How your Preschooler can like Math
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In the United States, kids just aren’t up to the standards in math compared to the rest of the world. The US is ranked 9th out of 12 nations that were observed in the study. The reason for this? Kids aren’t getting math stimulation at a young age.
There are many theories on how kids can learn to like math. Jo Boaler, a former math professor at Stanford University, wrote a book that can teach parents how to get their children to embrace math. In her book, “What’s Math..”, Boaler discusses solutions that can help change your child’s outlook on math in the classroom and at home.
She believes that most children start off by being intrigued and excited by math. They yearn to interact with their parents by counting change, reorganizing things, ordering them by weight, shape and color and counting things.
Boaler says that a common activity that parents can do with their children to help math skills is rolling dice. It helps children with their addition and subtraction skills and also fine motor skills. She says any activity that involves numbers will be beneficial to your child.
Around the age of 3, children begin to comprehend numbers. They can start to count from 1 to 3, then 5 and 10. Boaler suggests parents continue to work with their children with numbers up until the age of 7. Some math activities that are easy to do with your child include:
- Blocks, interlocking shapes, or toys like LEGOS can be extremely beneficial for your child at a young age because they teach her spatial reasoning, crucial for further math development.
- Letting your child count everyday items like the change in your pocket or the number of cans of pop left in the fridge will increase her counting abilities.
- Buy books that contain a mathematical setting for your child to read.
By doing the activities listed above, you not only increase your child’s mathematical aptitude, but also the joy for math will develop. For your child to develop a relationship with math is important if they are to succeed throughout their school years.
Unfortunately for both children and parents, once children hit school they start to dislike math. This could be for a variety of reasons. One such reason may be that teachers must teach to 30 kids at once and don’t have time to take individual time with your child.
Whatever the reasons may be, it is imperative that you instill a sense of loving math in your child at a very young age. Not only will it help them in the later years, it will give them a head start when they begin kindergarten.
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Filed Under: Education
