It’s normal for kids to love some academic subjects more than others.
But if there’s one subject that the vast majority of students have learned to dread, it’s math.
So, the question is: why do so many kids hate math?
Maybe it’s because they consider it irrelevant (cue the chorus of “When will I ever use this?”). Or maybe they’re just tired of memorising equations and rules without a true understanding of why they work.
Either way, we live in an age where most students:
Hate and fear mathematics
Believe they’re not “math people”
Score below proficient on math tests
Plan to avoid careers in STEM
This is bigger than an attitude issue (though it might not feel that way when your middle schooler is complaining about their math homework).
This is an education issue — and thankfully, there’s a solution:
We need kids who love math
The world is built on math. An understanding of numbers allows for an understanding of the world.
“Even if your life’s work isn’t particularly mathematical, being alienated from math means being alienated from progress.” – Matt Bateman
Math is a form of thinking and reasoning, just like reading and writing. Separation from this realm of precision, deductive logic, and patterns reduces one’s ability to think clearly and accurately in all areas of life.
It’s not just about improving their math scores — loving math improves your child’s relationship with the world around them. It gives them the tools they need to launch careers in STEM fields and create, innovate, and further human progress.
So… how do we help our kids get there?
We need to start with a different approach, grounded in deep learning and enjoyment.
When learning is enjoyable, kids retain more. You no longer have to force them to memorize math tables or implement rote drills. Instead, as Montessori observed in her classrooms, learning becomes self-directed.
This, in turn, is what enables children to create positive associations with math. They don’t need quick tips and tricks to get them through their homework; all they require is an unshakeable mathematical foundation.
Here’s how to build it:
The Montessori approach to math
In Montessori, math lessons start early — around four years old. Therefore, by the end of kindergarten, it’s normal for kids to:
- Understand fractional equivalences
- Perform all four operations with four-digit numbers
- Identify over two dozen geometric figures
This is unheard of in traditional schools. In fact, most children won’t even be introduced to these skills until the third grade.
But in Montessori schools, excelling in math is the norm. It happens so often that foundation students will often be put into accelerated programs in primary school because they’re ready and eager. After all their hard work (which they genuinely enjoyed), they need a new challenge!
But they don’t just excel because of their early start.
They excel because, to them, math starts as a sensory experience. Math concepts are not just seen but felt.
The Montessori math materials are designed to engage all five senses and hone toddlers’ analytical and problem-solving skills.
“The materials not only allow children to learn more earlier, and not only allow children to learn more effectively, but they also allow children to learn more deeply — to acquire knowledge in a way that allows for the formation of deep character traits.” – Matt Bateman
Take, for example, the pink tower. It may look like a simple set of building blocks, but under the surface, it introduces students to concepts like volume, area, and the algebraic series of numbers to the third power.
As they learn these more advanced concepts, they can reflect back on their deeply ingrained knowledge from the pink tower and understand why things are the way they are.
When we transition to the more formal study of math, we do two crucial things to set children up for success and joy in studying math.
1. Introduce the idea of ‘quantity’ in a gradual and concrete manner
In conventional schools, it can be difficult to teach children about abstract concepts like quantity because young children aren’t yet ready for abstractions.
Think about it like this:
If you hand your toddler two lollies and then three lollies, they don’t see 2 + 3 = 5. Instead, they see 1 + 1 and 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1.
That’s too much to hold even for adults, let alone in one little mind!
So, instead of teaching quantity by starting off using the typical counting of beans or bobbins, Montessori starts with the number rods. The first rod has one part, whereas the tenth rod has ten., This material makes it easier for children to see how one thing is made up of many parts. And with continued practice with materials that build on this idea, children embed a deep understanding of quantity–one that means more to them than simply memorising the names of the numbers.
2. Ingrain ‘place value’ as the fundamental concept to master
After the child has a solid understanding of the numbers from 0 to 10 and what they represent, she has everything she needs to understand bigger numbers and do operations with them, even before knowing all their proper names. After all, every number—from one to 5 billion—is made up of just those digits!
And just as the child learned her first quantities using materials that clearly demonstrated concepts, she now uses materials that ingrain the relationships and significance of place value in order to understand the decimal system.
With materials like the golden beads that make the concept of place value accessible to a young child, it becomes simple for her to learn do operations. When you introduce mathematics through the real, physical sensorial relationships that math-on-paper represents, you can get pretty advanced with surprisingly young children–think long division and dynamic multiplication!
Every material in the classroom unlocks the key to a new, foundational math superpower.
The binomial cube is a concrete representation of (a + b)3. The constructive triangles lay the foundation for understanding equivalence and area. The spindle boxes teach how quantities can be represented as separate objects, as well as clearly demonstrating the meaning of zero.
Math is ultimately about patterns and relationships in the real world. And when you introduce math through the senses—through a gradually-deepening process of exploration—it is grasped intuitively and joyfully.
It is only when math is introduced as following a senseless, meaningless series of arbitrary manipulations of squiggles on a piece of paper that a child learns it is something he’s supposed to dread and avoid.
The bottom line: kids shouldn’t hate math. They should understand it and enjoy it as a result.
When approached in this way, it provides them with cognitive independence, resources, and a sense of order.
Article Source: https://theparentingguide.substack.com/p/kids-shouldnt-hate-math
