No one child is good in all subjects that are covered in school. This sentence applies to adults as well. It is often our own beliefs and attitudes that affect our learning towards Mathematics. With a positive mindset and a "never-give-up" attitude, adults are more likely to influence children's interest in Mathematics. As teachers and parents, we might have learned Mathematics in a form of memorization. It is time to ask ourselves these questions:
- Do you still remember all the formulas you learned in school years back?
- Can you apply the formulas as and when it is needed?
Rote learning enables children to remember concepts or new content easily. However, it is ineffective in constructing new knowledge. Therefore, both teachers and parents have to understand the importance and methods of educating Mathematics to children.
When teaching Mathematics, we have to provide opportunities for children to construct new knowledge from their prior knowledge, allow children to be engaged in reflective thinking and sharing, encourage children to use a variety of approaches to solve a problem, engage children in experiencing productive struggles, give children opportunities for learning from their errors, scaffold children in learning new content, accept the differences among children, as well as using multiple tools and manipulative and technology in teaching Mathematics.
Learning Mathematics is not about getting the correct answers but about the justification and adaptive reasoning.
No comments:
Post a Comment