Alethianne

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To make math fun, play games that use skills like counting. Math can be a difficult subject and so it's important to know how to approach the topic creatively in order for children of all ages not only learn but enjoy it as well. One way is by playing different types of games that require mathematical skill such as counting or adding up numbers on boards with others while they are being played. Visit us at www.alethianne.com

Make math fun by using a variety of problem solving techniques. Inspire students to enjoy STEM subjects with activities that include hands-on learning and critical thinking skills for the future workforce, such as asking them about their favorite job or career they would like in order to find out what is important from their perspective so you can tailor your teaching methods accordingly.

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Learning to think critically may be one of the most important skills that today's children will need for the future. In today’s rapidly changing world, children need to be able to do much more than repeat a list of facts; they need to be critical thinkers who can make sense of information, analyze, compare, contrast, make inferences, and generate higher order thinking skills.

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"Sign up for our fun 5-week math mentorship program called Problem Solving Champion, where we teach kids to think critically, flexibly and outside the box in mathematics. Our course is designed in a manner that makes math extremely fun and engaging for kids. They will learn to decode and solve simple, intermediate, and challenging word problems that foster skills in reasoning, logic, and problem solving. We host exciting mini math competitions every week and kids will make math friends for life. Their competence and confidence will increase dramatically! Sign them up at Alethianne.com.

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"Kids often come across challenging and unfamiliar math problems and try to solve them, but end up frustrated and wanting to give up. What do teachers and parents usually do when this happens? They usually give the kids the answers in an attempt to reduce their frustration. However, this is an extremely harmful practice, as counter intuitive as that may sound.

If children are given the answer immediately after they experience some difficulty, they will not learn how to think about a question. They will simply memorize the procedure but without any realization of why it works. This is a huge error in math instruction today, especially in the public schools.

In my teaching students, I ask them questions to guide them to a solution and then allow them to engage in what psychologists Robert and Elizabeth Bjork refer to as “desirable difficulties”. As kids wrestle through a problem, they learn to reason and become more and more resilient when they make mistakes. This gives them a willingness to try again and not give up.

I had a student whose mom would always solve the math problems that he had difficulty solving for homework. When he came to class, he still didn’t know how to solve them because he was denied the opportunity at home to practice wrestling through a problem on his own. After I suggested to his mom that she allow him to reason on his own, my student literally spent a few hours reasoning through a word problem and eventually solved it on his own. When he came to class the next day, he had the biggest smile on his face! He was so excited as he said, “Ms. Leeling, I solved it all by myself!”
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"In my twenty years of teaching math, I’ve come across many kids who thought “math is not for me” or “I’m not good at math”. This kind of fixed mindset has always been harmful for my students. I love to instill in them the idea that they are not defined by their failures, but that mistakes are a necessary component on their journey to expertise.

There was a girl who was failing math in school and she hated it so much that she would often pretend to be sick to get out of school. When her parents would take her home, she “miraculously” would be back to normal and jumping off the walls.

Her parents were so worried for her since her self-esteem was on the floor. So, when they brought her to me for tutoring, her hair covered her face and she wouldn’t even look up and make eye contact. After instructing her for about six months, she broke out of failing and we started seeing a smile on her face! We could even see a healthy gleam in her eyes now that she would make eye contact.

We were so happy for her when she first broke out of failing. Eventually she started to get B’s and A’s. Because I helped her adopt a growth mindset, she began to see herself as someone who was not a failure. Someone who was simply on a journey to mastery. She now saw herself as someone who could improve over time and become a better version of herself, in spite of her past failures. Seeing children believe and improve in their abilities is extremely rewarding. Visit us at www.Alethianne.com

Albert Einstein once said that “play is the highest form of research” and I strongly agree with him. Isn’t it amazing how kids engage in play from the very beginning? When they are in the crib to when they begin to crawl, to their very first steps and beyond, they naturally explore their surroundings. Play is an integral part of their development. But what is play anyway? Is it not the very means by which kids interact with the world and learn to participate in it? Then why do we switch gears when kids are in school? Why do we kill their natural instinct for play with rote memorization and boring repetitive drills that do not foster their critical thinking and enjoyment of math? As parents we need to encourage them to maintain a playful attitude when learning, to see the process as fun and rewarding. Most importantly we need to present math to them in a way that awakens that natural “play” instinct. When I present math using the Singaporean math method, I see this natural instinct in my students suddenly come to life. As result of maintaining a playful attitude, they become more engaged and their learning deepens.

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"Many children consider math to be boring. This is largely in part to the way teachers present math in schools. But math can be something intriguing and enjoyable. Math can be very much like going to the playground and having fun. The same openness that kids have when they arrive at the playground can be the same when learning math; the main factor is in how kids are taught math. Only with the right approach, do they become genuinely curious about math. I had a student who didn’t like math very much. After spending some time teaching him using the Singaporean math method, he ended up enjoying math. So much so, that he preferred doing math more than going to the arcades. This was because I was fostering his curiosity in the subject and upgrading his problem-solving abilities. He found that solving problems felt much more rewarding than playing video games. Teaching math using the Singaporean math curriculum has revolutionized my students’ math experience. Visit us at www.alethianne.com

The Singaporean math curriculum teaches mathematics in a way that genuinely helps children succeed: The struggling learners learn enough to progress to the next stage, the average learners are able to perform at a higher level, and the advanced learners are challenged. Visit us at www.Alethianne.com

Differentiate Word Problems: This involves changing elements in a word problem to create variety. This can be as simple as adjusting the numbers in a problem or removing distractors for struggling students. It is especially effective to use the technique of "scaffolding" when teaching how to solve word problems. This involves the gradual increase in difficulty of a word problem to grow confidence and improve problem solving skills. Visit us at www.Alethianne.com