Why does my child learn so many ways to ‘do’ maths?

Is it ok to ‘work maths out’ in different ways?

This is a topic that creates quite interesting conversations, but the answer, quite simply is this - there is no such thing as ‘just one way’. Let me explain.

Jo Boaler is a British education author and Professor of mathematics education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. She is also the co-founder of youcubed, and her latest book, Math-ish, has been a real page turner for me.

Boaler starts by writing about a dinner party she attended where one member of the group shared “his many achievements in mathematics in school and in college.”

She knew that “those who had achieved highly are usually the ones believing nothing should change [in schools and with the way maths is taught]. In their minds, maths is hard, and they had just showed their brilliance by achieving at high levels.”

So, she explained to him that “neuroscientists have given us insights into how our brains process mathematics—and how important it is that we activate different parts of the brain in our mathematical thinking, particularly the visual pathways.”

She gave an example, and all at the table saw the increasing pattern in a different way. The gentleman was astounded as “it had never occurred to him that there was more than one way of seeing something mathematical.”

When students only encounter the numerical version of a question, or stare at tables of numbers to ‘see’ patterns, for example, they may come up with an answer, but they have no idea why it works, or how to use the pattern to find the next number, or any number, in the sequence.

When we ask them to describe how they see something, they begin to understand on a deeper level, and they begin to appreciate that there are lots of ways of describing what they see.  

This is the beauty of primary school maths. Your child gets the chance to engage in conversations with people who see maths differently…and that’s great!

The more we talk about the maths that surrounds us in nature, architecture, art … the more we allow our children to ‘see’ maths their way, but also to appreciate that there is not only one way.

Maths should be something to spark curiosity, wonder, and deep conversations, not fear and loathing. As Boaler writes, “when mathematics is embraced as a subject that can be seen and solved differently, it leads to higher achievement and greater motivation and enjoyment.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Allowing our children to use a method that is understood by them is going to give them opportunities to think positively about maths and their ability to ‘do’ maths. Forcing them into a method that they don’t understand, will add to the negative thoughts and feelings they have around maths and their maths ability.

Over time, they may come to use ‘your’ strategy, but they may not. I know of an adult who openly admits to struggling with learning the 8x tables as a child, so he used (and still uses) his 5x and 3x and combines the totals. He devised a way to problem solve the problem he had. He thought about it in a more flexible way, which was efficient for him.

Your child is taught to appreciate this same type of flexible thinking. They learn a range of strategies, a ‘toolbox’ of sorts, so rather than just giving up, they know they can look at the ‘problem’ in different ways, to see a way that could work, to find a way that makes sense, as well as seeing the other ways that it could be solved.

The joy that this flexibility sparks is visible - wide, smiling eyes, big grins, high-fives, hugs, squeals of delight… Suddenly, what seemed impossible, is actually possible, and the belief in themselves as mathematicians is evident, which then gives them the confidence to persevere the next time …

And I think that is exciting … so let’s get started!

(Boaler, J. Math-ish, HarperCollins Publishers, Sydney, p10, 12 and 13)