How to make children develop an interest in Mathematics?

Ganesh Pai

Let’s take you back to the day you felt most anxious as a student. It was probably something related to examinations, correct? Now imagine taking a mathematics exam, and the worst-case scenarios start playing up in your head. That is a genuine problem that many students, or even adults for that matter, face. A phobia of mathematics if you will.

But it does not have to be so. There are ways to channel this fear or anxiety into making yourself a better learner! It is a gradual process, but once math problems start to fascinate you instead of worry, there is no looking back.

 An educator's goal is not only to get rid of the anxiety but also make the people who already like mathematics, fall in love with it.  A few core ideas that will help learners and educators are:

 Firstly, the age-old KISS (keep it simple, silly) formula is the most effective when it comes to teaching. The simpler language we explain math terms in, the better it is for learning. The best part about teaching and learning math is that we use the basic concepts of it daily in our lives - from calculating discounts while shopping to dividing a bill among your friends. Try to draw from these everyday examples to explain even the most complex problems in the simplest possible way.

 A trusted method for quicker learning is to develop curiosity among the students. By basic human nature, we are interested in solving riddles and puzzles. And by asking a question to the students, one is not only encouraging them to think on their own but also tapping into that very human desire to solve it.

 An important thing I do in this regard is to steer away from using jargon while talking – it not only loses the student’s interest but also makes it unappealing to listen. Instead of using buzzwords, if we try and capture the student’s attention using stories they can relate to, the learning journey becomes easier – especially in the world of mathematics.

 Imagine the story of the discovery of Archimedes’ principle without his “Eureka!” moment, or Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravitational force without the apple falling on his head bit. We remember and understand these concepts mostly because of the stories associated with them even though the underlying mathematical concepts are quite complex.

 “Do you know what is odd to me? Numbers that aren’t divisible by two.”

 This simple pun a teacher made long ago was enough for me to retain the concept of identifying odd and even numbers even now! In general, people tend to remember people who use humour and it is the same with educational content. Learning made fun, quite literally.

Now imagine if I started explaining triangles, followed by right-angled triangles and then the Pythagoras theorem. It sure helps rather than jumping to the mathematical formula straight away, correct?

 When it comes to learning math or learning in general too, it helps when there is a linear progression to it– that is when the child knows what’s coming next, they usually stay and learn. It again taps into the basic human instinct of finding comfort with knowing what’s coming.

 With the amount of content (educational or otherwise) available at the click of a button, the attention span of children (and adults alike) is dropping drastically.  The challenge, hence, for us is not only to teach a topic packed with information but also to keep it short – an average length of 2 to 3 minutes, if possible; followed by a short break. One such example of a trick explained quickly is multiplying any two digit number with 11. The answer will be the first digit, followed by the sum of the 2 digits, followed by the 2nd digit. 23 multiplied by 11 for instance is two, two plus three, three (2 5 3).

 Online videos, too, could help students understand important concepts as it helps the students with better visualisation.

 To keep it as simple as possible while also ensuring we tell stories, add humor and make it interesting for students to learn, is what I strive for as an educator. I believe these basic ideas go a long way in making any student achieve mastery in any subject. And with mathematics and the fear associated with it, my aim is to chip away at it by making educational videos for everyone to watch, learn and remember.

 The writer is a Math educator and a quiz-master every weekend on You V YouTube, where he quizzes contestants on their Math skills. 

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