How quickly can you calculate simple mathematic problems? Can you do mental arithmetic easily, for example, could you calculate the interest you pay on your home in your head? Do you love mathematics? If you feel positive about Math does this help your child at home? Children can learn to love mathematics.
You can make learning math at home a great deal of fun if you want to. You don't need special equipment or teaching materials. There are plenty of math opportunities sitting around your house.
Math doesn't just happen at school; in fact math is every where. Math is part of our world. Quick reasoning, problem solving skills and accuracy and speed in computation are vital skills in our technologically oriented world.
We rely on math almost every minute of every day. From awakening when our alarm goes off to resetting our clocks for next day. We constantly perform math calculations during the day. Time: 2 minutes to get to the train, 30 minutes to get this job done, an hour before the school bus arrives, birthdays, Valentines Day, Spring Break, Thanksgiving. Money: cash, credit card transactions, bank balances, meals, pocket money for the kids, bills, bills and more bills. Measurement: traveling, exercising, building, cooking, shopping.
Certainly we have calculators and computers to do a lot of the complex calculations but our children still need to know how to reason, calculate, and solve mathematical problems. They need to be able to estimate a reasonable answer. This helps them to decide whether a calculation is correct.
It doesn't matter how many calculators or computers you have, a child has to be able to think mathematically. They need to have a clear idea of the operation to be used to solve the problem. They need to be able to roughly calculate a reasonable answer. They need to be in control of the mathematical operation not the calculator.
Start to find the fun in math with your child today. Help them to learn and enjoy applying math thinking to everyday situations. Make a game of it. Estimate the outside temperature and check with your thermometer. Guess the weight of your shopping and then weigh the parcels. Having fun with math with your child can develop a real love of number problems and thinking.
It's really easy. You'll be amazed at how you will come up with great ideas and activities. Play counting games, recite number rhymes, cook, shop, and look for shapes in your home; the activities depend on the age of your child. Read and create timetables, use tallies to find out how many cars pass your house, count the letters you get, add the numbers in the zip codes.
Interesting math travel activities keep the kids occupied when traveling long distances. Try adding the numbers in 10 car and truck license plates and compare which is greater/smaller. Tally the number of red cars that pass your car, continue to subtract distance traveled from total length of journey, and record the cost of gas and food and total at end of trip, estimate the time it will take to complete a trip, even record temperatures every 20 miles. Real life activities such as these help kids to see how math skills are used constantly and this helps them understand the reasons for learning math.
As parents we want our children to do well at school. We can help by making learning exciting at home. We should encourage and praise our children when they create exciting math problems and produce interesting results. We can turn our house into a happy and productive learning environment. You'll be amazed at how much your children grow to love learning with you if you do math at home with excitement and creativity.