Letters and numbers don't go together in Math - Part 1

                     

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I had such a laugh in class today.  One of my students packed up her books and went to sit in the corner.  We were done with our classwork and I suggested that we do a few word sums.  Now for some reason if you bring in the alphabet into Mathematics EVERYONE gets confused.  

When I asked her why she wans to sit in the corner, she said that she wanted to get into the fetal position and suck her thumb.  She is one of many students that absolutely have no clue when it comes to word problems.  

                               

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Here in South Africa the educational system is absolutely going down the drain.  Hence the reason why I am home-schooling my own son, so that he can get the best education possible. Last year after many students did not pas their Mathematics final year examination, the Minister of Education decided to bring down the average pass rate to 20 %.  Exciting right?  What kind of motivation is that for any student?

Like Rohini, the girl in my class, many other students from all over the world has a mental block when it comes to Mathematics. Some students even have panic attacks, and this can become a greater issue later in their school career. To make matters worse, are the word problems and the Algebra that is thrown into the scenario at random times.  

                                    

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So I decided to work around this issue.  The first part of the year, I only do the basic operations, fractions and a little bit of Geometry. Once the foundation is laid, I change over to word problems. Every single day in class, my students do two or three word problems. They are definitely improving.   

It is quite amazing to see how these kids actually become interested in Mathematics.  Although these type of sums can be very confusing, you won't believe how excited students get when they do get the correct answer.  Rohini hated Mathematics. She  was stubborn as a mule and bluntly said it out loud. 

Guess what?  When I asked her today if she still hate Mathematics, she said, NO!  I don't hate it ...I just don't like it!  

To go from HATE to DON'T LIKE is a great improvement,  and I hope that one day I can change her mind to actually liking Mathematics.  

Here are two random word problems let us see if you can figure these out?

• One number is 4 more than another number. If the square of the smaller number is 2 less than three times the larger number, find the numbers.
• Beverly is two years older than Mary. If the product of their ages is 48, find each one’s age.

I will reveal the answers in tomorrow's post!

Did you enjoy Math in school?