Kids! How they love to play and always have fun! Given the choice, I’m sure they would choose play rather than anything else. They’d always choose what’s easy and fun.
It’s almost impossible to make them do something that feels difficult.
As adults, we have preconceived notions of the word “difficult”. Sometimes, we tend to forget that hard things for our kids are usually easy for us.
Sometimes we overlook them or expect them to learn things right away because after all, they’re “easy”.
When we do this, our kids learn to hate studying because learning becomes a chore.
A Difficult Chore!
We at 1on1Math take a different approach. We try to make learning the hard concepts of mathematics fun and easy for kids.
Want to learn how to do this? Here are 6 steps to make learning anything easier and more fun for your kids.
BONUS: We can also apply this to any “difficult” subject or concept. Applying these tips would cultivate the love of learning for your kids.
1. MAKE IT FUN
At 1on1Math we are big advocates of gamification. We even have our library of math games. Making things fun would make learning easier.
Why? Remember how kids naturally love to play? By making things fun, we make learning more natural for them.
Imagine, you get to have fun with your kids! Precious!
2. FAMILIARIZE KIDS WITH MATH VOCABULARY
Making your kids familiar with math vocabulary makes everything way easier.
Have you ever tried something new? Like, let’s say, cooking. And the instruction says to “par-boil” or to “sweat” the vegetables.
Imagine, what disastrous food (instead of delicious) would you make if you guess the meaning of these words and guessed it wrong!
Being familiar with jargons makes you an immediate expert (almost) in no time!
It's the same for our kids, instructions and mathematical concepts would be easier 10X if we can help them be familiar with math vocabulary.
3. HIRE A MENTOR
There are a lot of benefits to having a mentor. In fact, we wrote an entire article about this here = 8 Benefits of Coaching and Mentorship that Your Kids will Benefit from.
An effective mentor can help make learning fast, effective, and easier. Instead of trying to figuring things out yourself.
4. ENCOURAGE MENTAL MATH
Yes, no calculators. But please, don’t make 4-year-olds divide large numbers yet. While some kids might be able to do this (Kudos!), most kids would need to start with the basics and build it to the harder ones gradually.
Practicing mental math strengthens “Mental Muscles”. Like how we build our muscles when we go to the gym. Making everything easier with constant practice.
5. FIND “MAGIC MOMENTS” TO TEACH MATH
Education doesn’t always have to be in the classroom. Education doesn’t always have to be “Formal”.
Magic Moments are impromptu moments in which you can use to impart some wisdom.
You can be more creative by using things in your environment. If you are in a parking lot, you can ask your kids to count how many red cars are there.
In case there are several open spots, and 1 car arrives, how many open spots are available if that car parks?
See that apple tree over there? How many fruits are there? If we eat 2 of them for breakfast, how many apples would be left?
6. BE THERE
Simply being there to guide them and cheer them up when the going gets tough, makes things easier.
Do you know how it can be encouraging when someone is there for you in hard times? It relieves mental stress if someone’s there to cheer you up, or even listen to.
Help them with their assignments (HELP them, don’t do it for them). Listen to them when they talk to you about what’s hard for them so you can coordinate with their mentors/teachers.
This is a great way to build a relationship with your kids too.
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Learning can be easy and fun if done the right way.
This is what we do at 1on1Math, we help kids in learning hard mathematical concepts and we make it fun for them!
We want to provide that positive impact on your children’s lives.