Math is a universal tool that helps our children thrive. From the earliest years, when parents show children the importance of sharing (dividing) with others, they are also teaching them math. As they get older, though, children often ask, “When will I use math in real life?” The answer to them should be, “Every day!” Children need to develop a strong math foundation early to help them through school, future careers, and throughout every aspect of their lives.
Managing Money: We count dollars and cents. Algebra helps us plan our finances. The concepts of principal and interest are key to buying a car or a house. Earning, saving, retirement planning — it’s all math.
Playing Sports: Math helps us keep track of sports scores and statistics. Geometry and trigonometry help us find the best way to hit a baseball, make a basket or jump over hurdles.
Eating Healthy: We count calories and grams of carbs or fats. We take nutritional supplements that add up to 100% of our recommended daily requirements. We use proportions and ratios when we double or halve a recipe or an ingredient.
Enjoying Music: Music is fundamentally mathematical. Our brains appreciate pitch, chords, balance and so on through an unconscious mathematical understanding. As philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz said, “Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.”
Creating/Enjoying Art: From Leonardo Da Vinci to gorgeous tile mosaics in medieval Islamic buildings, art and math have always been inextricably intertwined. English mathematician G. H. Hardy likened painters and poets to mathematicians because they are all pattern-seekers. (Mathematics is sometimes called the “science of patterns.”)
Parents, you play an important role in helping children to recognize and practice math in their daily lives. Talk to us anytime about the many ways you can explore math together with your child. We love what we do! After working with your child for a short amount of time, you'll love what we do too!
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