There are a variety of instructional shortcuts and tips to help teachers and parents; however, when it comes to teaching fractions, many just don’t hit the mark. Teaching and learning fractions takes focus, time and rigor. That said, to get through to students, you have to capture and maintain their attention to have any chance at success.
Building Conceptual Knowledge
When teaching math, it’s important to show how the subject relates to a child’s world. By using numbers in context, you can help a child make sense of what he or she is seeing. Without understanding the meaning of numbers, it can be difficult for children to properly employ problem solving strategies.
When dealing with fractions, the best way to provide conceptual knowledge is to draw on a child’s experience. Unfortunately, because they are so young, kids have limited experience. Still, you can use plenty of familiar, everyday concepts to make fractions seem less daunting.
- Use Common Toys – One of the most popular toys for young children, Legos provide teachers and parents with an excellent way to explain fractions. Using 8-peg, 6-peg, 4-peg, 2-peg and 1-peg blocks, you can easily explain how fractions work in a visual way, using learning tools that seem familiar and less daunting.
- Use Recipes – Cooking provides an excellent way to teach children about fractions. Since each ingredient requires fractions of cups, ounces, teaspoons and tablespoons, you’re able to clearly show how fractions work in real life.
- Shopping – This is a great way for parents to show the value of knowing fractions. By having children determine sale prices versus everyday prices based on percentages, you can give them the chance to use what they’ve learned outside the classroom.
- Food – Nothing is more familiar to a child than his or her favorite food. Pizza is ideal for teaching fractions; however, you can use just about any food as long as you have a knife.
- Games – When it comes to capturing a child’s attention, nothing comes close to computer games. These days, modern kids are obsessed with technology; so much so, parents often find themselves forcing their kids to go outside and play. In reality, however, you can take advantage of this interest by using math-based games to teach fractions. Besides creating interest in the subject, Mathnook’s online games provide challenging problems that require serious thought. Still, children remain focused on the task, because solving each problem gives them the chance to rack up points, defeat competitors or advance to new levels.
Practical Classroom Skills
Obviously, at some point kids have to learn and accept basic classroom strategies for solving math problems. Still, by providing conceptual knowledge, you’re able to attain and hold their attention, so they’ll be more receptive to what they’re hearing. Likewise, by using food, toys and games, you can give them the opportunity to use their classroom skills outside of school. By encouraging children to employ math in this manner, they become practiced, while developing a greater sense of math’s importance in the real world.