{"id":7606,"date":"2021-04-02T18:02:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T18:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=7606"},"modified":"2021-04-02T17:07:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T17:07:10","slug":"how-to-help-your-child-with-maths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/how-to-help-your-child-with-maths","title":{"rendered":"How to help your child with maths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Davide Penazzi<\/p>\n

School closures have left many parents in charge of overseeing their children\u2019s education at home. If you are one of them, you might be struggling with maths in particular \u2013 not least due to having to grapple with topics and techniques you are unfamiliar with, such as number bonds, abundant numbers, chunking and more.<\/p>\n

But this is where a positive mindset, and the ability to accept you are also on a learning path, can help. Here are some tips on the best way to tackle teaching maths you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Work together<\/b><\/p>\n

Think of yourself as accompanying your child towards understanding a new concept, rather than explaining it to them. As a parent, there is a natural desire to provide for and support your child with your experience, but this is impossible when you do not know what you want to explain.<\/p>\n

What you are able to do is to tap into your past experiences of having solved problems and managed challenges. Simply be honest and say to your child this method is new to you, too, but you will work to understand it together.<\/p>\n

Start small and use props<\/b><\/p>\n

New concepts can be overwhelming. Start as small as you can, and play around with something concrete \u2013 such as buttons or pennies or pieces of Lego \u2013 to help you both understand. For instance, your child might be working on number bonds: learning the pairs of numbers that add together to make a particular total.<\/p>\n

To give an example, the number bonds of seven are two plus five and three plus four. Physically laying out seven buttons and splitting them into two and five, and then three and four, can help both you and your child familiarise yourselves with the concept and then understand how it works.<\/p>\n

Think about why it\u2019s useful<\/b><\/p>\n

Learning maths may seem pointless, and this can lead to frustration. After all, there is not much need to know how to divide 155 252 188 by 19 838 when the calculator on your phone will do it for you.<\/p>\n

But this does not mean you don\u2019t need to do any mental computation at all in life. Perhaps you have a budget of R50 and want to know quickly if buying three items priced R13, R20 and R17 will push you over this total. Your knowledge of number bonds tells you that three plus seven is 10 \u2013 so 13 plus 17 is 30, which plus the additional 20 puts you perfectly at your budget.<\/p>\n

Since the 1980s, theories about the best methods of education have moved away from rote learning, which can cause pupils to disengage from maths. Instead, education experts have championed more engaging methods, based on learning through experience. The maths national curriculum was lagging behind these ideas until the national numeracy strategy was launched in 1999. A further revamp of the national curriculum followed in 2013.<\/p>\n

The focus is now on teaching pupils to become problem solvers: fluent in maths with the ability to reason and apply what they have learned. In teaching number bonds, you are helping your child develop a numerical tool that can allow them to effectively process simple computations, which in turn make them more capable of dealing with problems in life or at work.<\/p>\n

Avoid the fear factor<\/b><\/p>\n

It is easy, especially if you have had bad experiences with maths in your past, to give way to panic. Teaching unknown concepts could make what is known as maths anxiety \u2013 the irrational fear of anything mathematical \u2013 resurface.<\/p>\n

The risk is this fear can be passed to your child. This can have consequences for their enjoyment of school \u2013 and even for the decisions they make in life.<\/p>\n

Keep it real<\/b><\/p>\n

Once you and your child have learned a mathematical concept, try to make it more real and use it in everyday life. Make number bonds with biscuits or pieces of fruit. Add up prices of supermarket items. Be creative and make colourful number bond patterns with building blocks or objects such as sticks and leaves you find on a stroll.<\/p>\n

Finally, don\u2019t be discouraged if you sometimes struggle. And allow yourself and your child plenty of time to learn a new idea. Some mathematical concepts can be counter-intuitive or hard, and it is fine to sometimes let go, do something else, and come back to it at another time. Try to reward yourself for your successes, and remember that learning in a more positive, playful way will help make homeschooling a positive experience.<\/p>\n

*Davide Penazzi: Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Central Lancashire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Davide Penazzi School closures have left many parents in charge of overseeing their children\u2019s education at home. If you are one of them, you might be struggling with maths in particular \u2013 not least due to having to grapple with topics and techniques you are unfamiliar with, such as number bonds, abundant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-7606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to help your child with maths - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Davide Penazzi School closures have left many parents in charge of overseeing their children\u2019s education at home. 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