Fun Ways For Teaching Children Mathematics
Teaching children mathematics is easy and fun. It becomes boring and difficult if you just limit teaching to paper and pencil. You have to go beyond that in order to develop interest of your little one in the subject. Teaching kids math is not just 2+1=3, it’s a lot more than that. The best way to teach math whether it’s home schooling or at school is by making it enjoyable. Children usually find mathematics fun and dry which is what it’s not. You can incorporate math in your daily activities such as eating, driving, shopping etc. and your child won’t find it boring anymore. The best fun and easy ways includes fun activities with teaching for preschoolers.
Also, build strategies to teach and help them understand the basics to have their concepts clear rather than just learning. Apart from text books there are quite a lot of different methods to carry on with the approach for how to teach children math. You can try with the worksheets or even start verbally for example “I gave you 10 candies. What will you have if you give 6 to your brother?” Appreciate their efforts and praise them for the correct answers. Below are a few methods which will help you determine different ways for teaching children mathematics.
1) Initiate With Counting
Math is all about numbers, you have to therefore start with making your child learn and know about numbers. Children might learn number easily if you repeat them or see you count with objects. Since every child is different and follows an individual strategy of learning and pick thing up. A method which works for one of your child might not work for other. Everyday objects might also help you in how to teach kids math with different objects. If you start with counting oranges, it’s good but if you mix apples and guavas to carry with the process it’s even much better because it will help them expand their thought process.
2) Play Math Games
Math games are fun and help you run your mind via various activities. There are a plenty of games in the market to help you teach kids math. Monopoly is the most famous out of all to learn and improve counting. You can also use your imagination to introduce new games which might include some actions like running. You can use colorful chalks to scribble numbers on the ground and ask questions by making him run to the numbers.
3) The Five Disciplines Of Math
While teaching children mathematics, you need to make them understand there are the five basic branches which comprises math and each one is understood, learnt and taught differently at each level but whatever you’re learning in math belongs to one of the below.
• Number sense (basic addition, subtraction)
• Algebra (identifying patterns, comparing and sorting)
• Geometry (shapes recognition)
• Measurements (comparing about sizes and identifying)
• Data analysis (estimation techniques)
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Teach your kids Math more effectively with educational apps.
This time tables app is a perfect companion for kindergarten and preschool kids to learn. This multiplication tables app is very useful to learn tables for kids from 1 to 10.
4) Use Abacus
It’s one of the oldest and most famous of all techniques to start with counting, addition, subtraction, division and problems. It has colorful beads attached to a string which moves back and forth. It refines problem solving and motor skills to solve problems by starting with the basic and to be able to help moving towards solving complex problems. You have to understand what logic each color of bead represents to start with it.
5) Math As A Daily Activity
Math is not what you can learn in a day or two and keep it in your mind for the rest of your life. It requires daily practice of what you have learned and a proper strategy to follow. You might include questions from your daily activities. For example:
• At red light, how many white cars do you see?
• How many mugs will you leave if you serve the guests with 5?
• If we eat 1/3rd of our lunch, what will be left?
• How many children do you have in your classroom? If teaching kids math involves activity sessions, your child will develop more interest over it and it’ll be more enjoyable for him. Once he starts will enjoy learning, nothing would distract his way.
6) Work On Shapes
Shapes also include basic mathematics so your child also needs to learn about some basic shapes. Shapes are the main core of geometry and there are a number of fun ways to teach and learn them. Everything around us has a shape, whether regular or irregular. We all know children love baking. You can let them be of a helping hand to bake biscuits with various shape and tell them about each. There are also various shape game puzzles available in the market.
7) Worksheets
Other than textbooks we also have different worksheets available in the market. They are easily available and can be downloaded anytime. You don’t have to look for chapters and various exercises in the books to teach kids math. You can find any worksheet related to the topic you’re planning to make your little one practice. They are colorful and have a story behind them.
8) Include Everyday Objects:
Try including everyday objects while teaching math. Include coins, books, pencils, fruits, vegetables and stuff available around you. You have everything around you to start off. Math is all about imagination and how you see things. It’s much easier to count, add and multiply things when you can see them physically.
9) Make Connections
It’s important with whatsoever subject you teach to develop connections. When it comes to math, it is best understood when you make connections with your daily activities and explain it. Give examples of his friends, favorite toys and stuff around to make him understand better. Determine how he enjoys studying and apply that specific technique.
10) Sorting
When teaching children mathematics explain to them about sorting shapes with respect to color, size, category and pattern. It is the basic fundamental of math that he needs to understand and be able to perform. It has a connection with counting and division and a child tends to do better with these two. It can also be explained by music and various activities.
Effective pre-school learning and teaching children mathematics involves continuous learning with breaks and involving hands on activity. It is not about teaching all 3 topics in a day but about the understanding of the basic concepts and to be able to solve all kinds of problems through it. Get kids moving! We all know kids enjoy activities which involve motion. It’s important to understand each student’s level of literacy prior to math teaching in order to make the learning process better. Math is a subject with various dimensions and areas. Your child might be good at a particular area and not good with the other. You have to figure out while teaching kids math where he’s standing and his area of weakness and where you need to focus.