Parents urged to help children to appreciate mathematics

Simone Williams, national mathematics coordinator in the Ministry of Education and Youth, is urging parents to find creative ways to use regular day-to-day activities at home to help their children develop a greater understanding and appreciation for the subject.

According to Williams, who participated in the recent Jamaica Information Service 'Think Tank', "Maths is in everything that we do." Using the kitchen as an example, Williams said a child could develop an understanding of measurement, if the right measuring tools are used, as they would be able see the actual measuring of the items being used in cooking.

"I know that in Jamaica, we do 'a pinch of salt', and things like that, but we can shift from that and actually use the right tools to do the measurement, just for the child's sake. It doesn't have to be every day; it can be one day you decide, 'I am going to do this particular thing with my child'," said Williams. For younger children, Williams said that when the laundry is being done, they could develop their counting skills by counting the number of clothes pins that are being used.

"You can ask how many more clothes pins will I need to have seven? They should be able to see that if you add one more pin, take one pin from the bucket, you will have seven pins," explained Williams, in emphasising the theme of the event, 'Adding Up the Excitement: Maths Rocks.'

Williams is also urging parents to make use of their parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings, as these sometimes offer valuable tips to help them to assist their children with mathematics.

"I know of several schools that actually have PTA sessions that focus on maths workshops. If you have that opportunity, go to the sessions ... when invited to these sessions, we present these same strategies, and we give you other ideas that you can utilise," noted Williams.

Williams also implored parents not to talk negatively about mathematics around their children, as that could serve as a turn-off and invariably hamper their ability to fully appreciate the subject.