Learning Maths

I have been thinking about Mathematics for JT late last year. One of the question was whether I should sign him up for a Maths class like other parents do? My gut feeling was no but I did pay a visit to the Kumon center to ask about their curriculum and teaching method.

After the visit, I figured out the things they ask the students do are primarily drills, drills on computational speed and accuracy. That wasn't what I was looking for though. That is the easy stuff that one can help a child at home.

Then, I signed up for a parenting seminar on how to prepare one's child to learn Maths in elementary school and handle Maths tests at school. I went in with an expectation of learning something practical. The seminar, to my surprise, didn't put much emphasis on tests. It was much better than that. It challenged a parent to think about why we wanted our kids to learn Maths. That learning Maths is seeking truth and how it can help a child to think logically and solve problems. To pass in a Maths test is easy, all one needs is to use the teacher's template and method. Good thinking isn't necessary in passing a test.

Another point mentioned by the speaker that got me thinking was that a bad Maths tutor/teacher (in many learning centers) did more harm than good to the child's learning in Maths. Well, my first reaction was how bad that can be. After all, we were only talking about sum, difference, multiplication and division at the beginner's level. The tutor/teacher should only be effective or ineffective in helping a child. How could there be any harm? I have this question in mind for a couple months until I read a great book (below) and understand the comment fully.
I highly recommend that you read this book if your child is studying in North America or under the American school system. This book documents most of the U.S. Maths teachers interviewed by the author not having a deep understanding in Maths concepts and rely on the procedural approach to teach their students. For example, most of the teachers cannot explain to the students how to correctly calculate 1-3/4 divided by 1/2; the related Maths concepts in division and why certain steps are neccessary.

Most of them do not know how to relate different Maths topics to help their students learn better. This explains the low proficiency in Maths of their students. Although the research results of this book shows that Maths teachers in China are stronger than their counterparts in U.S., I believe what it really is saying is that only teachers with deep Maths understanding can help a student learn sound Maths concepts.

I am glad to have read this book. And am now playing some Maths games with JT to help him to learn, hopefully, in the right direction.