Parenting for Learning: How to Inspire Curiosity in Mathematics

 

Math

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that kids are naturally curious. As the mother of three, I know this all too well. I also know that their budding curiosity can quickly transform into a thorn in my side! I cringe when I find myself answering the three-hundredth “why?” question of the morning or even if I utter the dreaded “because I said so” when I am tapped out of responses.

Instead of trying to curtail this curiosity for my own sanity, I have cultivated a list of suggestions on focusing a child’s creative and curious nature into a brain-building resource.

In its most basic definition, math is the study of numbers. Knowing this, it becomes easy to make math a part of your everyday life. Try this next time you are at the grocery store, ask your child to first find one item she can buy for $5, then two items, then three, and so on. Have her guess what the maximum number of items she can buy for $5 (or $1 for a shorter exercise!). The idea is to see that we can divide five many different ways, and that, instead of being concrete, numbers are fluid and can be manipulated to fit our needs.

I suggest using these ideas with elementary age students who are beginning to be exposed to arithmetic and other basic math concepts. This is the ideal time to discuss HOW and WHY math concepts work, instead of focusing on strict memorization. Studies have shown that students who learn the theory behind a concept retain the knowledge significantly better than students who only memorize.

Here are some other open-ended questions and suggestions to help cultivate a spark of curiosity about the relationship between numbers.

  • How many different ways can we make a sandwich using five ingredients from the fridge? What if I only want three out of five ingredients in my sandwich, how many ways can I make the sandwich? What if the order of the items on my sandwich doesn’t matter? What if the order DOES matter?
  • If I only have a three-foot rope and need to measure the house, how many times do you think I need to lay the rope, end-to-end? Can you guess how many times a two-foot rope would go around the house?
  • When heading out, ask your child to estimate how many hours, minutes, or seconds it will take to reach your destination? When you arrive, tell him the answer in hours and have him estimate the equivalent seconds or minutes. Ask him why the number for seconds is LARGER than the number for minutes.

Hopefully, these suggestions have cultivated a spark of curiosity in you too. Numbers are magical and once you begin asking “why” questions, you may also find yourself as amazed and awed by the natural (numerical) world as your child!

For more information on encouraging curiosity in everyday life, check out these great books by renowned math teacher, Jean Kerr Stenmark. Stenmark is known for making math fun and approachable for kids (and parents!) of all ages. I use these ideas and games with my family and they really help encourage curiosity while maintaining my sanity. And what mom couldn’t use a few more minutes of sanity!?

Family Math and Family Math for Young Children by Jean Kerr Stenmark (1986 & 1997)

 

About the Author

Michelle KasierMichelle Kaiser, founder and lead tutor at m.power tutoring, is a Michigan State University graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University. After several years working in the public and private sector, Michelle took time off to raise her family.  Now, when she isn’t empowering students in math, she is spending time with her three children (9, 3, and 11 mos), hardworking husband, and energetic pup. She believes math is a building block of critical thinking skills that are so critical to students.  Early intervention can turn subpar math students into superheroes!

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here