Bringing Up a Mathematical Child

(Photo courtesy : http://plus.maths.org )

Mathematics is always a fascinating subject to me. I liked it a lot since my early childhood but sad thing was I was not good at it. It is like a desire which cannot be fulfilled at any cost. In my primary can secondary education, I got through mathematics subject in flying colors only due to my dedication and hard work. After reaching my advanced level education in school, I have chosen mathematics subjects. The real nightmare came at this point. I was lost in that vast world of higher mathematics. Advanced level examination is the hardest exam for anyone in Sri Lanka and mathematics stream is far the hardest of the four streams; Math, Bio, Arts and Commerce. It was like putting to sea without knowing how to swim. I was shattered, broken and sank in to despair in a downward spiral.

Years have passed, but my life was not better at all. I couldn't reach my goals even I tried my best. I’ve changed paths frequently without success nothing was able to explain me what had happened to me in Advanced level Math education. . It took a long time to establish myself in another educational stream and open the door to tertiary education.

 Finally I realized what was wrong with me at that time. I couldn't bridge the gap between secondary education mathematics which I've learnt up to grade 11 and Advanced Level mathematics. Since there is a great difference in the content of these two studies, unprepared student can’t survive in it.

It is a well known fact that not everyone can be a Math genius. Even in primary classes we can see students who can understand mathematics clearly and students who can’t. The latter has difficulty in understanding how numbers and pattern form, how they behave overtime and how can we use them. That is why most of the students complain about mathematics learning difficulty. In some cases like mine, students tend to learn mathematics my explicitly memorizing (cramming) concepts. This method will work until some level but for advanced mathematics which we learn in Advanced Level classes, this can’t be applied. To learn and understand mathematics, a person needs a math trained brain. 

Mathematics can be learnt only through understanding the concepts and making them a part of brain. When a child is born, his mind is tuned to work in a pre-programmed way. That means the child contains special skills and interests in a particular field. For example, some children are clever in mathematics, some are music, some don’t have special tendency for anything. This phenomenon created people with different skills and competencies. Future mathematicians and musicians are created in this way. It is good to keep the balance of people’s skills but real problem here is mathematics knowledge is required in every aspect of life. This included analytical skills, problem solving skills as well. In order to secure a job, a person must have a sound mathematical knowledge. In another words, it is not wrong to say that this new competitive world is only for math geniuses, not for anyone else.

So every newborn child need to be transformed in to a math genius in the future. This poses a tremendous challenge to parents and adults because not every child’s brain is hardwired to mathematics. The good news is the mind of a child is like a piece of clay. We can mold and shape that in to anyway we like. In other words we can create a mathematician or a musician out of our child by gradually programming his mind.

Mind programming is a delicate task. This should be done carefully. Shaping the mind should begin as early as possible. Most of the time, we ignore the need to exercise and stimulate a child’s mind. In animal kingdom, learning skills to walk, to hunt, to feed begins as early as possible. Most of the knowledge comes to animals from playing with their peers. Humans also should stress on giving mathematical and problem solving skills in a game form to children. Almost all of the children are keen to learn and explore. They don’t know the fear and shame of failure. It is a well known fact that the creativity of a child hinders when he/she gets old. Unfortunately, today what humans need most is creativity. A program is needed to extract children’s hidden creativity.

Games may hold key to children’s mind training. Surprisingly parents are ignoring the need of quality toys and games for their children. Lego Blocks are a good tool because it enhances the creativity. Mathematical games are also available. Teaching mathematics need to start from kindergarten. Our mind is similar to any other muscle in our body. It only strengthens and grows when we exercise it. School curriculum also need to change giving more and more weight to mathematics and science.

Certainly we can’t be satisfied with the present generation’s creative ability and knowledge of mathematics. As the engine to power up human civilization lies on mathematical minds, powering up the future generation is needed desperately. That shall be our duty today. Are we ready for that?