Five Things To Remember If You Want Your Child To Love Maths

Five Things To Remember If You Want Your Child To Love Maths. Hello everyone, I hope you are well. In today’s post, I will be sharing a guest post from Jon Goga, math tutor and founder of BrainySpinach Math. Jon will share five things to remember if you want your child to love maths. When a child struggles with math, it can be hard to catch up. If they lack confidence and don’t want to do anything math-related, that’s likely ‘Math Anxiety’ setting in. The sooner you can help your child overcome this obstacle, the easier their academic life will be.

Five Things To Remember If You Want Your Child To Love Maths

Some form of Maths is used by 94% of all workers (68% use fractions, decimals, and percentages). So, Maths will almost certainly play a part in your child’s life after school. Unfortunately, some children struggle with Maths, and some can be left lacking confidence in the subject to such an extent that they try to avoid doing anything Maths-related and may suffer from Maths Anxiety. Finding a learning style that fits them can help.

Fun is the universal learning language for all kids, and it is not used as often as it should be. Use this technique well, and you will soon find that Maths worries are a thing of the past.

Here are five things to keep in mind:

It’s Not About You

If you hated Maths at school, keep it to yourself. Many parents think sharing their poor experiences is a way to sympathise with their children. But it is not the most inspiring thing to pass on. We should not talk about how much we hated Maths or how difficult it can be around our kids. Instead, let us talk about how much fun Maths can be, link it to real-life situations, and make it more exciting for them.

Tap into the popularity of TV shows such as Bake Off and Masterchef, but don’t worry if your kid is not into those – they still have to eat, don’t they? There is a built-in interest in cooking and baking, and these are great ways to show your kids how Maths applies to life outside of the classroom: reading recipes, discussing fractions, and talking about how to double a recipe or cut one in half.

Journey Not Destination

Getting the correct answer is excellent, but praising effort and learning is more critical: emphasise the effort it took to get to where they are; praise them for not giving up, for trying a new method, and for their interest in Maths.

Children need to understand that it is not all about getting the answer right; understanding the logic behind a problem is the goal. This is how they develop a growth mindset.

If they say, “it’s hard“, tell them that it just means that their brain is working. Hard work is challenging. We should help children to look at problem-solving in a fun way, suggesting ways they can work out the problem – this helps to get their brain working hard and results in the brain expanding to fit in the new concept.

Be A Little More, Mr Spock

Avoid harsh approaches – criticism and shame do not work. All you will do is negatively impact a child’s well-being. Instead of criticising, make children understand that it is OK to make mistakes and that getting something wrong has benefits in the form of learning opportunities.

Rather than focusing on a wrong answer, shift to the problem’s logic and help them understand that first. Ask for a problem to be explained as simply as possible. Avoid offering too much help. You want a child to start to solve the problem independently. Patience is vital.

Get Arty

Many art activities incorporate Maths. For example, a deep understanding of geometry can be a handy tool for an artist, allowing them to create a particular perception for their audience.

We can see Maths in artistic crafts such as music, dance, painting, architecture, pottery and many others. Maths art projects let kids be creative while also teaching them mathematical concepts.

These activities engage a child’s creativity and make learning a joy. There are activities available for children of all ages and skill levels. The best part about all these Maths art projects is that they get “Maths kids” thinking about art and “art kids” thinking about Maths. A win-win for all sides.

Take Learning Online

In some people’s minds, video games have a terrible reputation, but in recent years, a lot has changed. We live in an age of ‘edutainment‘: the combination of education and entertainment. Your child can happily play through games whilst learning and practicing their Maths problems.

BrainySpinach Math teaches Mathematics to kids aged 7-11 through fun and innovative free Roblox games so that they no longer fear Maths and are prepared for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) vocations. This is about meeting them where they are already having lots of fun – that is the way to help them learn.

The Maths Teacher “BrainySpinach” also regularly hosts free and entertaining Livestreams on YouTube, playing this and other educational games on Roblox with the “BrainySpinach Squad”. They welcome anyone else that wants to join in. Suffice it to say, students love it, and many parents report back that their child’s Maths Anxiety has all but vanished after just a few hours with BrainySpinach.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Talk Soon

ABOUT BRAINYSPINACH MATH

Jon Goga is a math tutor and founder of BrainySpinach Math, on a mission to help inspire children everywhere to catch up with their learning today, so they succeed tomorrow. BrainySpinach Math creates fun and exciting online games on the Roblox platform for children to play that teach them essential math skills. All while inspiring them to learn by playing games they love – and allowing parents to ensure their child’s screen time is always productive. BrainySpinach Math is also the creator of the Roblox Math Camp – a course with children learning math while playing tutor-created Roblox Math games. https://brainyspinach.com/

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