How to raise a "math person"
This post was originally shared in our community.
Last updated
This post was originally shared in our community.
Last updated
Adopt the growth mindset instead of the fixed mindset:
However, it's also important to know the 4 things it takes to become an expert at anything:
Everyone knows that something is wrong. The politicians say, “we need higher standards.” The schools say, “we need more money and equipment.” Educators say one thing, and teachers say another. They are all wrong. The only people who understand what is going on are the ones most often blamed and least often heard: the students. They say, “math class is stupid and boring,” and they are right.
Start with a Question
Give students time to struggle
You are not the answer key
Say yes to your students' ideas
Play!
IMHO, the most important principle is #3. You don't have to know all the answers to be able to explore mathematics with your child.
This one you can begin at a very early age. Sense-making is what kids do. You can talk about the idea of negative numbers every time you take the elevator with your child. When you count things arrange in a rectangular grid:
you are demonstrating the fact that
The technical jargon for the above is "multiplication is commutative" but of course you don't have to use the jargon.
Mathematical approach to puzzle solving
The magic and joy of exploding dots
Have you heard about the ?
Read . Here is an excerpt:
Eddie Woo says
Watch this in its entirely. Here are the 5 principles:
If you need more ideas, there is an entire for it!
Some people don't even seem to know about the of . Check out both the books has written:
Telling a young person that they're smart or gifted, gives them a crippling fear of failure. Bryan Cantrill made this point forcefully in his talk :
Many families seem to be missing out on fantastic explanations (including interactive explorables) that elucidate math concepts because of their blanket policy against any screen-time. For example, if you learn about functions from a static textbook, and never try them out in Geogebra or Desmos, you are truly missing out. If your child is a high-schooler and neither of you have heard about , you are doing screen-time/internet-time wrong!
