LAST week I shared my preference for art-infused learning. I shared the impact of art in my own learning journey, and my attempt to inject art in my kids’ life as early as their infant years. This week I would like to share my views on arts’ impact in making math fun for kids.
When I was a kid, I remember math as memorizing concepts and solving equations. I liked the drill-based approach. I always had a fear for the problem-solving part. I left the Philippines in the middle of second year high school. We were learning geometry then and I found “proving” really difficult. When I studied high school in the US, I was taking both ninth and 10th grade math at the same time. Ninth grade math started with “logic”, while 10th grade math was geometry. Logic laid out simple if-and-when questions that helped me a lot in geometry. I realized that math had a wider spectrum than just numbers. I also realized that “soft” buildup skills not just eased the way for learning tougher math skills, but also built a lot of self-confidence and love for the subject.
I always wanted my kids to love math. It was not about them becoming math wizards.
I just wanted them to enjoy math like how they would enjoy play. I wanted them to view math as a fun mystery that they themselves would seek, without any need for me to push. Based on the Crayola Dream-Makers Series Mathematics Edition by Long, McCracken and Willett, all M.Ed, I discovered the buildup skills in math and matched them with play activities my kids enjoyed. I started this when my kids were six months old.
- Sorting—sorting blocks by color.
- Organizing—stacking books or blocks by size.
- Classifying—classifying animal figurines by type: land or sea animals, by family.
- Comparing—showing house objects like a pot and putting it side by side with a play pot to introduce concept of size.
- Pairing—showing two pairs of the same objects. Then I would get one, and ask my kids to give me the similar one.
- Repetition—creating a pattern like putting all the red toy cars together, all orange cars together and so on, to form a rainbow.
- Symmetry—using paint to put one side of the paper, then folding to create similar image on the other side.
- Problem solving—using games and puzzles.
According to Justin DeLeo’s paper, titled “Arts and Mathematics: An Integrated Approach to Teaching”, from Expressions Learning Arts Academy, “When thinking about arts and mathematics, people frequently view them as two separate domains. For a long time in education, mathematics was treated as a cognitive, thinking, rational, left-brain activity, while art was considered to be an affective, feeling, right- brain activity.” I took note of his three points on the interdependence of math and the arts. First, “both mathematics and the arts can be used to observe, describe and imitate the natural world.” Second, “learning mathematics and the arts together fosters this whole brain development.” And, third, “the ‘hands-on’ nature of teaching art and math in combination helps build bridges between concrete and abstract mathematical ideas.”
There are many resources available online on fun activities that combine math and art, like goo.gl/L1Tjv1 and Crayola.com.
Below are some activities I found interesting:
1). Use permanent markers to draw the circles and the lines on plastic plates. Then you can use colored dry erase crayons or colored whiteboard markers to color portions and let your child answer fractions (www.crayola.com).
2). Use a hard surface like wood and a compass to draw out a clock and put number stickers to make your own clock (www.artforkidsandrobots.com/color-wheel-for-kids).
3). By using a regular compass, paintbrush with a skinny handle, masking tape and watercolor paint, you can make your own art on any white paper (www.housingaforest.com/compass-painting).
4). Recycle old CDs to make erasable math flash cards using dry erase crayons or whiteboard markers. You can even decorate them with stickers and paint (www.crayola.com).
Today, both my kids enjoy math. How do I know? When my daughter got in basketball varsity last year and had two days of weekly practice, she told me that she already told the coach that she can only attend one day of practice because she cannot miss her math-enrichment class every Wednesday. My son has so much daily schoolwork but he still chooses to attend math-enrichment class on his free day. He says it’s his favorite subject.
I believe that whether a kid is inclined to math from the get-go isn’t important. What is essential is the gradual buildup of interest. I believe art, play and family encouragement were critical in developing my kids’ love for math.
Next week I’ll share how art also helped my kids learn language and science.