For many students, maths is a phobia at par with the fear of snakes, lizards, elevators, water, flying, public speaking, and heights. Though the “ailment” is neither genetic, nor infectious, they “inherit” it from their parents; and “catch” it from their friends. What are the reasons behind maths’ dreadful reputation that divides the society into mathematical “haves” and “have-nots”?
“One reason why students fare badly in Maths is that they are learning it mechanically, often not understanding what they are learning and they are unable to apply it to real-life situation,” says Vijay Kulkarni, the leader of the First Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released recently by the well known Bombay-based non-governmental organization, Pratham.
Explaining the dismal scenario that the report portrays, especially about mathematics – forty two per cent of children between seven to ten years cannot subtract – Kulkarni says that the children are turned off, because the straitjacketed conventional teaching in classrooms has squeezed out the joy of learning, turning the schools into robotic factories.
Outdated teaching methods and an outdated curriculum – far removed from the students’ everyday experiences – contribute nothing to a student’s appreciation of the subject. Intelligence is often measured by the marks he gets in mathematics and his self confidence is eroded when he gets drubbed as dumb for scoring less in it.
Yet, taught the right way, learning mathematics can be easy, fun and can fill one with a sense of awe, with its inherently beautiful harmony and order. Both parents and teachers should convey the message that learning mathematics can be fun. Their expressions of interest, sense of wonder and enjoyment are critical to the child’s interest in the subject.
“Parents are the first mentors for a child. Even before the children can be formally admitted in pre-school kindergartens, they can start playing with numbers,” suggests Dr.MJ Thomas, a child psychologist in the city. Children are playful by nature and have irrepressible curiosity to explore the world through experimenting with the objects around them: see, touch, hear, taste, smell and arrange the objects, put things together or take them apart. Through such experience the children understand their world intuitively. » Read more: The Joy of Learning Mathematics
