Why do I need this math?

What can a parent do to make a child enjoy math? It is best to convince them that he needs him and accompanies him every day. A day without math. I need this math.

Children often feel that they do not need to learn mathematics. The proposal to organize a day without maths would probably be enthusiastic.

However, is it possible? Just consider where everyone use mathematics on a daily basis rotten . It turns out that we would have to forget about watches, telephones, computers, etc.

So let's try to show the child how often math appears in his daily life and organize a day with math. The rules are simple - for one day we write down the situations and items that required mathematical knowledge. Such a list can be made together with the child. However, creating two separate lists is a better idea as we can compare each other's proposals after a long day. It will be a time when we can analyze and discuss together how much math is around us. There will be many examples.

Below are a few from my list that can also be used during the conversation. Beside, I have given lesson topics that are directly related to the topic.

My mathematical list of everyday situations:

1. Wake up - I check the time on the watch (time).
2. I check the air temperature on the thermometer (number line, positive and negative numbers).
3. Breakfast - I eat a roll with jam, which I made myself according to the recipe - I had to calculate how much fruit and sugar was needed to create the right amount of this delicacy (proportions).
4. I am waiting for the metro to arrive - I check the time of arrival and the duration of the journey on the timetable (reading information from tables and diagrams).
5. I buy two regular and concessionary tickets on the metro - I have to have the amount deducted (memory calculations).
6. Shopping promotions. A separate article could be written about this point. Thanks to my mathematical skills, I judge whether it is better to buy three products for the price of two, or whether the opportunity where buying two products and buying the second one is 50% cheaper (percentage calculations) will be better.
7. Shopping by weight - this is where the ability to convert mass units comes in handy - it's worth knowing if 60 grams is more or less than 0.5 kg (estimation, mass units).
8. When shopping, I estimate their total cost.
9. When preparing meals, I re-use my knowledge of proportions and weight unit conversion. In recipes, the amounts of products given may be in other units, e.g. decagrams, and the packaging of the pasta shows 0.5 kg. I need to know if three 200 ml creams are enough if we need 0.5 l of this product.
10. I am driving a car - I calculate how much gasoline is consumed by a car on a given route. Thanks to such calculations, I can estimate the cost of the trip. When going to a petrol station and buying petrol, I also estimate how many liters of fuel will fit in the tank and what its cost will be.
11. I watch the weather forecast - we analyze charts and information.

The following list includes examples of daily activities. However, math is often useful in situations that we do less frequently, e.g. once a month or a year. Here are some examples:

Must Read: TECNO Partners with Zong 4G to bring 12GB FREE internet for its users

1. Paying the bills, calculating how many cubic meters of water we used, how many kilowatt hours of electricity, etc.
2. Opening a bank deposit - it is worth knowing which proposal offered by the bank is more favorable. Will opening a deposit with an interest rate of 2% per annum with capitalization of interest every month be a better proposition than a deposit with an interest rate of 2.1% with an annual capitalization of interest?
3. Tax settlement - currently there are programs that help us with calculations (created by programmers who know mathematics very well), but it is worth having mathematical skills to check the correctness of the calculations made and take advantage of possible tax reliefs.
4. Renovation of an apartment - here it is necessary to be able to calculate how much paint we need, how many square meters of panels are needed, etc.

Logic is worth its weight in gold

It is worth making the child aware that mathematics will also be useful in other school subjects. It is indispensable in biology (genetics) and geography (geographic coordinates, local time) lessons in compulsory school subjects from the 5th grade of primary school. Even more often, knowledge of mathematics will be useful in chemistry and physics. Percentage concentration, atomic and molecular weights, stoichiometry - these are just a few examples of computational chemistry lesson topics. In physics, on the other hand, one must demonstrate the ability to transform formulas, and a lot of tasks require calculations, for example regarding speed.

Room renovation

In order to encourage the child to use mathematical knowledge, a room renovation project can be proposed. We start with creating a plan of the room - everything, of course, on the right scale. The child should plan where the furniture will stand, what its maximum dimensions may be. It is also important to calculate the area of ‹‹the walls to be painted, estimate the number of paint cans to be purchased, calculate the floor dimensions. Another important element of such a project is the creation of an exemplary renovation cost estimate. It is worth asking the child to find several offers for the purchase of furniture and make a comparison of cost estimates from different stores. Such fun will show how often we use mathematical knowledge during renovation. The child will have to demonstrate the ability to calculate the surface area, create a plan on an appropriate scale, calculate using the sequence of actions.

Or maybe it's about the future ...

Older children who are already planning their career path are much easier to convince to learn mathematics. You can easily find examples of its use in every profession. IT majors are currently among the most popular, and mathematical knowledge is essential for them. All engineering majors also require such knowledge. In the most famous professions, such as a doctor, lawyer or pharmacist, logical thinking is a necessary skill, and we practice and develop it in math lessons.

I hope that my ideas will convince children to like math. It is necessary to emphasize the practical aspects, to show whenever possible that mathematics surrounds us everywhere. From an early age, it is worth arranging puzzles with children and playing board games - all this influences the development of their mathematical competences.