Make sure your kids NEVER fear Mathematics again with these 8 Amazingly Simple Ways to Make Kids Fall in Love With Math.
Familiarizing children with everyday math before entering kindergarten can form a fundamental foundation for their later problem-solving and spatial thinking skills. Yet many parents, who may not be sure of their own abilities, do not fill their children’s early years with as much math as they do with reading.
How can adults instill an early love for math in children and nurture it as they grow up?
- Talk to them. Math is everywhere, and you can start to shape a child’s math mind by showing examples of math at home and around the world. Show them shapes and have them use a ruler to measure and compare objects of different sizes. Count the fruits in your kitchen aloud and ask your child to count each item with a finger or a marker on a piece of paper. Build their thinking skills by pointing out patterns in nature and architecture and asking them to make predictions about what’s next.
- Let them play. Playing is learning and games like Chess, Checkers, Dominoes, Hi-Ho! Cherry-O, Memory, and toy shapes, puzzles, an abacus, a piggy bank with coins, numbered blocks and of course Legos can keep kids entertained and familiarize them with math concepts. Google “Math Manipulations” and you will even find lots of DIY toy ideas that kids can use to learn to count, classify, group, measure, and learn concepts like fractions, patterns, geometry, and probability.
- Read them…information about mathematics. Storytelling time is an excellent time for us to open our eyes and look at the math around us. Stories combined with colorful pictures can help children visualize mathematical concepts from an early age. The Stanford School of Education’s love of mathematics can help you get started. Bedtime math is another great parenting tool. It publishes a short story every day, and then publishes math problems, and changes it for toddlers, toddlers and older children.
- Show them real mathematicians. Children usually don’t know how cool mathematics is. There are many unknown aspects. When you enter the advanced level of mathematics, you can explore and solve unsolved problems. This is where the real mathematician’s fun lies. Read the children’s biographies of mathematicians such as Raye Montague and Ramanujan, and share some joy. Older children can enjoy documentaries about the life and work of mathematicians, such as Miriam Mirzakhani, the first woman to receive the Fields Medal, the highest honor in the mathematics world.
- Show them math videos. Kids can cultivate a fascination with logic and numbers by subscribing to YouTube channels such as Mind Your Decisions and 3Blue1Brown, and QuickWithTheTrick which bring mathematical concepts to the audience through useful stories and illustrations. They not only help kids fall in love with math, they are also useful for adults!
- Register them as math courses. In elementary school, children who really love math can start to explore their favorite topics and improve their problem-solving skills through online and face-to-face classrooms and training camps.
- Let them compete. Competitions can help children develop important life skills and sometimes even make money! The best part is that young math enthusiasts have the opportunity to get together, show their knowledge and share their excitement. Search online for upcoming competitions near you and see the list of national CTY math and computer science competitions.
- Remind them that math is fun. The more children hear that math is beautiful, the more they like it. Emphasizes the enthusiasm for solving a problem, and the satisfaction of getting closer and closer to finding a solution. Some children may need to know that good math has nothing to do with games or fast thinking. The core of mathematics is deep thinking, logical reasoning and problem solving. This may take time.