But Miss, Why Do We Have To Do Maths?

Today class, we have a normal day consisting of Maths, English, Phonics, Science and Assembly. lt;/p>

Miss, I don`t like maths it is booooring. lt;/p>

Well Johnny, maths is very important in every day life. lt;/p>

How? lt;/p>

You will see. lt;/p>

Later that night.

Johnny! come and bake a cake for your friends birthday tomorrow. lt;/p>

Mum, my teacher says that I have to do Maths because it is important but I don`t know why. lt;/p>

Well your teacher must know Johnny. Ah here are the instructions. Here are the measurements:

225g softened butter

225g softened butter lt;/p>

4 large eggs

225g self-raising flour lt;/p>

Hey mum, we learnt in school today that g was grams and that is how heavy it is! lt;/p>

Yes Johnny it is! Now we need to measure our amounts. Lets start with the butter. lt;/p>

I also know that 225 is a multiple of 5 which means it is in the 5 times table. We are also learning this at school!

Yes Johnny it is. Look where you are adding the butter and don`t forget we need 225g. OOops what has happened there? lt;/p>

Oh dear mum too much! lt;/p>

How much more have you added in? Read the scales. lt;/p>

Oh dear there is 235g. lt;/p>

After showing him the place value of the tens amongst the 100s and 1s: How many more than Johnny. lt;/p>

10 more! (Johnny carefully takes 8g away). Oh 2g more to go!

Well Done Johnny!

Food for thought: Here Johnny has engaged in rich mathematical language without even realising it with his mum whilst having a hands on practical experience baking a cake. Johnny is also making connections to his 5 times tables at school and also naming various measurements. Johnny is also engaging in addition problems such as working out how much more he has added over the suggested butter allowance and is working out how to take it away. Also, in this he is learning to realise what some measurements look like. For an example, 225G of butter may look more than 225KG of sugar but it still weighs the same. Johnny has also used his understanding of number bonds to 10 when he took 8g away he realised he only needed 2 more to take away. All in one experience, Johnny is learning about weight, number, number bonds, timetables, addition and subtraction all whilst baking a cake for his friends birthday and no writing needed which is also a barrier to some children showing their full mathematical potential! It is also an act of kindness as well! Can you guess what year Johnny is in? This scenario can also be applied in an English context also. But, how? Comment below. lt;/p>

Story continued: The next day. lt;/b>

Today class, we have a normal day consisting of Maths, English, Phonics, Art and Assembly. lt;b>

Miss! lt;/p>

Yes Johnny. lt;/p>

When is maths? lt;/p>

Straight away at 9 O`clock. We are also learning about time today in maths. lt;/p>

We baked a cake last night and we timed it in the oven last night. lt;/p>

Tell me more about your cake Johnny. lt;/p>

Johnny explains the measurements and the method. lt;/p>

Teacher then explains that a clock is set into the 5 times table which links to his measurements from last night. Johnny then confidently recites the 5 times table with the rest of the class.

Food for thought: Can you also see the link to what Johnny learnt last night even though the focus was on measuring, adding and taking away the 5 times table that Johnny was confident with was used in his maths lesson about time. Many learning aims are used in an interlinked way and when this is taught effectively, it then becomes beneficial to the child.

I wanted to write an article about the importance of maths but there is nothing more important as maths in a real world and practical context. The short story above demonstrates that in life whatever you do (even if not a maths related career or education path) that maths will come in useful at some point of your life. Rather than learning it in a repeated manner, maths should be practical and exciting with problem solving and a child based approach. As an educator, I have seen first hand benefits of this, had countless training on this and written many assignments on this also.