Mathematics @ GEC

Parents’ role in helping their children with improving their numeracy skills

Here is what the department of education of Victoria says on their webpage which has some ideas and resources for parents to work with their children to improve their numeracy skills https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/maths/Pages/maths-and-numeracy-at-home.aspx :

As your child’s first teacher, you play an important role in helping develop their numeracy skills from an early age.

Numeracy skills give children an important start to their learning and development. They also help prepare them for daily life at all ages. For example, in handling money and problem solving.

It continues to say:

Numeracy is necessary for everyday living. From daily activities like telling the time, cooking and setting the table to more difficult tasks such as understanding mobile phone plans, planning a trip, reading a map and understanding timetables.

As children and young people move through life stages the everyday numeracy demands become more complex.

Employers see numeracy as important in the workplace. Research shows that higher numeracy skills lead to higher levels of health and wellbeing and other benefits such as better decision making and financial independence.

Everyday Mathematics

Daily Decisions

We all use mathematics daily in what we do. Involve your child in using numbers to solve problems and make those everyday decisions with you. For example:

“Do we have enough plates and utensils for all the guests coming for the birthday party?”
“We are doubling this recipe. How much of all the ingredients will we need?”
“We are fertilizing the lawn. The fertilizer bag covers three square meters. How many will we need?”
“This store is selling the game you want for 20% off of $27.00. That store is selling the same game for $19.99. Where should we shop?”

As a parent of a secondary school student, it would be beneficial to your child if you can involve them in activities such as exchange values of a dollar relevant to the countries you are from, calculating time differences when calling someone overseas, comparing rates of an item from different brands or from different supermarkets, etc. For older children, it would be beneficial if the conversation with them includes details about interest rates, loan, repayments, compounding interests etc.

Growth Mindset in Math

In general, a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and ‘smartness’ can also be learned and that the brain grows from experience and effort. The opposite, a fixed mindset, is the idea that you are smart, or you are not. In math, that translates into “some people are good at math, and some are not.” Did you know that praising efforts rather than intelligence or results can impact your child’s ability to persevere in challenges?! The goal is to have children thrive on challenges and see failures, not as a sign of low intelligence, but as a learning opportunity. Brain research tells us that making mistakes actually wires more connections into the brain! When a person has a growth mindset, they accept challenges, see their efforts as worthwhile, and are open to learning from mistakes. Students with a growth mindset achieve at higher levels than those with fixed mindsets. How can you help? Some simple ways:

Adding “yet” when they claim they are “not good at this” (Respond: “You are not good at this yet.”)
Ask questions that focus on their effort and choices and get them to reflect on satisfaction of that effort (e.g. What did you learn today? What mistake did you make that taught you something? What did you try hard at today?)
Model this yourself as you share about your day

As Einstein Quotes,

“Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.” – Albert Einstein

Arivu Kumaran

Maths Learning Area Leader