I think that it is fair to say that many adults - if not most - did not like math when they were in school... and they still don't. This negative attitude about math carries with it many negative long-term consequences for both you and your child.
If you are still having negative feelings about math from your school days and you express these verbally, then without intending to:
(1) you may be transferring your negative feelings to your child,
(2) you will likely go into parent/teacher conferences with negative feelings and low expectations,
(3) you will find it difficult to give your child a positive view of school, mathematics, or learning,
(4) if you ever say "I wasn't good at math either" in front of your child, then you are telling your child that he/she is not good at math and your are actually giving him/her an excuse if he/she does fail, and
(5) in the very long-term, your child's choice of career may be impacted by a negative feeling about math.
This may seem far-fetched to you, but it is all quite possible--even likely. The purpose of this article and those that will follow in this series is to keep those negative things from happening, and to even help change your own self-concept about your math abilities.
Those of you who are familiar with my bio, know that fixing the sorry state of mathematics education in this country has become my passion. Because of the findings of recent brain research, we are learning that, quite literally, properly preparing pre-schoolers with a good math foundation is not only possible--but necessary; and a good pre-school math foundation is likely a key to fixing mathematics education. However, before this can happen, the parents of pre-schoolers must have:
1. an honest appreciation for the importance of mathematics to your child's future,
2. the desire, willingness, and ability to work with your pre-schooler on math topics, and
3. the understanding that you are capable of helping your child with math. You must have an "I can do it" attitude before you can instill one in your child.
Right now I can hear you saying "I can't teach math!" In reality, though, you can! When you really think about it, you know you have enough math knowledge to work at the pre-school level. (This isn't rocket science, as they say.) You want your child to love learning and to be successful in both school and life. You already have helped your child learn to walk and talk and have started working on language. You are constantly reinforcing the successes you child has and your child (whether you realize it or not) is developing a self concept of "I can learn this" as you both work together on language skills.
For many decades, entire family units have worked with their young children to have them "ready for school." And for those decades, children have been entering school eager to learn to read and write. They know they can learn it because we've told them so.
Unfortunately, this has NOT been the case for mathematics. We didn't know that babies are born with both a language and a number sense. We didn't know that the critical years for learning logic and establishing a math foundation are ages 1 to 4. But we do know now, and we must start taking advantage of these years.
With all this in mind, I have decided to start a new math series of articles for parents of pre-schoolers to help with giving your child the math skills they need. I am currently doing something similar for Algebra--A Parent's Guide to Algebra's Basic Concepts." Those articles are about teaching Algebra to parents. This new series, "Helping Your Pre-Schooler With Math" will be more about informing parents of what to cover and how to present it to you child. You already know how to do the math!
Keep in mind that you will not be teaching your child skills like multiplication or dividing fractions. You will be doing what is called "pre-exposure." You will be pointing out numbers whenever you see them. You will begin helping your child to understand numbers--not just count. You will be looking for shapes, introducing your child to logic, increasing math vocabulary, and much more. But everything will be "age appropriate." (No calculus.) Each article will give you a math related topic and suggestions for sharing this with your child.
Be looking for articles titled "Helping Your Preschooler With Math--..." And, remember, YOU CAN DO IT!
These topics will be in somewhat of a random order, because you don't all have children the same age. If your child is still too young for a topic, hang on to the article until your child is ready. I will try to always tell you what skills need to already be in place for a child to grasp a new concept.
For more
If you are still having negative feelings about math from your school days and you express these verbally, then without intending to:
(1) you may be transferring your negative feelings to your child,
(2) you will likely go into parent/teacher conferences with negative feelings and low expectations,
(3) you will find it difficult to give your child a positive view of school, mathematics, or learning,
(4) if you ever say "I wasn't good at math either" in front of your child, then you are telling your child that he/she is not good at math and your are actually giving him/her an excuse if he/she does fail, and
(5) in the very long-term, your child's choice of career may be impacted by a negative feeling about math.
This may seem far-fetched to you, but it is all quite possible--even likely. The purpose of this article and those that will follow in this series is to keep those negative things from happening, and to even help change your own self-concept about your math abilities.
Those of you who are familiar with my bio, know that fixing the sorry state of mathematics education in this country has become my passion. Because of the findings of recent brain research, we are learning that, quite literally, properly preparing pre-schoolers with a good math foundation is not only possible--but necessary; and a good pre-school math foundation is likely a key to fixing mathematics education. However, before this can happen, the parents of pre-schoolers must have:
1. an honest appreciation for the importance of mathematics to your child's future,
2. the desire, willingness, and ability to work with your pre-schooler on math topics, and
3. the understanding that you are capable of helping your child with math. You must have an "I can do it" attitude before you can instill one in your child.
Right now I can hear you saying "I can't teach math!" In reality, though, you can! When you really think about it, you know you have enough math knowledge to work at the pre-school level. (This isn't rocket science, as they say.) You want your child to love learning and to be successful in both school and life. You already have helped your child learn to walk and talk and have started working on language. You are constantly reinforcing the successes you child has and your child (whether you realize it or not) is developing a self concept of "I can learn this" as you both work together on language skills.
For many decades, entire family units have worked with their young children to have them "ready for school." And for those decades, children have been entering school eager to learn to read and write. They know they can learn it because we've told them so.
Unfortunately, this has NOT been the case for mathematics. We didn't know that babies are born with both a language and a number sense. We didn't know that the critical years for learning logic and establishing a math foundation are ages 1 to 4. But we do know now, and we must start taking advantage of these years.
With all this in mind, I have decided to start a new math series of articles for parents of pre-schoolers to help with giving your child the math skills they need. I am currently doing something similar for Algebra--A Parent's Guide to Algebra's Basic Concepts." Those articles are about teaching Algebra to parents. This new series, "Helping Your Pre-Schooler With Math" will be more about informing parents of what to cover and how to present it to you child. You already know how to do the math!
Keep in mind that you will not be teaching your child skills like multiplication or dividing fractions. You will be doing what is called "pre-exposure." You will be pointing out numbers whenever you see them. You will begin helping your child to understand numbers--not just count. You will be looking for shapes, introducing your child to logic, increasing math vocabulary, and much more. But everything will be "age appropriate." (No calculus.) Each article will give you a math related topic and suggestions for sharing this with your child.
Be looking for articles titled "Helping Your Preschooler With Math--..." And, remember, YOU CAN DO IT!
These topics will be in somewhat of a random order, because you don't all have children the same age. If your child is still too young for a topic, hang on to the article until your child is ready. I will try to always tell you what skills need to already be in place for a child to grasp a new concept.
For more
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