Mathematics is a mystery. It's almost as mysterious as the origin of May day. The patterns, stories, challenges, and games that have come from man's study of mathematics are endless. Man has been discovering and adapting the mathematical language for over 2000 years, and we are not any closer to fully comprehending everything in this world than we were with Pythagoras. This is the reality of the abstract concept of infinity. Can anyone truly grasp how great it is that we can even try to understand some of God's creation through a mathematical language?
I understand that most high school students must complete a certain amount of math in order to proceed onto college, however, elementary students have more than enough time to discover the joys, wonders, and mysteries in the world of mathematics. Here are a few ways you can get your student started:
- Solve riddles - buy a riddle book, write a riddle on a white board in your home or send it via text to your older children each week.
- Read stories - there is no legitimate reason for a modern math student to ignore the great stories of Archimedes, Pythagoras, Pascal, and Gauss. These men didn't live in a box, they lived in a real world and considered discovering mathematical truths to be new cutting edge information - because it was.
- Play games - see how many there are! Practically every board game uses logic skills, while card games work with numbers.
- Copy experiments - it's true that a lot of mathematical formulas are pen to paper work, but there's also a lot of mathematical concepts that are hands on. Learn how Erastothenes calculated the height of the pyramids and use that procedure to calculate the height of the tree in your yard. Check out the application of the laws of motion the Newton discovered. Math is infinite, so aren't the possibilities!
- Check your attitude - I hate to say it, but the reason that a lot of children hate math is because their parents have bad memories and cast those feelings on their kids. This isn't fair to you, your kids, or the world of mathematics. It also isn't healthy. Check yourself. What can you do to be open to the wonderful mysterious world of mathematics.
There's a very real chance that you have never explored the mystery of mathematics. The blood of the murders that were committed to hide the truth, the overwhelm that comes from contemplating infinity, or the money that was spent to keep certain math facts a secret are generally unknown to the majority of math students today. Why do we sacrifice the joy of discovery in the name of efficiency?