Knowing the foundations of mathematics is so important beyond what’s learned in the classroom. It’s also essential for future success. The problem is that most students find math difficult to learn. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Showing how math connects with students’ everyday lives and sharing the skills of how to learn math faster is important for today’s students. Without math skills, it’s impossible to understand science, engineering, architecture and many more subjects.
Discovering how to learn math is fascinating and rewarding. It allows children to understand their world and the universe.
Are you a parent or an educator who has trouble motivating your children or students to learn the basic math they need to progress toward challenging mathematics and sciences?
If so, then these tips can boost their confidence when learning math and build their strategic thinking skills.
Unlock the Fascinating World of Math Learning
Did you know that the answers to math problems are just a small part of solving a problem? The challenge is discovering how to get the solution and maybe, even discovering more than one way to solve it.
What this means is pushing children to rely on critical thinking and reasoning, rather than just completing problems. You can do this by asking questions, such as “How did you get to the solution?” “Is it always true, and why?”
It also helps to approach problems in different ways. For example, some students learn better with pictures, while others relate better to math skills they already know.
These types of questions help kids apply their critical thinking skills not only to math but also to other situations in their lives. Learning math becomes more about the journey than about the answers.
Following this method boosts students’ engagement and math achievement. It also improves their science and technology skills.
It’s all about making math curriculum more relevant and interesting to students.
Tips on How to Learn Math Faster
Even though many students think about math negatively and struggle with it in school, there are ways to lighten it up for them.
Add a Little Competition
You might think to have a competition adds stress to students, but it actually gets them engaged in learning. Teaching math using a competition gets kids motivated and excited about math.
The competition helps them practice without realizing their practicing. For example, depending on what math level the students are learning, you can have a competition to see who can solve the most multiplication or addition facts in 60 seconds. Offer an incentive or award to the winner.
This helps speed up the learning process because of the repetitive, timed math drills. The kids work harder and faster trying to reach their goals.
Reinforce Math with Games
Games are an ideal way to reinforce math concepts. Many times, students enjoy the games so much, they don’t even know they’re learning at the same time.
In fact, group games help students develop cooperative teamwork to help solve problems. You can split the students into teams and have them work together to find solutions to problems. The team that gets the correct answer first receives a certain number of points.
By playing math team games, they engage and learn from each other. Each student brings a unique talent to the game, which can spark new interest in math for other students. This method also teaches collaboration and teamwork, which is so important in today’s workforce.
Get Active and Moving
Unlike days of old when students sat in rows holding a sharpened pencil and struggled over solving math problems, get students up out of their chairs. Whether it’s just standing and talking or walking over to a partner, keep their minds and bodies active.
When kids are engaging each other and moving around, they’re more alert. You can let them calculate problems playing hopscotch or dropping an object out a second-floor window to learn about velocity and physics.
Move the desks and chairs out of the way and have fun socializing, moving and solving problems. Most likely, the kids won’t even realize they’re learning how to create equations and find solutions.
Try Hands-on Projects
Hands-on math projects help students learn math concepts while feeling the satisfaction of getting something done. Kids can learn math concepts, cooperation and social engagement when working on projects.
Challenging projects for older students could be designing ramps for mobility access to buildings or creating spreadsheet databases and tables using data from math projects and making models of wind turbines.
You can adapt all kinds of hands-on projects for preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school math.
Build on Simple Concepts
Of course, math isn’t all fun and games. Students have to understand the basics of math to solve any problems. This doesn’t mean they have to memorize theorems, formulas and definitions. They just need a place to start learning simple concepts.
Everyone knows you can’t solve an algebra problem without knowing multiplication and division. So, if students understand elementary school math like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, then they have the building blocks to become strategic thinkers in all mathematical subjects.
Understanding the basics is the key to building more challenging math skills.
Things to Keep in Mind
Keep a few important things in mind to find out how to learn math faster. These tips can help kids get over the stumbling blocks associated with learning math.
- Even though a problem has one answer, you can solve it in different ways.
- Getting a wrong answer can help you understand the math concept when you find where you went wrong.
- Use mental math every day to calculate simple problems.
- Try solving difficult problems and explore different ways to do them.
- Use reasoning skills when solving math problems instead of trying to remember memorized problems.
Using all of these tips will help you understand the logic behind mathematics and help you know how to learn math easier.
If you enjoyed these tips on how to learn math fast, check out our other helpful content that makes life easier for today’s families.