TOCattitude

= How can Parents and Teachers Help Children Develop a Positive Attitude Toward Mathematics? =

It is very important that you, as parents, be positive in your approach when it comes to your child’s mathematics education, even if your own experiences with mathematics have not all been positive.

The content of the mathematics curriculum, especially at the higher grades, can seem overwhelming to most adults. But you don’t need to know how to do the mathematics yourself before you can help a child.

You can be enthusiastic, encouraging and genuinely interested. You can show that you believe your child can succeed. You can listen carefully. You can praise hard work. You can compliment patience. You can encourage independent thinking. You can reward “sticking to it.” You can set a good example yourself by how you solve problems in your own everyday life.

Parents can help their children see the value of mathematics as a way of understanding the world around them. They can show children that “Mathematics Is Everywhere!” They can provide experiences for children to apply skills learned at school to everyday situations at home.

A sample of activities and attitudes is included here to give you an idea of some of the possibe ways you can help your child. By extending mathematics learning from the classroom into everyday life, children will come to appreciate mathematics as meaningful and important in our world. be positive and encouraging; show you believe that your child can succeed || **confident** encourage children to trust their own abilities; don’t solve the problem for them || help your child see that mistakes are an opportunity for further learning || help children see that by making progress toward a solution, they are achieving success || **patient** compliment your child for taking time to think through a problem || reward perseverance; set a good example yourself || **finds satisfaction in solving a problem ** praise your child for good mathematical thinking || learn to play an instrument, rhythm patterns || **newspapers and magazines** examine surveys, check computations in media (sports pages, advertisements, stock market), how per cent is used in advertising || estimate hours of TV watched last week, last month, last year || **cooking** adjust a recipe to yield a certain number, measure ingredients (fractions), oven temperature || read books having mathematical content (pattern in story, counting, etc.) || **travel** interpret maps; estimate speeds, distances, how many litres per kilometre; estimate time needed to get from A to B, duration of trip; estimate arrival/departure times || calculate sales, budget, allowance, three video games for $1 (ratio) || **construction** make scale drawings, construct using interlocking toy sets, work together on a small building project or repair job || estimate/measure around the home (perimeter, area, angles); estimate/calculate how much material, costs of projects || **sewing** estimate/measure material, calculate how much material would be needed for a project, estimate/calculate costs || calculate discounts, 3 kg for $1.99 (ratio); determine GST (per cent); estimate items in a package —then count; estimate cost of groceries for a week || **sports** determine rate of speed; win/loss per cents; games behind; estimate/measure l engths, heights, distances; understand and compute batting averages || measure hours of daylight, temperatures, rainfall; calculate averages || **games** participate in card games, puzzles, logic games, board games || estimate length of time, one-minute challenges (kitchen timer); estimate how many (???) you could do in a minute, day, month, year || **collections and hobbies** collect, sort, sequence, compare, extend/create patterns; estimate number (buttons, shells, rocks, stamps, cards, etc.); estimate measurement || It makes a great difference to the success of students when what needs to be learned is clearly communicated to them. Throughout the school year, parents and teachers need to keep in touch. There should be regular school–home communications and homework assignments that encourage “family mathematics.” There should be many special events throughout the year that will allow parents and others to see what’s going on at school. And there is always an open invitation to drop in and join a mathematics class!
 * **“I can do it.”**
 * || **not afraid to make mistakes **
 * **willing to try**
 * **willing to stick** **with it**
 * **music**
 * **TV and radio**
 * **books**
 * **money**
 * **home decorating**
 * **shopping**
 * **weather**
 * **time**

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