Maths For Children

INTRODUCTION

With the right guidance from a teacher, effort from children, and support from parents, all children excel. Math is foundational and depending on the current situation, the time taken to excel will vary.

3 to 6 months sufficient for most children to do significantly better. Parent involvement can accelerate this. If students come in with learning gaps from the previous topics, sometimes it may take 6 to 9 months for students to start doing significantly better.

Did you know that the notion of a Math gene is a myth?

Often parents or children say that they are not a math person. There is a prevalent notion that some people are naturally good at math while others are not. This is a myth. Being good at math is simply a function of the right learning environment. Enough education research shows that when taught the right way, all children can excel at math – at least till high school level.

What’s the right way of learning math?

Math is not just a subject. It is a life skill. Thus it cannot be taught via lectures, videos or through the blackboard where children passively listen or watch. Children must learn by being actively involved in the learning process. They must learn by reasoning.

At Cuemath,

• Each child has their own learning resources.
• Instead of passively listening to lectures or watching videos, they are actively working on math problems.
• Most concepts are introduced using a combination of visual aids and physical learning aids or activities.
• A teacher is always present to guide and motivate children.
• Teachers are trained to not give away the answers. They provide clues and help children figure out the answer.
• There are tab-based exercises to help children build aptitude skills.
• After each class, they get a puzzle that makes them apply the concept in an unfamiliar setting.

In addition to all this, the difficulty level of the math problems that children work on must be just right. Not too easy. Not too difficult.

How do we get the challenge level just right, so that all children are engaged?

It is a well-established fact in educational research that to engage children, the difficulty level must be just right.

• If the problems are too easy, children get bored. If it is too difficult, children lose interest and give up.
• Often when children say they don’t like math, it is because they are not experiencing the correct level of challenge.
• At Cuemath we create a personalized learning plan for each student.
• If a student is already proficient at the concepts, we provide advanced material and an opportunity for the student to move ahead to the next set of topics – sometimes even the next grade.
• If on the other hand, a student has gaps in some previous concepts (of the same grade or lower grades), we actually move to that lower grade concept and strengthen that first.

Because of the customization based on the child’s current proficiency level, the time it takes for children to truly excel may vary.

So how long does it take for a child to excel?

At Cuemath, we start from the child’s proficiency level. Plus, learning via the Cuemath method is quite a new experience for most children because of the prevalence of conventional methods everywhere else. At times, parents will have to play a larger role and support in-class learning with a few at-home activities and exercises. So, for some children, excelling at math takes 3 months while for others, it may take 6 to 9 months.

At the same time, in almost every grade through primary, secondary and high school, new math concepts get introduced. So to ensure children stay on the high-performance track, sustained effort is required. After all, building a strong math foundation requires long term commitment.

Thus, in summary:

→ With the right guidance from a teacher, effort from children, and support from parents, all children excel.

→ Math is foundational and depending on the current situation, the time taken to excel will vary.

→ 3 to 6 months sufficient for most children to do significantly better. Parent involvement can accelerate this.