How Children Can be Made to Love Maths - Report Example

EDU10003: The World of Maths Student Name Instructor Date Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 3 Task One: SMART Targets……………………………………………………………. 3 Task Two: SMART Targets Action Plan…………………………………………. 4-5 Task Three: Numeracy Related learning outcomes………………………. 5-11 Task Four: IT and Numeracy to children…………………………………………11 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………11 References………………………………………………………………………………………12 EDU10003: The World of Maths Introduction Teaching numeracy to children has been a field that has troubled the Australian Curriculum development body for a long time and also; the Early Years Learning Framework has done deep probe to find out why educators would be comfortable to teach other areas such as ‘ literacy’ to children but not numeracy. Many of the EYLF have exposed some of the misconceptions educators have about teaching maths to children. Majority think that maths should be taught to mature children. However, my experience after having been involved in the Early years learning, makes me believe that the approach to teaching maths to children is what bring the difference. Many educators are impatient with learning the environment of the children and would not take their time to introduce maths concepts slowly by slowly. As such, this portfolio illustrates my experience on how children can be made to love maths. The portfolio starts with my targets on how I will develop my numeracy literacy and then picks on the spot the main agenda. SMART Target 1: To Play games that involve Mathematics. Playing and winning the games will mean I am improving my numeracy. This will only need a smart phone or a computer that has the application software. I will not need any person to teach me because the games come with tutorials and the only obstacle is finding the phone that can install the application and I already own a smartphone. This goal will help me develop interest for doing maths. This goal can be achieved within two months of continuous play and thus I believe I will be fit for undertaking EDU20002 without getting bored. SMART Target 2: To Practise maths on a day to day basis. By doing at least 10 sums in a day without losing concentration will mean I am doing better. Getting a good number of sums correctly would mean I am doing better. This only needs my time schedule and it means during this time no one will interfere because I have told them how this goal is important to me. This is to enable me to have the concentration of doing maths for it is said ‘Practise makes perfect’ in mathematics. Getting good books might be a hindrance but I am a member to a local library that store good books. When I achieve this, I believe I will be well prepared to concentrate on the next topic that involves practicals. This needs about three months to cover all the relevant topics of maths SMART Target 3: To use IT applications to help shape my numeracy skills. This is important to help me familiarize myself with applications that use maths in the IT world because we are in the computer world. When I shall be able to use a variety of maths applications in the computer, it will show I am doing great to achieve this goal. This goal will require that I find trainers who are well versed with such applications. I have a personal laptop and so when I use it, I expect no interference that might divert me from achieving this goal. This is important because it gives me special numeracy skills in the IT world. SMART Targets Action Plan SMART goal 1 To Play games that involve Mathematics Rationale for choosing goal Playing games that involves Maths brings about the interest and eliminate the myth that Maths is a very difficult subject. The games would ignite a particular love of Maths both as a learner and also in someone preparing to teach maths. Also, it will help me identify games that can be introduced to the learner level I would be involved with to improve their interest in Maths Activity related to achieving goal Strategies to achieve goal People responsible Measures Timeframe Playing Chess Game, scrabble, Sudoku and more Install these game applications on my phone or computers Join friends who like playing chess and play with them Join chess clubs Friends who play these game, developers of the applications Winning the games means I have developed good mathematical skills Every evening before going to bed and weekends SMART goal 2 To Practise maths on a day to day basis Rationale for choosing goal The secret to knowing Maths is practising it every day. Solving at least 10 mathematical problems in a day is a good practising schedule that would help me develop my numeracy skills. Activity related to achieving goal Strategies to achieve goal People responsible Measures Timeframe Selecting Maths problems from various topics Getting materials that contain maths exercises Myself and Maths instructor Ability to do 10 sums in a day Getting most of the sums correctly 3 Months SMART goal 3 To use IT applications to help shape my numeracy skills Rationale for choosing goal Many computers come with Maths application. Getting to know these applications in IT that make use of Maths improves numeracy and identifying some applications that have been developed that young people can use is critical for teaching in the classroom. Activity related to achieving goal Strategies to achieve goal People responsible Measures Timeframe Installing Maths application in my computer like Microsoft excel Continual use of these applications and knowing their technicality Myself and tutors Advanced knowledge on how to use the application 3 Months Teaching Maths to Children Teaching Maths to children poses a great challenge to educators. The Australian curriculum development has identified that teaching year K2 is challenging because the nature of the curriculum creates a lot of disengagement. Moreover, handling learners at this age is difficult because the way most of them have been brought up is different. A majority of them have missed some opportunities in early years of life and want to recover them, some have also passed through in appropriate learning and teaching processes and the student stage of physical development is wanting (National Curriculum Board, 2009). This means that teaching maths to children from age 5 to 8 needs someone to deeply understand the particular stages of development and identify whether numeracy was instilled in those stages of development. An understanding of Jean Piaget’s stages of development is very much important for educators to know how to instil quantitative skills to children. My observation has been that Maths is not particularly a hard subject to teach children when the approach taken is very timed and appropriate. The first step to achieving this is to make maths interesting instead of being boring to children. The start of this is to include games in Maths like. The second approach is by using interesting object for teaching maths like using toys to introduce counting numbers. Portfolio of Numeracy related outcomes There have been observed misconceptions about teaching maths to children. Many teachers have always thought that young children are not ready for mathematical education because they find their concentration very low when it comes to introducing mathematical concepts. As such, they believe that maths should be for bright children and as such, specialization of subjects should start right at the lower level and only bright children should be left to choose maths. However, these teachers are not aware that maths knowledge in children start at home before they start school. They become exposed to dealing with operations of division, addition, subtraction and their size determination become wanting. They know when you have given other things in more numbers than them. This is where clever parents start instilling numeracy (EYLFPLP, 2011). Mathematics for children should be engaging and use of objects that they love to teach maths is key and including it in games. Toys and dolls have been found by many teachers to be effective in communicating numeracy. The Early Years Learning Framework shows the educator on the three basics of dealing with children and this is to instill a sense of belonging on children, a sense of being and a sense of becoming. Many have learnt how to use such concepts to instill maths into them by using the objects they like most. As they use them, they do not realize that they are doing maths, which makes the different with teaching maths head on by introducing numbers as they are (EYLFPLP, 2011). The below Portfolio examples shows how many educators have made maths interesting by using toys and dolls and children become interested when they write numbers on objects without losing concentrations. Example One: Knowing Number Maybe, such would not impress the ladies but would much impress the boys, hence distinguishing genders can also be good to create a learning relationship with children. Example two: Knowing Numbers NB: The use of dolls would impress female children, than using cars and vice versa for boys. Measurements Measurements are also a critical element in the Australian Maths curriculum and thus allowing children to get the basic for advanced stages is critical. When this subject is introduced to children head on, then it might make them lose interest. Many educators have advanced ways to introduce such topics by letting children to use things they like to know length. For example, if the children like toys, you would introduce toys of various lengths to introduce measurements Also, by letting children draw things by variation in length would make them get basics of measurements. Geometry Getting familiar with shapes is another important aspect of Mathematics and for a good understanding of this topic; a good basis should be instilled at the early years of child education. Introducing shapes without furnishing it with things which children appreciate would make them frown. Many educators have found it difficult to penetrate in this topic because their approach is head on. However, those who have known the basics have learnt to incorporate very exciting approach like using colour shapes to teach children. These colours excite children. Another approach is by letting the children to use shapes to model things they like. One of the best materials for letting children engage in making shapes of Geometry is play dough. By making shapes and naming them, children become interested in Maths A child modelling shapes using play dough Games and Mathematics Counting of numbers, learning algebra and geometry, amongst other maths topic can be learnt when children engage games. With the advent of technology, where both the computers and smart phones have been made to allow for installation of free game applications that children can play, children can get mathematical understanding. Example of a game application for children in a smartphone. Mathematical games for children Perfecting the outcomes It has come to the notice of the EYLF that many educators involved in early childhood are confortable teaching literacy to children that mathematics. These findings do not surprise me, for in the above discussions, I have explained why most educators do not succeed in teaching Mathematics because they want to introduce maths to children directly. As explained in the EYLF newsletter, children create and use representation to organize record and communicate mathematical ideas and that they increase an understanding of measurements and numbers. As such, the task of the educator is nurturing this ability in children to communicate mathematics in a chaotic manner and give them the direction and language of communicating maths. The task of nurturing is by introducing maths in communicating when doing various task to children. Example, when giving food, numbers should be used and the children will be keen. The objects that children play with should also be defined according to geometry to let children be familiar with them. Example, you would tell children that they have a circular ball, a rectangular box car etc. In this manner, maths concepts are given to children. Many children are addicted to toys; using such toys to teach maths seems the best approach as I have described. The main aim here is to make maths interesting and not boring. As EYLF defines numeracy as the ‘capacity, confidence and disposition to use mathematics in daily life’, the confidence of children to use maths in daily thus involves making them use numbers with their toys as I explained above. Information Technology and Mathematics With the coming of technology, maths engagement has been made easy for children because many games have been developed with the aim of letting children learn numeracy. Such games include counting of numbers to solving simple mathematical problems. When children play the games, they become advance in numeracy and this helps their educators to introduce maths concepts easily to them. Conclusion Doing wide reading, I have noted that many educators have succeeded in making children love maths by the ways I have explained above. Even Piagets identified that the best way to develop numeracy in children is to learn the stages they pass and see how you can help them develop mathematics concepts. I believe this work mirrors what he talked about to bring out the best in children. References Askew, M., Brown, M., Rhodes, V., Johnson, D., & Wiliam, D. (1997). Effective teachers of numeracy. London: Kings College. Askew, M. (1999). It ain’t (just) what you do: Effective teachers of numeracy. Issues in teaching numeracy in primary schools, 91-102. Australian Education Council, & Curriculum Corporation (Australia). (1994). Mathematics: Mathematics-a curriculum profile for Australian schools. Education Services Australia. Carpenter, T. P., Fennema, E., Franke, M. L., Levi, L., & Empson, S. B. (1999). Children's Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction. Heinemann, 361 Hanover Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912. Clarke, D., Sullivan, P., Cheeseman, J., & Clarke, B. (2000). The Early Numeracy Research Project: Developing a framework for describing early numeracy learning. In Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Fremantle, WA. Commonwealth of Australia 2009. Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, 6-9 Dowker, A. (2001). Numeracy recovery: a pilot scheme for early intervention with young children with numeracy difficulties. Support for Learning, 16(1), 6-10. Hart, K. M., Brown, M. L., Kuchemann, D. E., Kerslake, D., Ruddock, G., & McCartney, M. (1981). Children's understanding of mathematics: 11-16. London: John Murray. Thompson, I., & Thompson, F. I. (Eds.). (2010). Issues in teaching numeracy in primary schools. Open University Press. The Early Years Learning Framework (2011) Professional Learning Program, 22, 1-3 Sumsion, J., Barnes, S., Cheeseman, S., Harrison, L., Kennedy, A., & Stonehouse, A. (2009). Insider Perspectives on Developing Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(4), 4-13. Ramsey, F. P. (1926). The foundations of mathematics. Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, 2(1), 338-384. Read More