Mathematics Shouldn't Make You Sweat! | Reference and Education

Many ?f th? articles I write ?r? ?n ? series called "? Parent's Guide t? Algebra's Basic Concepts" th?t ?? directed t? parents ?f Algebra students ?r future Algebra students. m? goal with this series ?? t? help parents feel more confident t? help th??r children even if th??, themselves, hated mathematics. f?r each ?f these articles, I make th? assumption th?t th? parents h??? little, if ?n?, knowledge ?f Algebra. I assume th?t anything th?? took once upon ? time h?? been forgotten. Then, I try t? write th? same way I would teach. Since I don't actually h??? m? "students" sitting ?n front ?f me, I need some way ?f checking th?t I h??? explained things ?n ? way th?t people wh? hate math ??n still understand. f?r this check, I use m? best friend, wh?, t? this day, still hates math. If she understands wh?t I write, then I know ?t ?? safe t? publish. th? only problem with this strategy ?? th?t she honestly breaks out into ? full sweat every time she reads an article f?r me. How said ?? th?t? Math shouldn't make anyone sweat!

One ?f th? times I took an article t? her t? test f?r me, I watched her read. I watched ?? droplets ?f sweat formed ?n her forehead. I watched ?? she grew ever more agitated. I watched ?? she actually groaned ?nd made desperate looking faces; ?nd I watched her read ?nd re-read th? material. After just ? few minutes, I stopped her, told her I appreciated her efforts, b?t th?t I just couldn't d? th?t t? her anymore. ?? th? very special friend she ??, she insisted ?n continuing; ?nd her suggestions proved invaluable. b?t ?t such ? cost!

?? I watched m? friend struggle with th? explanation ?f adding algebraic fractions with different denominators--an admittedly difficult skill f?r many people--all I could think about was t? wonder wh?t h?d made mathematics such ? negative force ?n her life. We h???, ?f course, discussed this issue many times, without ?n? good answers.

th? issue ?f th? strong negative impact mathematics h?? ?n s? many people ?? ? huge concern! Keep ?n mind th?t m? friend ?nd I ?r? RETIRED. This tells ??? th?t her feelings about math developed ? long time ago; ?nd ?t seems th?t ?n all th? time since then, very little, if ?n?, progress h?? been made ?n teaching math ?n ? way t? produce more positive feelings.

I h??? published several different articles discussing things th?t need t? change ?n mathematics education--especially ?n th? area ?f early childhood education. Unfortunately, change ?f th? magnitude we need happens very slowly.

s?, wh?t does this mean f?r th? parents ?f children ?n school now? First, ??? need t? work very hard ?t giving ???r child ? positive self-concept ?nd an "I am capable ?f learning" attitude. This involves lots ?f encouragement ?nd positive reinforcement. ?n addition, ??? MUST d? everything ?n ???r power t? help ???r child b? successful.

Remember: People don't hate th? things th?? d? well; ?nd, mathematics shouldn't make anyone sweat!

Author: Shirley Slick

Short URL: http://goo.gl/EMnlr

Source: http://education-references.appspot.com/mathematics-shouldn-t-make-you-sweat/

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