Learning Mathematics the fun way!

           When I was in Primary School, I enjoyed doing simple Mathematics.  As I entered Secondary School, Mathematics was not an easy subject for me to learn. It was no more simple addition and subtraction. I had difficulty trying to understand the concepts being taught. The teacher was just teaching and ‘drilling’ the class. What she wanted to see was the product. I could not catch up with her teaching and felt left out. I did not do well.  


Learning Mathematics through counting



When I got hold of the book “Elementary & Middle School Mathematics”, I thought “Oh no! This book is not for me. I am no good in Mathematics.” Anyway, I still have to read to seek new knowledge, and to find solutions in helping children to enjoy doing Mathematics. I believe it is the teacher who will shape mathematics for the children they teach. Thus, “learning mathematics is maximized when teachers focus on mathematical thinking and reasoning” (www.nctm.org).

                As I turned to Chapter one on page 2, my attention was caught on the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics recommended by NCTM. I strongly agree that school should follow the guidelines of the Six Principles, especially the "Teaching” and “Learning”. I believe children will learn and have the ability to think and reason mathematically in order to solve problem when teachers are equipped with the appropriate instructional tasks and strategies that will enhance students’ learning. Besides teachers also need to understand how children learn mathematics.

Child working on patterning

I think the use of computer and calculator in kindergarten will stifle the children’s learning and creativity as they are seen “talking to a programmed machine.”  I want children to interact with concrete materials, solve problems with teachers and peers,  evaluate their work and those of their friends and to share ideas with each other as these will enhance their problem solving skills.

I believe teachers should provide opportunities for children to build connections between what they know and what they are learning.

What strikes me most is The Five Process Standards on page 4. Though I am not teaching a class, I want to share with my teachers the importance of providing opportunities for children to experience the processes of problem solving, communication, reasoning, connection and representation. I believe children are by nature inquisitive and are eager to learn new things. Teachers should let children explore and think of many ways to solve different kinds of problems, such as through the use of manipulatives  where children learn relationship between groups of things to be sorted counted, shared and represented and also through interacting with words, pictures and symbols to clarify thoughts.



Making connections through play (i.e. one to one correspondence - 6 seats to 6 sets of cutleries)

"I can count!"

Most importantly, I believe teachers have to be equipped with the appropriate mathematical approach instruction so that they can help children come to make sense of Mathematics while enjoying it.

Ultimately, teachers “need to have a profound, flexible, and adaptive knowledge of mathematics content” (Ma, 1999). Teachers also need to have persistence, positive attitude, readiness for change and reflective disposition, which are equally important to succeed as a teacher of mathematics.