Children are likely to hate anything that is dull but will love things that amuse them. As a teacher make math class amusing and set children some simple yet seemingly difficult problems. Here are a few examples:
= Mathematics can be exciting – for instance, tell a child to add a number to his/her age, either multiply it with some chosen number or just double it, then from this number subtract another (chosen) number. The child, a little excited and a little inquisitive, tells the result and then the teacher guesses the age. The intention here is to give the idea that mathemagical concepts do exist and have been researched thoroughly by a group of experts. But keep in mind one thing – use only appropriate numbers which fit these concepts, not just any number. There are ample resources available which enlist such activities, especially in the form of pocket books.
= Small puzzles like – A has x number of apples, B has double the number of apples A has, and C has half the number of apples B has, what is the total number of apples? The same type of problem can be made more and more complex depending on the child’s age.
= Small mathematical problems of Time and Work or Men and Work and similar mental arithmetic problems - more in the nature of riddles or brain teasers.
Note: For students of 5th to 8th Grade, Unitary Method Math Exercises work best.
Math teachers are not required to strain their imagination. There are excellent online and offline sources available for getting a lot of math puzzles, mental arithmetic, math problems, math games and math brain teasers. Computer labs and Internet have plenty of ideas for enriching the math teaching programs for children. Many sites offer a lot of games, math puzzles, math riddles and simple but exciting math problems.
