Does your child dread their math lessons and end up in tears over homework? Before jumping into solutions, it’s good to understand why your child might dislike the subject to figure out how to change their attitude towards it.

According to Oxford Learning, there are 3 common reasons why children dislike math:

1. Children feel it’s dull

Some students dislike math because they think it’s dull.

They don’t get excited about numbers and formulas the way they get excited about history, science and other subjects they can personally connect to.

The solution – Connect math to real life scenarios!

Tap into your child’s interests: for example, if they love football, show them how many points their team needs for promotion in the league.

Or if they’re passionate about baking, use making a cake to explore mathematical concepts like weighing, measuring and calculating cooking times.

2. It requires a lot of memorization

Many children struggle with memorizing all the rules and equations involved. In reality, memorization is only one part of learning math!

The solution – Focus on problem solving! Instead of simply memorizing, students should concentrate on understanding how and why these formulas work.

Students who depend on memorization when learning math aren’t able to apply their knowledge and tend to become discouraged when asked to think outside the box.

In your child’s spare time, offer him or her number-based brain teasers that focus on building problem-solving skills rather than memorization.

These can be a fun way to get your child excited about math.

3. It requires making a lot of mistakes

In order to learn, math requires making a lot of mistakes.

Students have to repeat the same types of questions over and over again until they get the right answers, and it can be so frustrating!

Repetitively getting wrong answers can take a toll on their confidence, leading them to shy away from the subject.

The solution – Show that making mistakes is just part of learning! It’s important that children don’t avoid tasks that are challenging and require hard work.

Help them understand that the harder it is to get an answer right, the more fulfilling it will be when he or she eventually solves it!

If your child gets discouraged while learning math, remind him or her that making mistakes is just part of the process of learning.

Bonus tip for parents to skip the curve:

More and more parents are taking to technology to find ways to get their kids to LOVE math. By using online math games and software like KooBits Math, children easily overcome their dislike for the subject.

Koobits Math is a gamified online learning platform that helps children aged 6 to 12 learn effectively in a fun and personalized way.

By using KooBits for only 20 minutes a day, 1 in 2 school students have been shown to get a 30% improvement in maths every term, which could be why it’s used by over 400 schools and has over 200,000 children learning on the platform every month!

Fun Fact – KooBits is the only education platform in the WORLD that has been programmed to shut down at 10pm every night due to feedback from parents: their children don’t want to leave the platform!

Wondering how to get started?

Koobits is offering a FREE 7-day trial with limited slots available that you can access by clicking this link or the button below.

Tags: Lower Primary (7-10), mathematics, Upper Primary (10-12)