Encourage your child to give explanations

When your child is trying to solve a problem, ask what he or she is thinking. If your child seems puzzled, ask him or her to tell you what doesn't make sense. (Talking about their ideas and how they reach solutions helps children learn to reason mathematically.)

Suggest that your child act out a problem to solve it. Have your child show how he or she reached a conclusion by drawing pictures and moving objects as well as by using words.

Treat errors as opportunities to help your child learn something new.

How children learn math?

Children learn math best through activities that encourage them to:

• explore;
• think about what they are exploring;
• solve problems using information they have gathered themselves;
• explain how they reached their solutions.

Children learn easily when they can connect math concepts and procedures to their own experience. By using common household objects (such as measuring cups and spoons in the kitchen) and observing everyday events (such as weather patterns over the course of a week), they can "see" the ideas that are being taught.

An important part of learning math is learning how to solve problems. Children are encouraged to use trial and error to develop their ability to reason and to learn how to go about problem solving. They learn that there may be more than one way to solve a problem and more than one answer. They also learn to express themselves clearly as they explain their solutions

How the Kids Learn?

Base on my experience as a teacher, there are a lot of ways that the kids absorb knowledge from the teaching and learning activities performed in school. I group these into three main group:

By listening
Some kids intend more to be better in understanding something that was thought is by only listening to the teachers. This kind of pupils can learn without looking to their teacher and can learn instead they are blind. But a good teacher whose can elaborate the contents of learning will enhance this type of pupils.


By doing
Some kids learn more by doing something that related to what they are learning. By this way, this type of pupils need to be actively involve in classroom activities such as drama, experiments and activities that need they doing something...

By looking
Some kids love to see something colourful. As these type of kids sees the colorful will make them enquiries what they are seeing and can remember what they have seen longer than the other types.

Students'common misconceptions about fractions

Believing that fractions' numerators and denominators can be treated as separate whole numbers. Students often add or subtract the numerators and denominators of two fractions (e.g., 2/4 + 5/4 = 7/8 or 3/5 – 1/2 = 2/3). These students fail to recognize that denominators define the size of the fractional part and that numerators represent the number of this part. The fact that this approach is used for multiplication of fractions is another source of confusion.

Failing to find a common denominator when adding or subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. Students often fail to convert fractions to a common, equivalent denominator before adding or subtracting them, and instead just use the larger of the 2 denominators in the answer (e.g., 4/5 + 4/10=8/10). Students do not understand that different denominators reflect different-sized unit fractions and that adding and subtracting fractions requires a common unit fraction (i.e. denominator).

Believing that only whole numbers need to be manipulated in computations with fractions greater than one. When adding or subtracting mixed numbers, students may ignore the fractional parts and work only with the whole numbers (e.g., 53/5 – 21/7 = 3). These students are either ignoring the part of the problem they do not understand, misunderstanding the meaning of mixed numbers, or assuming that such problems simply have no solution.

Leaving the denominator unchanged in fraction addition and multiplication problems. Students often leave the denominator unchanged on fraction multiplication problems that have equal denominators (e.g., 2/3 × 1/3 = 2/3). This may occur because students usually encounter more fraction addition problems than fraction multiplication problems. They incorrectly apply the correct procedure for dealing with equal denominators on addition problems to multiplication.

Failing to understand the invert-and-multiply procedure for solving fraction division problems. Students often misapply the invert-and-multiply procedure for dividing by a fraction because they lack conceptual understanding of the procedure. One common error is not inverting either fraction; for example, a student may solve the problem 2/3 ÷ 4/5 by multiplying the fractions without inverting 4/5 (e.g., writing that 2/3 ÷ 4/5 = 8/15). Other common misapplications of the invert-and-multiply rule are inverting the wrong fraction (e.g., 2/3 ÷ 4/5 = 3/2 × 4/5) or inverting both fractions (2/3 ÷ 4/5 = 3/2 × 5/4). Such errors generally reflect a lack of conceptual understanding of why the invert-and-multiply procedure produces the correct quotient. The invert-and-multiply procedure translates a multi-step calculation into a more efficient procedure.

   

Play to learn.... how to???

LEARNING through play opens the child’s mind to what is in the environment. They discover how things are done and develop the understanding of right and wrong from playing.

Children thrive on simple yet meaningful play experiences.


Balls – Babies like holding soft balls while toddlers enjoy the rubbery ones that they can hold with both hands and throw. Preschoolers love playing ball-catching with their friends. As they grow and develop more skills, they start playing ball games with rules.

Blocks – They come in all sizes, shapes and colours. I still love the wooden ones that children can stack them up in a tall tower when they are just babies or toddlers. When they become preschoolers, they build bridges and houses of all types.

Cardboard boxes and containers – Babies like to repeatedly put objects into a container and then tip them out. Older children will explore ways to play with containers of all sizes and shapes.

Sand and water play – This is a self-directed and engaged learning for young children. Add fun things like food colouring, turkey baster, funnel, cups and plastic toys. Young children will be busy for a long time.

A walk – Children need outdoor play. They need to run and jump freely. They can discover interesting living organisms in their natural surroundings. This experience will truly spur them to greater heights of creativity and learning.

Scarves and bedsheets – They can throw the scarves up in the air and watch them float down to touch their faces. They can wave them around and do their special dances. My then preschool-age daughters would use a bedsheet as a parachute or pretend that it is a popcorn popper with balloons. As they grew older, they used bedsheets to create tents for their special hide-outs.

Mirror, mirror on the wall – Babies and toddlers like looking at mirrors to discover themselves and others. Preschoolers love making different or funny faces in front of the mirror. Put two mirrors in front and at the back of an object for your child to view. He can see the object from both sides. To add to your child’s learning fun, make a triangular box of mirrors for your child to put different objects in it (make sure you seal off the sharp sides).

Painting – Children like messy play. Finger-painting is a great start to working creatively with colours for young children. Use large pieces of paper and non-toxic paints.

Singing – Singing simple nursery rhymes with children can expand their imagination and help them develop phonemic awareness. They will also exercise their auditory memory skills.

Puzzles – Home-made or store-bought puzzles are educational and fun for children from late infancy to preschool age. Start with two pieces to pair up, working towards more pieces for the child to put together. The younger the child is, the larger the pieces.

Parents as children’s first play-partners provide both educational and entertaining fun.

There is no greater fun for a child than having his parents get down on the floor and spend some time, say about 15 minutes, to play with him without giving any suggestions or directions. Children who take the lead in play will gain much as they get to practise their skills and experiment safely with their new ideas. They feel confident when the adults let them plan and direct their play session together.