Keeping Kids Interested in Math? 67
bcrowell asks: "As a geek, I always assumed my interest in math and science would just naturally rub off on my kids, and sure enough, my older daughter kept insisting that she wanted to be a physics teacher like me when she grew up. Now, starting first grade, she volunteers that math is 'ok,' but not as much fun as reading, and she no longer wants to be a physics teacher. Her math work at school apparently consists of 'addition packets.' What good stuff can I do to help her perceive math as fun and creative? Generations past had puzzles by Sam Lloyd. I learned a lot of science from science fiction books, but my old favorites are getting dated, and my daughter also rejects them because they have male protagonists -- she prefers Nancy Drew, although she'll read my Fantastic Four comics if Sue has a big enough part. What other things have Slashdotters found to do with their kids? Growing crystals? Baking together as a way to sneak in fractions?"
Algorithm Driven Allowance (Score:2, Insightful)
That should sort the little terrors out.
Re:Erm... Well... (Score:4, Insightful)
To my dismay, neither of my girls have ever shown the remotest interest in programming or tearing down our computers to see how they work. I've tried to show them what I do, but their eyes just sort of glaze over.
They are (sob) users. Couldn't live without their wordprocessors and browsers and stuff, but they don't care much about what makes them go.
Notwithstanding my inability to interest them in my livelihood, I guess I am doing some things right. My girls are both straight-A students, and one of them was class valedictorian this last year. They're interested in science, and are better mathematicians than I was at that age.
What am I doing? Pretty much treating them like adults; I never talk down to them, I explain my reasoning when I make a decision, and I have grown-up conversations with them. My cardinal rule is "No BS", for I know that if I ever lied to 'em, my credibility would be shot to hell.
As a result I have LOTS of cred, so I can mention a Slashdot article about quantum fluctuation over pizza. They listen, and maybe learn a little. I lob newspaper articles that I think are important or interesting into their laps. We have (mostly) intelligent discussions at home, talking about science news, current events, politics.
Treat your kids with respect. Retain your authority, but delegate a lot of responsibility. Take home some of the stuff you find interesting; it'll rub off in bits and pieces. But you shouldn't get hung up on one discipline; if it's all that interesting, your kids will let you know.
Don't push too hard, but make it available (Score:3, Insightful)
I really like your idea of cooking to sneak in fractions. That's really the best way to go about it--sneak it in. If you push--like my parents did to me for a short time--she might get surly and go from "math is okay" to "math sucks ass, get off my bad, Dad." That said, make sure it's still available. Have those old sci-fi books out just in case *she* wants to pick one up. Keep an old PC handy that she can tinker with if she wants (keep it old and crusty and leave a book for learning BASIC lying around--heehee). On car trips, keep a calculator around, and when she asks "how long until we get there?" you can suggest she figure it out--I became a master at the last one. "Check Dad's speedometer, check the mile marker...we'll be to Grandma's in 2 hours. 2 hours?!?! Let me do that again...."
Those sorts of things helped with my eventual turn around from detesting math. Word problems were a help (they were puzzles not just equations). Dad would also occasionally do "fun stuff" in the back yard (building rockets, that sort of thing--blowing things up is always appealing). The other help was when I got interested in Star Trek (TNG started when I was 7). Cheeze-Whiz as it is, my Dad watched it with me and would "casually" point out the math and science things. I had Dr. Crusher, so I could say, "cool, a girl, like me!" and I had Dad to point out the things "Dr. Crusher probably learned in school." I'm sure getting educational value from Trek was a pain for Dad. At some point it turned into lessons on why things on Trek weren't real.
In the end, I wound up majoring in Computer Science in college. I'll honestly say that math is not one of my favorite subjects, and I'd rather read a novel than deal with a page of integrals or something, but I don't hate it, and I know how to get some level of enjoyment from it.
Oh, and if her nitwit first grade teacher ever makes her take "timed tests" where she has to spit out addition tables from memory. Beat the teacher with a wet noodle.
Good luck!
Maths != Arithmetic (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember spirograph? Beautiful pictures, very simply done, based on mathematics. Draw some dots in a 'L' shape on a piece of paper and use a ruler to make curves with straight lines (you know what I mean). Bash some nails into a piece of wood and do the same thing with some coloured string. Draw up a pascals triangle and colour code the numbers (multiples of 2, 3, 4 etc in different colours).
Use a fibonacci sequence to draw boxes (1st box 1x1, 2nd box 2x1, 3rd box 3x2, etc using the long side of the previous box as the short side of the next), then draw quarter circles within the boxes to get a nice spiral effect. Check out the Sybase logo for an example.
Then you have graphs of 3D functions, and axial rotations of 2D functions. There are many more ideas. Young kids like pretty pictures with lots of colours.
She doesn't necessarily have to understand the mathematics right now, she'll just enjoy doing stuff with you, getting a nice picture out of it, and most importantly she'll associate "maths" with "fun".