How to make Maths fun and engaging in Primary Education





Most children are naturally inquisitive and interested in learning new things, however, this principle does not always apply when it comes to maths. Often children have a negative attitude when it comes to their maths lessons and are a lot more likely to lose concentration and portray bad behaviour within the classroom. Maths is a key subject that must be taught in the curriculum so by making it interactive and engaging is essential for concentration and good behaviour. Donaldson (2015) states that if Maths is taught well through relevant contexts, mathematics can engage and fascinate children and young people of all interests and abilities (Donaldson, 2015, p.49). This blog will discuss ways in which maths can be enhanced and made to be fun and engaging within the primary setting.



There are many effective strategies that make maths more engaging and fun within the primary setting, one strategy is to make it hands on, by including activities for the children to complete or through using themselves and their own bodies to count for example. During one of our seminars we explored a range of different ways we could make maths fun. By starting of the lesson with mental maths starters, especially fast maths is an interactive, fun way of getting children involved and warming their brains up. Getting the children out of their seats can make it more exciting for them as it is something different and means they are not sat down the whole lesson. It is important to make the activities different each day in order to stimulate different parts of the brain. Capture young minds with puzzles, encourage natural curiosity. Teach children how to reason and think for themselves (Flannery, 2002). You can access various puzzles and mental maths starters through the following websites;








My experience of maths within school was negative as I found it extremely challenging, due to this it meant I lacked the motivation during lessons, I also did not find the lessons very interactive and engaging meaning I lost concentration easily, we were not given the opportunity to engage in maths activities or to participate in mental math starters, the lessons were often straight into the main focus. Due to this I have developed a worry towards teaching maths as a subject myself and still avoid it as much as possible in adult life, so I strongly believe on the importance making maths engaging and fun is for young children today. “The key to enthusing pupils about problem-solving is removing the main barrier that prevents independent thought, and that is fear: fear of not understanding, fear of being wrong and fear of being embarrassed. The first step to creating young problem-solvers is to reduce these fears for them.” (Tiley-Nunn, 2014, p.10) Using problem solving in maths arguably addresses the four purposes of the Successful Futures curriculum. This is because if children are able to problem solve in maths then they will arguably be more likely to be “ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives” (Donaldson, 2015, p.29).  



References



Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures, Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales. OGL.



Tiley-Nunn, N. and Beadle, P. (2014) Primary Maths: Anyone can feed skittles to sharks. London: Independent Thinking Press.

Flannery, S. (2002) In Code: A Mathematical Journey. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Storytelling in Primary Education

Image
Storytelling in primary education Storytelling is defined as, “relating a tale to one or more listeners through voice and gesture” (National Council of Teachers of English, 1992, p. 1). Storytelling in education provides many benefits to the child and teacher, it allows the teacher to observe the child’s ability to use their imagination and creativity. Storytelling is not only reading each word, page to page from a book, it is a key component to capturing a child’s imagination and allowing them to decide what may happen next. Storytelling can be told through acting, singing, dancing and reading. “Children’s imaginations are the most powerful and energetic learning tools” (Egan, 1990, p.2). In our seminar on 06/11/2018 we designed our own movie. This included writing a script, deciding each individual’s role within the movie, planning what props to use, the setting of the story, how to use the iPad to film and the key factor to make the movie successful and flow was plann...
Read more

Cross Curricular Numeracy. How and why should numeracy be cross curricular?

Image
Cross Curricular Numeracy. How and why should numeracy be cross curricular? Children should be made aware of the importance maths has on other subjects within the curriculum and how it is not just a subject taught on its own it is embedded into others within the curriculum and is extremely beneficial. Cross curricular offers a unique way to teach and enhance children’s knowledge and understanding, whilst encouraging them to learn through interesting topics. Maths is used every day, within the curriculum and outside of the curriculum, the skills that are developed in maths can be portrayed in other subjects. In this blog I will discuss the reasons why numeracy should be embedded into other subjects across the curriculum and how this enhances a child’s learning. Numeracy is integrated into the whole curriculum and not just in ‘mathematics’ teaching (Learning Wales, 2016). A previously stated it is evident that not every child enjoys or understands maths and find it a diffic...
Read more

Story Sacks in Primary Education

Image
Story Sacks in Primary Education Story sacks were developed in the United Kingdom by Neil Griffiths in the 1990s and comprise of a large cloth bag containing a good quality young child's picture book with supporting materials to stimulate reading activities (Miller, s and Pennycuff, L. 2008). Story sacks are a fun resource to use during story time, making it more engaging and exciting. This blog will expand on the importance story sacks have on a child’s development, and the various benefits they provide for both the child and parent. Story sacks are often a drawstring bag that consist of various items such as, a CD, a soft teddy or toy, plastic characters from the story, relevant food to taste, games or role play or even music that can be used to support a particular book. This encourages children to become involved within story telling as it provides them with a sense of excitement and fun through bringing the story to life using objects. Story sacks can be ...
Read more