Learning to love math

By THEA RUTHERFORD

FN Features Editor

Last Thursday, a group of precocious primary schoolers learned what math and hop-scotch have in common.

First-grade students outfitted in P.E. uniforms crouched on the floor of their classroom poring over a grid outlined in chalk on the tiles. La-Tique Knowles, the teacher, looked on with satisfaction as the children hovered over the hop-scotch-like boxes with about the same level of enthusiasm as they would have if they had been hopping in and out of them outside on the playground.

Mission — to make math an exciting subject that can be easily applied to daily life — accomplished.

"They're always oohing and aahing and they're always looking to see what (I'm) going to do next," says Ms. Knowles, thrilled with the interactive lesson and her students' response. "I'm glad to keep their interest. That way they're always wondering what's next."

Overcoming the contempt for math of her own primary school years, Ms. Knowles seized the assignment to spearhead the school's Math Week. The first grade teacher approached the project with gusto, compiling information that would make mathematical concepts jump from text-book pages and into the imaginations of students, from colleagues, the internet and books.

"I don't want to pass that outlook on to my students," says the teacher of her former resentment of math. "I want them to see that math is easy, but it's up to me to make it easy for them."

Over the course of the week, students were asked to guess the amount of items in various jars, complete activities specific to each class that dealt with different facets of math that they had studied and gear up for Math Mania, a school-wide math trivia that would pit children from each class against each other at the end of the week.

Students who had previously balked at word problems scrambled to a bulletin board on the premises to solve posted problems that used the names of school-mates and people in the community. With the problems divided into lower and upper school, each student got a fair chance to solve the day's problem for the promise of a prize at the week's end.

"I know that math is a major concern for the nation," says school principal Alexandria Bowe. "I wanted to try and see how to build critical thinking skills and how we could get the students excited about math. The problem with math," she observes, "is that children feel inhibited and they're a little afraid of math."

The principal sought to change attitudes towards the subject during Math Week. The apparent success of the initiative brings a bright smile to her face. The sight of children running to solve math problems is all that she had hoped for and more.

"Even though kids usually shy away from problem solving, to see them so excited about tackling word problems was really an incentive for me," says Mrs. Bowe. "The children are so excited. I had hoped for this excitement and it worked. It's really working."

The new found love of math she has cultivated in her students through lessons that make use of the mind and the body has Ms. Knowles committed to a method that engages as many of their senses as possible. Through Math Week and beyond, the teacher wants to continue to apply concepts in every subject to daily living in fun ways.

"I think it starts from grade one and I'm glad that I have them now," she says of ingraining an enthusiasm for learning math as well as other subjects in her students. "I hope it continues through their primary school years."

POSITIVE FEELINGS — Math Week has lead to more positive feelings about the subject among students at St. Vincent. A group of students from each grade pictured with principal Alexandria Bowe (far left) and grade one teacher La-Tique Knowles (centre left of students). (Photos by BRADLEY RUTHERFORD)

© 2006 The Freeport News