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Raise Your Daughter To Love Math & Science: Practical Advice For Parents
“ Young children are natural mathematicians and scientists " because of their curiosity and their wish to explore and experiment.
When parents encourage their children to ask questions and help children explore and discover the natural world, they are helping build an interest in math and science. Many experts say that children who have such experiences when they are very young develop an enjoyment for and a confidence in math and science that pays off as they get older.
Most students who excel in higher-levels of math and science also have good visual-spatial abilities; that is, the ability to understand shapes and manipulate objects in their minds. These skills are necessary to succeed in more abstract math and physics. Research suggests that visual-spatial skills can be improved significantly with deliberate practice. In her 2009 book Pink Brain, Blue Brain, neuroscientist Lise Eliot concludes that much of the difference between boys and girls is the boys ' greater exposure to activities that build spatial skills. Here are ideas to develop your daughter’ s interest in math and science.
1 Number Sense
- Play board games such as Snakes ' n ' Ladders, Yahtzee, and Monopoly.- Invent and play games with dice- roll three dice and add the numbers, find the difference.- Play card games of all kinds.- Use an abacus.- When you ' re in the car, play number games.
2 Problem Solving
- Have kids play games that need strategy, such as Connect Four, Risk, and backgammon.- Play chess— it ' s an excellent game for strategizing.- Give kids interesting word problems and math puzzles to solve.- Have kids write their own math problems.- Get kids to name and extend patterns( numbers, shapes, words, etc).- Have kids play math games. There are many good ones, such as Math Blaster( www. knowledgeadventure. com) and Icecream Truck Math( www. sunburst. com), which kids might enjoy.
3 Visual-Spatial Skills
- Give kids blocks, Legos, K ' Nex, and any other building activity that involves manipulating objects.- Let kids play Tetris( great online game for understanding how shapes fit together).- Have kids play building games like 14
Blik Blok.- Work on origami with your kids.- Encourage craft activities that involve shapes and building( using recycled material to build a boat or a house, for example).- Encourage kids to notice patterns in around you: in nature, in architecture, in art.
4 Walks with your child:
Take time to stop along the way and watch things that children notice, such as flowers, animals, and bugs. Talk with your child about what you see, and ask what she sees.
5 Draw Pictures Together:
Draw a picture of what you have seen, whether it was on your walk together, on your front steps, in the backyard, or