Counting on Fingers
Ian Birchenough- Educationalist, Chair of Governors, and retired teacher
For generations, children have often been“ told off” by teachers and parents for counting on their fingers. It has been regarded as“ babyish” and a sure sign that you are not good at mathematics.
However....
According to new research from Stamford University, stopping children from using their fingers to count and do simple number work is unhelpful and might actually delay their mathematical progress.
In experiments, they have found that there is an area of the brain that“ lights up” when 8-13 year olds were asked to perform some complex subtractions even when the Learners were not using their fingers. This part of the brain is dedicated to the perception and representation of fingers( known as the somatosensory finger area) and the study argues that visual cues and pathways in the brain are key to the teaching and understanding of maths. Apparently we in fact“‘ see’ a representation of our fingers in our brains, even when we do not use fingers in a calculation.”
In another study of six year old pupils, researchers found that participants’ arithmetic knowledge increased once they had been trained on how to differentiate between their fingers.
So important is finger perception that it“ could even be the reason that pianists, and other musicians, often display higher mathematical understanding than people who don’ t learn a musical instrument” the study claims.
The authors warn that discouraging students from using their fingers to count is essentially a way of halting their mathematical development.
“ Fingers are probably our most useful visual aid, critical to mathematical understanding, and brain development, that endures well into adulthood”.
Parents wanting to help their children with maths could do worse than to encourage children to use fingers or other visual representations of numbers as an aid to better mathematical understanding. Drawing pictures of mathematical ideas develops visual learning and helps mathematics users of any level, including mathematicians, to formulate ideas and develop understandings.
See a video about maths brains: www. youtube. com / watch? v = 3ico SeGqQtY
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