“Why don’t they just learn it the way we did?”

Maths does not need to be confusing - for either of you!

“Why don’t they just learn maths they way we did?” I get this question a lot. A…LOT!

What this question is really asking is why do our kids learn 37 different ways (slight exaggeration) to do what we learnt by rote, or formulas? It worked for us!

The quick answer is that memorizing is not learning.

Think about a 2-year-old who counts to 10. They have no idea what makes 4, or why 5 comes next. They have just memorized the words, like a song they might ‘sing’, but over time they will learn about those numbers, and they will have context wrapped around their learning. They’ll learn that 4 is a number in a sequence but also the number of objects counted. There’s so much more to a number than its name!

We want our children to UNDERSTAND, not memorize.

And to do that, they need to be shown ways that make sense to them, and we know that we all don’t learn the same way. If we rush our children into methods, algorithms or formulas for example, without deep understanding, they will be memorizing, not learning and this becomes evident when they need to apply it to other situations, because otherwise it all falls apart.

With guidance they may ‘remember’ how to do it, but independently, they need to use something that makes sense to them, and so they are taught multiple methods, to store away, to use as appropriate – a toolbox of sorts. What works for one child and is efficient for that child, may not make sense to your child and so is not efficient.

Making them use something they don’t understand, only creates negativity and self-doubt around maths.

So how do you know when to use these ‘old’ methods when you help your child with homework (because we haven’t thrown it all away)?

How do you know what strategies and methods they are learning at school?

How do you know what language to use, because that’s another thing that has changed?

MathsBItes.

MathsBites is exactly what you need if you are looking to support your child’s learning in ways that promote a positive mindset, flexible thinking and finding the joy in numbers.

MathsBites, helping you help them. Let’s get started …