By Vic Odarve
“Math is difficult.
I could not get along very well with numbers. Just a set of equations and
worded problems got me nervous and frightened”, exclaimed one of the parents
whose daughter was at university studying engineering course. He is not alone. He
may be one of the hundreds of parents following their child's math performance at
university. Indeed, math is difficult and providing help our students in math
is one of the parental problems.
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| Math notes-too difficult for parents |
Faced with the
growing emphasis in Math in all schools from kindergarten to diploma levels,
parents must assist math assignments to their children to whatever levels they
are in in the education. It is a parental responsibility to see to it that
progress has been made on their studies in all the courses. It is a part of
parental monitoring process in order to guide them and what part of the study
they could be of help.
With the advancing
technology, math expands rapidly, such that most parents are left behind.
Modern math, from kindergarten to university courses, is becoming complex that
most parents no longer understand the whys behind at every step in
computations. In the elementary level, it goes beyond the fundamental of
addition and subtraction. Algebraic and
probability equations in secondary education often grow into combinatorics and
number theory, and differential equations and advanced math in tertiary level
are coupled with transformations. These issues are out of the parental
mathematical worlds. These require deep understanding that most parents are
already grasping their breath. That’s why oftentimes they ignored their child's
request for assistance. Simply, it is because they do not understand as well.
They could not give since they don’t have. Faced with difficulty, math anxious
parents just keep their mouth shut and bite their lips in silence.
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| Parents must train their kids on apps from iPod, etc. |
It is a parental woe. Parents look helpless. Hiring a private tutor is an
option but most could not afford. They are trying to help the children in math
but how. Some researchers suggest that parents may enroll in math classes; employ learning
tools such as math books or apps that may enable them to interact with the
children in positive ways; and coordinate closely with the teachers on new
teaching techniques and strategies. These may work, at least, to some degree.
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| Final Exam-Math |
Math-anxious parents are common in
our modern society. But math is part of our life. Whether we like it or not, we
must be in good terms with math. It is time for the parents to stop saying ‘I
don’t like math’. There is no day without math. It not only describes our world,
but it underpins everything we do. God bless!
