Maths – A Child’s Nightmare

Have you ever thought why most students find math so scary?

Many a times, I have wondered what is so scary about this most ancient subject. I came to a conclusion that it may be the very nature of the subject itself. Math means systematic steps, set of rules and abstract study. 

Even though math is part of our daily life, the process of practicing or studying it is too cut off from reality. Students find it difficult to directly relate it to real life and most of the concepts are left to imagination. This very abstract and complex composition of math as a subject makes it difficult. The difficulty level of the subject along with the compulsion to follow a systematic methodology makes math a nightmare, especially for school kids.

Here, we also need to understand the basic psychology of kids. Kids are more spontaneous and less methodical. They are curious about things around them. They rely more on their cognitive skills. In general, children take more interest in tasks that they can comprehend or relate to and this is the area where math fails. To be more precise, this is the area where the methods used to teach math fail.

So, what could be the possible solution? Indeed, the answer is making the process of teaching math more interesting.

Few tips that can be followed while teaching math:

• Explain mathematical concepts giving examples from a child’s day-to-day surrounding.
• Before actually getting to numbers and equations, explain the importance of learning them and how that study is used in real life.
• Use interactive classroom/online activities and games to generate interest in learning math.
• Use things easily available around you as teaching tools.
• Encourage children to learn math by recognizing their achievements even in simple tasks.
• Use a simplified way of communicating difficult concepts by avoiding overuse of technical terms and difficult words.
• Tell stories about mathematicians and mathematical discoveries or inventions to motivate children further.

You will find some useful online resources for math education (games, interactive exercises, worksheets and teaching tools) on the following sites:

• Homeschool Math
• Lets Play Math
• Math Tools