Math, a subject that has plagued us all at some stage, now instills dread in our children. But have you ever wondered why? What vague elements make it so challenging? Why do countless students grapple with its complexities? While a fortunate few find it fascinating and captivating, others detest it. Join us on a journey to unravel the mystery behind this phenomenon.
It’s boring, duh
Most kids dislike math because they find it dull. It’s only numbers that you must keep repeating operations and adding or multiplying, learning, and applying formulas. They see science, history, and language as more intriguing than math. Quite frankly, kids would pick any subject over mathematics. They find math very abstract and irrelevant to strike a liking for it or comprehend it in the first place.
It’s very complex
Math is very complicated. There are multiple ways to solve a problem, which mostly confuses students. Maths is full of formulas and operations. Math includes topics like logarithms, calculus, geometry, infamous Algebra, charts and sequences, and the list goes on to infinity. It’s pretty logical to be overwhelmed by all of it. Without proper guidance, it can become way more challenging than it already is.
It’s either right or wrong
With math, there is no middle ground. Either you solved the problem correctly, or you completely messed it up. You can’t write guesswork or filler content to deceive the teacher. Other subjects provide the liberty of writing half the answer and gaining half a grade.
Too many rules
With countless formulas and their applications and new and more complex math problems, which require unique solutions, it is too intimidating for a kid to handle the pressure of comprehending and memorizing it all.
Too much to memorize
There are too many formulas, multiplication tables, rules, and values to learn. And remembering them all becomes quite difficult for young children. Multiplication tables are despised at first, and then algebra formulas are usually used. There is too much matter to memorize, which makes math dull.
Teacher
The teachers play a significant role in sparking curiosity for a subject, and arithmetic teachers make or break it for students. With all the complexity of math already, having an unapproachable teacher that teaches math in such a boring way is nothing short of a nightmare. A math teacher should be enthusiastic, and their love for math should shine through in their teaching styles and lessons. The teacher should be able to engage the pupil and develop different strategies to help kids understand the concepts better.
The bottom line
The arithmetic frustration is understandable. Instead of blaming the child for not taking enough interest or being hard on them, teachers and parents should devise alternate ways to help spark interest and instill an understanding of the subject in the kid. Just like Shelton Davis has come up with fun and easy techniques to learn the multiplication table in his book Rayna & Omar: Learn 2 and 3 Time Tables. Grab a copy for your kid today!
