a subject some of them don't connect too well with themselves.
Although some of the changes are good, the new methods are more intuitive and should in the long run give children a boost, the result at the moment is a straitjacket for a lot of the more creative teachers because of having to teach to the tests and unnatural to many who have taught Maths by traditional methods (lots of parents complain that they don't understand the methods so can't help with homework either).
It also focuses on the whole class learning the same thing at the same time which causes a huge problem for children who learn Maths more slowly - the class will move on before some children have consolidated the skills and understanding they need to move on to the next stage and so you end up with some children constantly trying to catch up while the rest of the class ploughs ahead - where you can extend a child who is moving faster, it's very hard to give the children lagging behind enough time to be secure in one phase before they have to take the next step, and the next, and the next....
If you aren't confident, you aren't going to enjoy the learning process.
Confidence is the key to Maths, and consolidation - practice until they know and understand, don't move on before a concept is clear.
And make the practice fun and practical - you don't need a pen and paper, according to research even such simple things as playing board games like snakes and ladders regularly at home before school age and in the early years can make a difference to how a child feels about Maths.
My oldest was doing algebra verbally before he could read and write - but I never taught him formal Maths at home.
What I did do was count things, divide things up between friends, multiply party bag items, play skittles, measure sunflowers, do fractions with sandwiches...
I used to ask my two year old son how many pieces he wanted me to cut his sandwiches into. First it was halves or quarters, then eighths and finally he insisted on 32nds! - he would eat a couple and then tell me what fraction he'd eaten, and the equivalent fractions, and what was left.
Have you ever tried to cut a sandwich into 32 equal pieces?
My son happens to be autistic and very mathematical, he demanded this play with number, but the theory is the same for any child, just not necessarily the pace.
Written 28 Oct, 2014. 441 views.
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