Ways Parents Can Get Their Kids to Enjoy Math
Not all of us like Math but here are some ways to make it enjoyable for our kids.
Unless its gamified or seen in real life, math isn’t really our kids’ favorite subject. It challenges their logic, sometimes spatial reasoning, and also calls for some skill in deconstructing problems. Because we’re so used to building things up, it sounds counterproductive to teach our kids how to deconstruct for the sake of learning math. Fortunately, because math is one of the building blocks of human civilization, there are ways to make learning math fun for our kids.
1. Ordering food online
What makes math frustrating for many is that it appears like there’s only one, specific answer. But that’s not how life works; there’s a specific goal but the road isn’t so thin that only one solution is allowed. We can teach this to kids via ordering food online. Having them search for the restaurant that’s bang-for-buck with the best tasting food while knowing which discount coupons to use encourages them to learn math.
2. Calculating amount of gas spent per week
Some parents only fuel their cars once a week. To make sure their car is efficient, they subtract the current amount on their odometer from the former amount and then divide that by the number of liters filled up. Showing our kids how to spend fuel efficiently demonstrates how math can either make or break their savings.
3. Start their bank account early
Some banks offer kiddie programs for kids who are starting up their bank account. They usually start out as an “Or” account wherein the parent is the second account owner. Especially with Christmas and the holidays coming around, if the gift is money, they can deposit it in their bank account and save that money for something they really want later on.
4. Allow them to buy snacks
While it’s not the healthiest practice, teaching kids to buy snacks helps them manage their money. When I was a child, I had a daily allowance of 50 pesos and it was a choice of Cup Yakisoba at 28 pesos and Hashbrowns with Cheese Powder at 15 pesos. The internal debate helped me manage my money especially when I started seeing the other kids in school comfortably buy 3 scoops of Fiorgelato ice cream from the stand that cost around 55 pesos back then.
It also taught me to save in case of emergencies like when I needed a new P.E. shirt because it got torn or sprayed with something which cost around P200. Back then, it was four days worth of allowance.
5. Let them go to the arcade
The flashing lights and video games may make it hard to see the math in the arcade. But, it is the most obvious in their ticket system. Because arcades have a lot of prizes, kids subconsciously learn how to manage their resources so they can get that prize. Kids learn how to save their tickets or use it to get smaller prizes and to push it to the next level. And they end up learning which games shells out the most tickets.
Some games actually encourage them to subconsciously use math!
Because math gained a reputation of being a boring subject, there’s unfortunately a lot of resistance in kids when learning. It’s also a subject that requires constant practice; something that kids aren’t too fond of either when it’s in their nature to always search for something new. Video games that use the Japanese Gachapon system like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail or Multiplayer Battle Arenas like League of Legends (LOL) and Mobile Legends trigger their use of math because of the need to win. Some streamers and content creators even reveal the math to their audience, showing how it applies and scales! The methods may not be traditional but, hey, who said that teaching methods and instruments can’t evolve?
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