Promoting Maths

1daisy1

Hi all, I am hopeing you can help. I have a 6 year old (senior infants), and he loves maths. It's constant, Cheerios in the morning adding them taking them away, asking 'is 3 + 9 = 12' etc... ( I would like to add hates writting and letters). I would love to encourage it, is there any classes for children that encourages Maths, looking at it as a way to solve probelms etc... and not just a school subject.

loveroflight

Encourage him with easy puzzles and games. Lots of games. Allow him to see your pleasure when he's making efforts. Introduce him to chess when he's older. Don't overdo it though because it is possible to turn a child off if he feels he's being pressurised. Enjoy the time with him.

ríomhaire

Play Monopoly and let him be the banker!

Edit: Actually if he's only six perhaps such big numbers might be beyond him? I don't know I have almost no experience with children. But try to play games that involve numbers certainly.

Feeona

+1 for games and puzzles. Snakes and Ladders is an excellent game for familiarising children with numbers and their rules eg counting the dots on the dice, counting on, it'll even prep him for the numbers higher than ten. Even if he's just beyond that level of recognising numbers, counting dots, and counting on, playing a game like this gives him a feel for numbers and allows him to be comfortable when using them.

An alternative is to use two dice : subtract/add the number on one dice from/to the number on the other dice. Same with playing cards.

evolving_doors

There has been a good deal of peer reviewed research to show the benefits of music education and it's impact on maths and language learning. So 6 would be an ideal age to start learning an instrument (you may need to be prepared for forking out for lesson fees though, sorry!!).

Research has also shown that the type of praise you give is important too. Not enough praise and the child may loose interest, too much undeserved praise and the child may have you sussed. Set your expectations a little higher each time, and don't overdo the praise.

A quick google search threw up the Kumon program if you wanted to investigate them further. (I've no connection with them whatsoever)

moleitheid

Games are a great way to go: you'll find some really good ones at http://www.coolmath-games.com/ We play some of these with our 6 year old. These games conveniently double-up as a reward/bribe system - he's learning and thinks he's getting a treat (ha!). Or look for a junior sudoku book - by the sound of it, he'd be well able for it. If interest continues, you could check CTYI to see if they have maths courses suitable for that age. Check Andrew Jeffrey's website - Andrew was in Ireland for mathsweek last week giving talks to primary school kids about 'magic maths'. He has a (fairly cheap) book with some simple maths-based magic tricks - might be available on the website. Our 8 year old was gratifyingly impressed with these, and delighted when he was able to figure out how the tricks work. Rob Eastaway's books (Why do buses always come in threes?, How long is a piece of string?...) are very good on maths in everyday situations and might be a good place to find maths for junior to think and talk about when he's past the cheerios counting stage - see also Kjartan Poskitt's 'Murderous Maths' books & more. Actually these would be better for younger kids. There's a whole world of stuff out there as you'll see if you start poking around coolmath or the other websites...