Maths: "What's the Point?"

One of the most asked questions by children struggling with Maths is “what’s the point? I just don’t get it”

A young child can be persuaded that he might need to add up his pocket money or measure how far he can kick a ball etc, but it is far harder to explain to a teenager the benefits of algebra.

So what is the point?

I have taught primary school children Maths for 20 years, and now tutor teenagers who ‘just don’t get it’. And this is what I tell them.

Maths teaches you the discipline of learning.
Maths is made up of rules and formulas, when learned and followed carefully, result in success, not unlike a successful life really.

For example, the 3 most important rules I give my students to follow are:
1. Use a pencil and rubber
2. Start with the formula
3. Check as you go
If you have made a mistake, go back to step one, use the rubber and try again till you master it. Ask for help if necessary.

Mistakes must be corrected quickly if understanding and learning are to be gained…. just like life.

I have seen students do pages of Maths without checking so that they wouldn’t make a mess, or, were too lazy to make the corrections. When they do check or sit a test, pages of errors devastate their confidence and muddy their learning… just like life.

Having recently watched one of my favourite movies “Stand and Deliver”, I have concluded that most, if not all students, are capable of mastering Maths. Jaime Escalante, a Maths teacher in an inner city Los Angeles school took a group of 18 average students from low socio-economic backgrounds and lifted them out of academic failure by teaching them calculus. They learnt, they passed, they went to university, and hundreds more after them did the same.

How? He inspired. He encouraged. He demanded hard work. He cared. He expected more of them than anybody else. He believed they could do it, so they did. We don’t expect enough from our kids today. We think that because we struggled with Maths then it must be hard, just for nerds. Rubbish!

Do we let children give up learning table manners because they didn’t hold their spoon correctly on the first try? No, we put it back in their hand over and over again until they use it confidently.

Do we let them off basketball training because they didn’t get a goal in their first game? No. We tell them to go out into the backyard and shoot baskets till the ball goes in more than it misses.

Do we tell them they don’t need to play scales on the piano if it gets boring? No. Scales are the price they must pay to enjoy playing the instrument.

Practice and repeated hard work is not fun, but it leads to success, and that IS.

A good parent encourages perseverance and doesn’t tolerate laziness when a goal is worth achieving. They know that “I can’t” is often just code for “I couldn’t be bothered!”

And it is just the same for Maths.

When a student masters the discipline of Maths, by following the rules and formulas carefully, he AND SHE can take that discipline into all other areas of study, and life.