So what are some practical steps that parents, educators and administrators could take to encourage students towards math and science without trembling or even mildly perspiring?

Here are some practical tips.

 

1. 1.Encourage students to apply math and science to practical, everyday life, especially at young age. Get children into the habit of seeing math and science skills as aides to understanding and manipulating the world. As a parent, take your child shopping and ask him/her to calculate the final cost of an item during a “20 percent off” sale, claiming you’re not sure if you have enough money to purchase it. You can even do something as simple as taking a morning stroll and asking questions about your observations, such as “Why do you think the grass is wet on some mornings when it hasn’t rained?” Children will not only feel helpful and excited at the practicality of math and science, but they will learn to become analytical and feel confident that they can understand and tackle these subjects.
2. 2.Make them feel like Sherlock Holmes. Keep students challenged, empowered and engaged by treating math and science like puzzles. Children enjoy playing (and swimming) games, reading and watching detectives stories, and generally solving fun problems, so why should math and science make them feel any differently? Math and Science should be analytical and exciting. Teachers, empower students to use their problem-solving tools by presenting the curriculum in a procedural, objective and analytical manner. Model how to use various strategies and facts and demonstrate how math and science are inter and intra connected.
3. 3.Lastly, keep students challenged, do not bore or underestimate them. Apply the golden rule to this one: just like adults, many children will perform to the level of expectation set for them. Keep them challenged –they’ll thank you for it.

 

By: Raquel Bautista | Teacher III | Orion Elementary School | Orion, Bataan