Math is an important subject that stays with students all through their academic life. It is both interesting and exciting and has real life applications that come in handy during specialized studies and even certain careers. It has also been proven that Math is also crucial for the overall development of the mind.
But it is also true that Math can become a nightmare if not tackled efficiently. One misunderstood theorem or a missed lecture can lead to a tremendous learning gap. Math has to be both taught and learned with industrial diligence.
But Why is Math Scary?
According to research and scientific data, there is something called math anxiety that hampers students’ performance. It is suspected that their performance is affected by the belief that they are bad at math. Thus, it results in a loop of poor performance and anxiety.
Moreover, the traditional approach to mathematical problems is sometimes very uninteresting. And that is why occasionally, children pick up Literature over Math.
So, the point is, math is not the problem, more often than not, the approach to it is. So, if you believe your child is not performing well in the subject, it’s high time learning math is made fun and interesting. It is not impossible.
Here are Five Methods of Making Math Fun
Add games into maths: Games can make even the most boring things fun, and learning need not always be the traditional way – with pen and paper. It can happen over games too. Add games to your child’s maths learning process. There are many video games that facilitate a player’s mathematical skills.
Incorporating games in your child’s routine will keep them engaged with the subject and give them clarity in a lot of topics that they missed otherwise. As a result, when they sit down and practice math the traditional way, it starts to appear interesting.
Get a tutor: Sometimes subjects like math need special attention. This is because every small step needs to be explained, and misconceptions need to be cleared regularly. It is the responsibility of the tutor to find patterns in error and fix them. This can only be discovered when someone closely pays attention over a span.
Moreover, maths concepts need to be explained again and again. The only way to know if you’re doing it right is if you have queries regarding the same. It becomes difficult for students to stand up and ask questions in a collective learning space. That is why getting a math tutor is so important.
Through activities: Do you know the elaborate mathematical problems that create situations for children to solve? On paper, solving these problems can be difficult. But if you recreate these situations for your child to solve in real life, it can be exciting for them.
For example, when you go to the market, please point out the apples and oranges and correlate them with some math problems that they have come across in school. Seeing a tangible manifestation of a problem that they read about can also help them understand the importance of maths beyond school.
Use music: Music can do wonders while practicing math, especially certain compositions and instrumentals. They help focus and prevent students from making silly mistakes. For example, the musical compositions of Chopin are believed to create a great ambience to solve mathematical problems.
However, this is not the only way one can use music to understand math. Anybody with training in music knows that music is a lot about math—the calculation of notes and rhythms. So, taking music lessons and using that approach to help explain math problems is a fun way to deal with math anxiety.
Explain visually: Today children understand visual narratives better than their previous generation because they have grown up with easy access to visual content. They tend to do better with online sessions and can perform well with technology. So, you can show them illustrative videos that break complex math problems for easy understanding.
A lot of content is also available on platforms like Youtube that teach math in an extremely engaging and fun way. Also, takethiscourse provides a lot of online learning content for math and other subjects.
Now that you know how to make math fun, it’s time to bid the math anxiety goodbye!
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