Of all the subjects in the modern school system, math is probably the one that most kids (and adults) dislike. Sometimes it seems like a kid is either born liking math or not. But the truth is, any child can be taught to develop at least a base appreciation of math, if you just approach math the right way! Here are some tips to help you figure out How to Get Your Child Interested in Math!
How to Get Your Child Interested in Math
1. Point Out How Math Applies to Real Life
The #1 complaint of math learners of all ages is that math (beyond the basics) doesn’t apply to most people’s jobs or daily life. And admittedly, if your child doesn’t want to work in finance, architecture, engineering, or programming, you may have a hard time convincing them that they’ll need math in their career. But you can still show them how math could be important in their daily life! At the hardware store, point out the importance of measurements and angles when buying wood or molding. At the grocery store, point out how the sales are calculated using fractions or percents. The more you can point out the math that’s all around us, the more you’ll get your child interested in math.
2. Make Math Learning Fun
One of the biggest problems kids have with math is that learning it can be pretty dull. There are no interesting stories, like in English class, or fun experiments, like in science class. Depending on your kid’s teacher, they may just be doing math worksheets all the time. So try to find ways to help your kid make math learning fun! Get fun math activity books, or find a fun math learning website that has math games! You could also search for the old Schoolhouse Rock math videos!
3. Use Math Yourself
If you want to get your child interested in math, then one of the best things you can do is use math yourself! And try to do it by hand, with as little calculator or Google input as possible, to mirror what your child will have to do in class. If your kid sees you using math to balance the checkbook, make a budget, etc., they may start to realize that knowing math is a useful skill that can be carried into adulthood, not just something they should learn and forget as soon as the semester is over.
4. Let Your Child Teach You
A learning trick that works for kids and adults is teaching others. Somehow by having to teach other people, we’re able to get a firmer grasp on ideas. This is especially true in math! Having your child “teach” you an aspect of math also helps with their math confidence. When test time comes around, they’ll think “I’m really good at this! I was able to explain it perfectly to Mom!”
5. Read Math Books
If your child is young enough, you can easily find a lot of math themed fiction books for them to read, or for you to read with them. This is an easy and subtle way to get your kid thinking about math, but without the pressure of perfection that comes with a math class.
6. Cook Together
A fun way to get your child interested in math is to cook together! When you cook you use addition, subtraction, fractions, and your kid gets introduced to different types of measurements. The best part is your child automatically gets a great reward, too- some yummy food!
Do you like math? Why or why not?
