Encouraging Persistence & Mathematical Creativity in Your Child
Students often prefer solving a lot of easy problems to struggling through one tough one. When we think about our sense of accomplishment, however, usually the things we’re most proud of and value didn’t happen quickly or come easily. Excitement comes when we are engaged in something we value, not in the grade on a report card or a stack of math worksheets.
Here are three ways parents can foster persistence and nurture excitement about math:
- Avoid showing students “the procedure” to solve the problem. Instead, let your child embrace the struggle, fail at times and learn from those mistakes. Rather than saying, “Let me help” try, “That must be frustrating. What are you going to try next?” Leave your child time to think, to ask questions, to make false starts and regroup.
- Share your own experiences—both your frustrations and your excitement. Reframe struggles, which can be perceived as defeat or feel like failure, as part of a larger learning process. This can help show children how in the long run, math is more about challenge and risk-taking than it is about getting the right answer.
- Talk about how you use math in day-to-day activities. Even better, wonder together about the mathematics involved in a video game, a construction project, or the design of a favorite drink container.
Children who develop a passion for math can be further engaged through problems and puzzles, which are great for developing fluency and exploring patterns and relationships. Carefully selected problems can help cultivate aspects of creative thinking. Some follow multiple solution paths, while others require us to examine our thinking closely. Try these at home!
- Find the next number in this sequence: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, ….
- Pat wants to take a 1.5 meter-long sword onto a train, but the conductor won’t allow it as carry-on baggage. And, the baggage person won’t allow take any item whose greatest dimensions exceed 1 meter. What should Pat do? (Yes, she could leave the sword at home, but that wouldn’t be much fun!)
Please share your experiences working through these problems in the comments section below. The solutions and sources for these problems will be posted in the comments section later this week. While arriving at an answer is satisfying, the conversation that should follow in comparing and explaining solutions is more important!