Articles:
Activities
that
promote learning
maths
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Nowadays, maths is so much more than being
able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Essentially it is the
study of number, measurement and space. When teachers 'teach maths'
they want to guide children into discovering answers to real life
problems themselves. It is a process of coming to a
solution using their mathematical skills. And it is the process of
getting to the solution which contributes to mathematical
understanding.
Solving problems requires the children to add, subtract, multiply
and divide, so these skills are taught in this context. Children
should be encouraged to investigate numbers: 5+3=8 but so does 50-42
and 64/8 and 4+4. Teachers aim for children to be curious about
numbers so that they discover the properties of numbers themselves.
To aid understanding in maths,
the use of concrete materials is widespread. Materials such as pop
sticks, blocks, counters, string, shells, even food (or
representations of it) can be used to enhance understanding. With
these materials, children sort, order, classify, manipulate, group,
add together, measure, tessellate and do lots of other things to
further their understanding of mathematical concepts.
Other skills that are taught
include estimating predicting, measuring, ordering, classifying and
interpreting. It's all a part of discovering the Maths in everyday
situations and giving meaning to the numbers and symbols that we use
to represent the mathematical concepts in our lives.
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