How to teach mathematics to your children

By Novita Tandry

JAKARTA (JP): Your child's first experience with numbers has little to do with math. Your child may have learned to chant them in order without really knowing what the words mean. If you say "one, two, three, whee!" each time you lift the child out of the bath, he or she will soon learn to copy you, but to the child it's just the same as saying "ready, steady, go!"

Learning numbers by rote like this isn't a waste of time, though. Even your child is only familiar with one, two and three, you can begin to introduce him or her to math. You don't have to be a mathematical wizard to teach your child, either. Early maths is just a matter of a few simple -- but important -- concepts that will help give the child the confidence to deal happily with the subject later when he or she starts learning it at school.

Chanting numbers in isolation helps your child remember the right order but doesn't help him or her understand what each number actually means. Even when you use numbers in context it doesn't automatically help the child to understand that one means an object on its own and two means there's one more object.

Out on a country walk, you might point into a field and say: "Look. Four sheep," but to your child the word "four" could simply be an adjective relating to the sheep, like "white" or "woolly". Similarly, when reading a story you might say: "Can you see the seven dwarves?" but your child may think the word seven describes the dwarves' characteristics -- like "small" or "funny".

At the same point, your child will realize that "one" means a single object. At this stage the child may use another number word to mean more than one, often "two", but possibly any number, like five or 10. Now the child needs to learn that "two" has a specific meaning, different from "three" and "four" and so on.

Keep it simple to start with, and concentrate on the numbers one and two. Point out things you see in ones or twos as you talk to your child around the house, in the car or walking down the street. "There's only one egg left, but we've got two yogurts -- can you get them out please?"

Parts of the body are useful for counting in ones and twos. Make bath time an anatomy lesson by pointing out that the child has one nose, one mouth, two eyes, two ears, two cheeks, two arms, two legs and so on.

Items of clothing are also helpful. Encourage your child to find one vest, one jumper, two socks, two shoes and so on. Can your child check he or she has two sleeves on the shirt, because they have two arms?

A child who chants numbers correctly in order can't necessarily count. It may be that the child has a good memory for sounds and therefore can repeat, parrot-fashion, words that he or she hears. On the other hand, a child who can point to each object in a group one by one and give each a number name, has actually grasped the concept of counting even if the child doesn't know the correct order. To count accurately and affectively your child needs to put both of these components together.

This is mainly a matter of supervised practice. Start by getting your child familiar with the terms "how many" and "count", through hearing you use them in context. No matter how high the child can chant numbers, it's best to start by counting objects up to five first, then up to 10, until the child is really confident and accurate.

Although it will be some time before your child is ready to use numbers to do addition and subtraction, understanding the principles of "more than", "fewer than" and "the same as" will give the child a head start when he or she is introduced to sums at school.

The child will first become aware of these words is non-number contexts. "Same" can be applied to an object which is like another, for example: "That book is the same as my book". And the child may use the word "more" to mean an extra quantity of something, for example: "Please may I have some more orange juice?"

As the child's understanding of numbers grows, you can get him or her used to using these words in a numerical sense. At the same time you can encourage the child to practice other maths skills like estimating, sorting and matching.