Nobody any longer doubts the fact that there is a crisis with South African pupils’ bad performance in mathematics.
There is, however, a lot that parents can do from an early stage to ensure that their children succeed.
“Parents are sometimes hesitant to help their children, because they are not confident about their own mathematics skills,” said Hugo Vermeulen, from Solidarity Helping Hand’s School Support Centre (SOS).
“The most important thing is that children must have fun.
“When children associate mathematics outside the classroom with fun they will also have a positive experience of the subject inside the classroom.”
SOS has the following tips for parents with children in the lower primary school grades.
Here are a few games to consider:
- Count on:
The “Count On” game aims to teach children that they should start at the biggest number when they do addition.
For example, ask the child to calculate 4 + 2.
He/she must hold up four fingers of the one hand and then two of the other hand.
The child must then count to four and then to six.
- Count back:
One of the most important numeracy skills is to remember mathematical facts quickly and accurately.
The simple fact that one number comes after the other is an important factor in the child’s success.
Let the child count to 10 and then backwards, from 10 to one.
- Card game:
Let your child deal ordinary playing cards to a number of players.
The repetition teaches children to count accurately without using their fingers or paper.
- The dice:
Throw a dice and let your child count out the number on the dice.
You can later use two dice when it becomes easy to count to six.
- Hide and count:
Use a known number of coins and keep a few in your hand to hide them.
Place the other coins on the table.
Your child must then count how many he sees and how many you have hidden in your hand.
- The guessing game:
Write a number between one and 100 on a piece of paper and hide it.
Your child must guess what the number is.
When he guesses, guide him with the words, “more” or “less”.
- Bingo:
Write down the numbers one to 12 on pieces of paper, one for you and one for your child.
Take turns to throw the dice and cross out the number on the dice on the paper.
The first one to cross out all 12 numbers wins.
This teaches your child how to count to 12 and to recognise numbers.
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