{"id":10417,"date":"2016-10-27T15:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/2016\/10\/27\/myths-of-being-good-at-math\/"},"modified":"2016-10-27T15:00:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T15:00:49","slug":"myths-of-being-good-at-math","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/hu\/2016\/10\/27\/myths-of-being-good-at-math\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths of Being \u201cGood at Math\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Fruma Taub, Off-Campus Program Advisor, and Michael Weiss, University of Michigan Dept. of Mathematics and School of Education<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the unintended lessons we accidentally teach our children is that some people are good at math and others aren\u2019t and never will be. This lesson often comes from the experience of having difficulty memorizing \u201cmath facts,\u201d completing a timed worksheet, or remembering geometric formulas. Along with this lesson comes a second, equally damaging one: that that\u2019s all there is to math, and that it can\u2019t possibly be interesting. There is some truth to this second lesson, because for the most part worksheets are<\/em> boring. Fortunately, doing worksheets (or \u201cmath fact\u201d video games) is not the same as doing math.<\/p>\n

To help spark students\u2019 interest in math, especially when so many have come to believe that it isn\u2019t for them, we looked at some of the most common math myths and what parents and teachers can do to address them.<\/p>\n

Myth #1: Speed and memorization are important in math.<\/h3>\n

More than anything else, math is about recognizing relationships and figuring out what is true: the mathematician G. H. Hardy wrote that \u201cA mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns.\u201d These are activities that require slow, thoughtful deliberation and reflection, not instant recall. Being \u201cgood at math\u201d has very little to do with being fast at math.<\/p>\n

Not only is memorizing math facts not essential for students to learn math, it can actually mask deeper problems. We once knew a 3rd grader who couldn’t figure out how many people could sit at seven four-person tables, but when asked \u201cWhat\u2019s seven times four?,\u201d the child answered immediately \u201cTwenty-eight.\u201d Here was a student who \u201cknew\u201d that 7 \u00d7 4 = 28, but couldn\u2019t put that knowledge to use\u2014it was just something that had been committed to memory and could be recited on cue. Likewise, many students learn formulas like the area of a trapezoid without understanding them, relying instead on memory, the least reliable part of our brain. Of course, remembering facts and formulas is not a bad thing\u2014as long as those memories are anchored to some kind of understanding.<\/p>\n

Myth #2: Learning math means lots of repetition.<\/h3>\n

You might wonder, if drill and practice isn’t what kids need, then how can we get them to learn math? The answer is that young kids are naturally curious about the world around them, and numbers and shapes are part of that world. Learning to think about quantities and shapes doesn\u2019t need to be something you force on kids; it can be cultivated in the same way that reading stories to kids can teach them to love literature, or listening to music and visiting museums with them can teach kids a love of the arts. Paul Lockhart, in A Mathematician\u2019s Lament<\/em><\/a> (PDF), compares the way math is commonly taught to music classes in which students never get to hear or play music, or art classes in which students never get to actually draw or paint.<\/p>\n

Myth #3: Math is best learned through written materials.<\/h3>\n

Since math is about figuring things out, one way to help kids learn to think mathematically is to ask them to try to orally figure out the answers to problems for which they haven\u2019t been taught a written \u201cmethod.\u201d Just as kids learn to speak before they can read or write, and to sing before they can read music, doing<\/em> math precedes writing<\/em> math. If you ask children what the biggest number they can think of is, or whether there are any odd numbers whose square is even, or what twenty-five 17s make, they are very likely to come up with a variety of creative approaches, some more efficient than others. Puzzles like these help children build confidence and a deep understanding of how numbers work, and strengthen their ability to perform mental math.<\/p>\n

The more kids practice mental and oral math, the more likely they are to naturally remember frequently-occurring \u201cmath facts,\u201d helping them develop automaticity without it being forced. In our family, we like to pose these kinds of problems on long family walks, and have introduced our kids to topics ranging from simple arithmetic to fairly advanced algebra. Later, conventional written algorithms can be taught\u2014not as the only<\/em> way to find answers, but as a means of helping to keep track of and reduce errors in complicated, multi-step problem solving methods.<\/p>\n

Suggestions for Dispelling Math Myths<\/h3>\n

Parents and teachers can create many opportunities for kids to think mathematically without forcing it. Here are just a few suggestions to help you get started:<\/p>\n