Mathematics is everywhere and it is easy to try to explain to the children some of the applications that they have in our ordinary life. For example, every time we buy something and we are with the kids, they can help us calculate the coins or bills that we have to use, what we spend and what we have to return. It is very simple and requires little effort and of course it can be much more fun than seeing some images in a book. Although, of course, books must be studied, reviewed, known and know how to answer all the questions that appear with the help of the teacher.
Recently we talked about the book by Fernando Blasco and Juan Medina, Your son can be a math genius, and there we can find many practical applications, simple exercises and a lot of imagination to get kids to be interested and excited about mathematics. For example, the book explains things as simple as straight numbers by which you can go up and down, counting, while practicing addition and subtraction, sorting, major and minor numbers, numbers between two numbers, etc. You can also find exercises such as associating the three of the dice with the number 3 or with the word three, concepts such as fractions, calculation exercises and identifying that the difference between 110 and 100 is the same as the difference between 10 and 0. And Many other practical contents.
And is that Primary math is essential to face real life with ease. The discipline of mental calculation should be practiced more in class, I still remember my teacher who took us in groups of 10, we were 40 in class (!), And demanded that we respond at full speed to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The procedure was as simple as if you didn't answer you stayed at the end and if you answered you stayed at the beginning. And you had to be attentive to respond and do it in the best possible way.
You can also practice with figures such as those in the image, which allows you to see the beauty of numbers by making incredible drawings and shapes and that can help children to relate mathematics and reality. Although there are many more, for example, the constructions of buildings forming right angles with the ground, the path followed by the sun on the horizon forming a flat angle from dawn to dusk or the parallel straight lines of the train tracks that are never They cross for the sake of travelers!
As knowledge advances, concepts need to be assimilated and reinforced because in mathematics everything is chained in a process of abstraction that is shaped in the head of the kids. And it is that although at first they learn it, as it happened to us, almost by heart, as they grow they begin to relate what they have learned and to perform more complex operations. That's why you have to motivate and encourage them with original, practical, playful learning and explaining that mathematics is everywhere, until they are autonomous. And so, suddenly, when we walk with them, they pull us by the arm and tell us something, using a sure example that is surprising, that demonstrates everything they have learned, what they have had fun and how animated they are to continue learning.
In Peques and More | "Your son can be a genius of the mates" by Fernando Blasco and Juan Medina for parents to help with math at home Image | Melanie Holtsman
