Making Numeracy enjoyable and engaging in classroom/Primary setting.

Making Maths enjoyable and engaging in classroom/primary setting.

This blog will discuss ways in how math can be enjoyable and engaging within a primary school setting. Children and young people all have a different preference in what they like when It comes to curriculum subjects. Majority of children find Maths to be a ‘boring’ subject, all children are naturally inquisitive but sometimes for maths, children may not feel the same in this case. Children carry this negative attitude with the math subject and especially during class children often lose concentration and lack in being involved. Maths is a vital subject in the curriculum, and it is important that all children get support and help by teachers and practitioners. As children can lack in numeracy, Donaldson (2015) states ways on how to make maths interactive and engaging, he expresses that if Maths is taught correctly through relevant contexts maths can encourage children to be more engaging and fascinated (Donaldson, 2015, p.49).

There are a variety of different methods to make children more engaged within the maths subjects. The main strategy which I think is beneficial is to not make maths a strict subject but instead involve activities for children to complete, using coins to count or using objects for adding and counting. During my AOLE seminar, we dedicated the seminar on exploring different ways to make maths fun. The first method we discovered was mental maths starters, this includes using quick thinking skills to get children warmed up for further maths. This method is fun and quick as children get to use the whiteboards and treat this activity almost like a fun test. Another way to get children to be interactive through maths is allowing them to move around the room as this makes it exciting and different. It is vital that teachers and practitioners ensure to make activities different each day so that children’s brain can be stimulated and effective in learning. Another great way to make maths fun is involving puzzles as it gets all individuals involved as it usually involves a competition between 2 people., which promotes children to think for themselves (Flannery, 2002).

When working in a primary school setting, I experienced many children struggling in numeracy which made them carry a negative attitude towards this subject which was challenging for teachers and practitioners. Although some children struggled, there were other children who are extremely confident in this subject and enjoyed the challenges this subject holds. Teachers must support those individuals who struggle and provide extra support, this could be one to ones with child and teaching assistant. Seeing the number of children lacking in this subject does make me question whether the teachers are following the curriculum correctly. As some days maths lessons would be quite strict and it was clear that children were ‘bored’. Another way the teacher can make maths beneficial for children is by planning the lesson to take place during the morning as that’s when children have the most energy. Some days numeracy lessons would take place after lunchtime and children are often tired and not as energic during this time of the day. I believe that mathematics should be a subject considered thoroughly as all children should feel that they can enjoy this subject equally.

“The key to enthusing pupils about problem-solving is removing the main barrier that prevents independent thought, and that is fear: fear of not understanding, fear of being wrong and fear of being embarrassed. The first step to creating young problem-solvers is to reduce these fears for them.” (Tiley-Nunn, 2014, p.10). Applying problem-solving into Numeracy talks upon the four purposes of the Successful Futures curriculum, meaning if children are capable of enhancing the problem-solving skill into maths then they will be “ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives” (Donaldson, 2015, p.29). 

Reference 

Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures, Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales. OGL.

Flannery, S. (2002) In Code: A Mathematical Journey. Chapel Hill: Algonquin

Tiley-Nunn, N. and Beadle, P. (2014) Primary Maths: Anyone can feed skittles to sharks. London: Independent Thinking Press.