#individualised learning

The moment your child learns how to speak, they subconsciously interact with the world in mathematical terms. Everything is new to them. That’s why anything can make them curious. They look at things in terms of shapes, size and patterns. They look at the size of their hands and compare it with the size of their parents’. If they have an elder sibling, they will compare their height mentally and will deduce that ‘he or she is taller than me but shorter than mommy’. They ask questions like ‘how many stars are there in the sky’ and ‘how many strands of hair we have in our heads’.  They also notice things like doors are square and wheels are round. Subconsciously they are already applying mathematics without even realising they are.

What do you understand from this?

One, math is omnipresent. It’s all around us and we cannot avoid it.

Two, your child gets the concept of math even before you put it in their heads.

 That means, math is inherent in everyone and by law, if something is inherent you can always develop it. So in a way, every child has the potential to be good at math, if approached in the right manner.

Now the question is, what can you as a parent do to develop their early math skills? Here are a few tips.  

Gather together a basket of small toys, shells, pebbles or buttons. Count them with your child. Sort them based on colour and size.

Notice the sizes of objects in the world around you. That red ball is the biggest. The yellow one is the smallest.

Talk to them about shapes. Count the sides. Ask them to ‘hop on the circle’ or ‘jump on the square.’

Use a calendar. Talk about the date, month and day. Build logical thinking skills by talking about the weather and asking your child: What do we wear when it’s cold and vice versa?

Let them play with wooden blocks, interlocking toys and empty boxes. Stacking and manipulating them helps children shape their minds and understand the relationship between patterns and shapes.

Make household chores fun. While sorting laundry, ask them to create separate piles for shirts and socks. Quiz them about the colours and which pile is bigger.