Do the math with your kids, and make it fun

Dubai - Why do students groan when the school bell rings prior to Math class? Some students call it a 'monster', and KT finds out why

Mathematics is a necessary blessing/evil. It is everywhere. If you have avoided it in high school, chances are that it has come to haunt you as an adult - in the form of balancing bank statements, budgeting groceries for the month, and even something as simple as keeping safe distances from the car in front of you.
In the UAE, most of the parents interviewed for this story said that engaging the child while studying Mathematics is tricky and challenging.
"Not all children enjoy solving puzzles ... Some like to get easy answers. I sometimes find it very hard to engage my son with the subject," said Ahmed Altaf, a parent of an 8-year-old boy studying in Dubai. "He genuinely enjoys learning languages and the social sciences ... But when it comes to Math, he is always scoffing."
A principal's Math journey
Most teachers and parents strongly believe that Mathematics needs a skill that children need to imbibe from a young age.
Asma Gilani, principal of Our Own English High School (girls), Sharjah, spoke very candidly about her relationship with Mathematics to Khaleej Times.
"The thought of the subject makes me a little nostalgic," she said. "It is believed that students in their 'math lives' can either go on from their early math schooling and learning, or they will detest the subject lifelong. During my childhood days, 'math life' was formal and regimented. Hence, I never found the subject interesting or exciting and always attempted the sums with trepidation.
"With a view to develop a keen interest on problem solving skills, my Math teacher started the early morning class with '20 mental' math sums. Like any other child, I disliked and even feared this way of starting the day as it would set the mood for the day. Sadly, unwanted pressure was built, as we were expected to pen down answers as quickly as possible to the questions asked by the teacher."
Speaking from experience, Gilani added: "I strongly feel that if a child is exposed to a difficult concept in a subject with an equally difficult teacher, there are chances that the child will not pursue that subject later."
Why students are discouraged
Students however said that they are well aware of the importance in learning Math, but are also a little discouraged by how 'difficult it is'.
Abdul Ahad Altaf, a student of Ibn Seena High School, said: "Mathematics is a very important subject which is used in our daily lives from the time the sun rises, till the time the sun sets. It is also used in various other subjects such as Accounts, Physics and ICT. It is a fascinating subject as we always get to learn something unique which is probably beyond our knowledge."
Yashith Lalwani, a Grade 7 student of Indian School, Al Ain, said: "Math is like a giant puzzle that needs to be solved."
Inside a classroom where students love to solve Math
Nick Arnsby, head of Math at the Jumeirah Baccalaureate School (JBS), has adopted a very interesting approach to learning Mathematics. An International Baccalaureate school, the JBS plays host to children from Foundation to year 13.
A seasoned middle-school Math teacher, Arnsby has taught many children in the UK and different South East Asian countries. A sneak peek into Arnsby's class-room reveals that his class is definitely very interactive.Some of the assignments Arnsby sets for the students include decoding movie mistakes.
"For example, students are shown scenes from different movies and are asked to figure out how each of the scenes is possible or impossible mathematically. For example, taking the animated movie 'up', the children calculated the total amount of helium that would be required to lift an entire house, including furniture and people."Students use videos, Power-Point presentations, printouts, group investigations, and giant cutouts to prove their formulae.
They also use the app augmented-reality app Aurasma, actively and Arnsby features his top performers in the Matheletes Hall of Fame in his classroom."We prefer making videos in the class because it makes it a lot more interesting," said Corina Corah (13), Grade 7 student of JBS. His project-based learning system makes pupils realise that there is Math all around them and they also tend to retain the information gained.
Students are also made to realise that learning Math is an integrated approach, where children can connect what they learn in Math to other subjects.Saasha Gulamani (15), Grade 10 student of JBS, said: "Learning Math in this method develops practical skills and we're able to use this knowledge in other subjects."Her classmate, Noura afahim (15), added: "We're given very interesting projects where we're asked to decode complicated answers from real life situations. For example, one of our assignments was to figure out the mean age of the gamers of the game- Clash of Clans."
Arnsby, a very passionate teacher, said children are not pots to fill, but their passions need to be ignited. "The key to teaching children Mathematics is adopting contextual learning. Children need to be taught that it is relevant and you are basically setting the child is in pursuit of knowledge, making them critical thinkers."
How to inspire your kids to learn Maths:
Must do's for parents
Inspiration, not jail sentence:
>Math is all about inspiration, and not enforcing a jail sentence on children. Try to avoid keeping set timetables for children to learn Math
> Maths becomes perfect with practice: Parental involvement in learning Math is very important. Sit down with children and perform experiments that involve Mathematics
> Give children plenty of opportunities to count and measure : For example, while cooking, allow the children to count and measure ingredients. Budget your groceries with your children
> Find ways to practise number  operations:Pick a number between 1 and 20 (or between any two numbers up to 100). Have your child guess the number, then you tell if your number was greater than or less than his guess. Have your child keep revising his guess until he guesses your number. Then trade roles
> Find ways to collect and organise complicated information: Read weather charts, movie schedules, and other common numerical information you find in the news
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com