How to Make Maths More Fun for Your Child – Does your child hate the sight of a maths problem? Maths can be a difficult subject. Unlike others in the curriculum, it requires a different sort of logic and can be confusing to follow as problems involve numbers and having to conceptualise what they mean. To learn how you can make the subject more appealing to your child, we have advice below from a prep school in London.
Make Maths More Fun – Use Treats
Counters are a great tool for helping children visualise what maths questions are asking them. They can solve problems simply by taking away, adding, and splitting them into groups. What can make this even more fun and interactive is using edible, tasty, sweet treats.
Make Maths More Fun – Get to The Root
Another thing parents can do is get to the root cause of their child’s maths anxiety. Spotting their problem areas and working through them can help maths seem less scary to children.
Make Maths More Fun – Rewards and Praise
Also reward your child. Children deserve to be praised for their hard work, especially for doing things that are difficult such as maths. If they’ve been working particularly hard, reward their efforts and make the hard work worth their while so they continue to do so going forwards.
Make Maths More Fun – Interactive Games
Many interactive maths games can be found online to help children practise and improve on areas such as their times tables. Not only are they beneficial, but children enjoy playing them too. Even games like online checkers can encourage children to count pieces, all helping to improve their maths knowledge.
Make Maths More Fun – Look For Everyday Examples
There are plenty of examples of how maths can be used all around us. Shopping trips are a prime example where children can use their mental maths skills to work out the total and calculate how much change they should expect to receive.
Make Maths More Fun – Pocket Money
Pocket money can give children practise at managing their finances and create good relationships with money. It’s also a way to get your child to use their maths skills as they will need to perform basic operations to work out how much they have saved and what they can afford to buy.
Make Maths More Fun – Mental Maths Countdown
Other games can be made up on the spot. You can quiz each other with made up problems and see how many you each get right.
If you have any concerns about your child’s maths ability, we recommend speaking to their teacher who will be able to tell you whether they are making the progress they should be and share advice on how to help.
About Debz Louise
Debz Louise is a UK-based lifestyle expert and the founder of several lifestyle blogs, including Wannabe Princess and Under 5s. Specializing in everything from interior design and home renovation to body-positive fashion and early years development,