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As a lover of Math and having a degree that's significantly related to Math, I couldn't help but think how my life would have been if I hadn't discovered how useful and fun it can be. It all started when I was a toddler. I was given a Tupperware Shape-O (which, by the way, is a classic toy still being sold online today). My aunt would "borrow" me from my mom and watch me put all the shapes into the Shape-O with accuracy and ease. She predicted that one day, I would be good in Math.
Fast forward to a few years later, when I was in elementary school. My grades in Math were so-so--I wasn't failing, but I wasn't achieving, either. I was more interested in playing rather than studying, so on it went until one day, my adviser called my father to school. She was concerned that my grades were down for that quarter. For me it seemed odd because I didn't see any other classmates' parents coming to school due to their grades declining--not even those who would blatantly take out their Ghostbusters figures while class was ongoing. Besides, I had no grade below 80. (Back then, that was my standard happy-go-lucky reason for not studying.) My father took the advise seriously though, and enlisted the help of my cousin. She was a few months older than me, but was a year ahead in school. He figured that if a fellow child taught me, someone who was my friend and someone I looked up to, I would be more inclined to study (and embarrassed if I didn't, since it mattered to me what my cousin would say after she checked on me). And so it went.
One day, while I visited my cousin's house to play, she brought up multiplication. She said that it was easy, and that she would show me how. Then she helped me learn the multiplication and recite it even with my eyes closed. The next thing I knew, I was in school reciting products perfectly at a graded recitation. My Math teacher then (who was also known as the terror teacher in that grade level) probably couldn't believe her ears, because the following day she called me again to recite the same table even though she had already given me a perfect score the previous day! Whether she made a mistake or she was just a skeptic, it didn't matter, I gave her no reason to single me out for the rest of the school year. The following year, I beat the class valedictorian at a prime factorization contest. So it began, my conscious love for math.
A few takeaways from this little story of mine would be:
1. It's never too early to start your child with learning, especially with Math.
2. A teacher's expressed concern over a child can go a long way.
3. It takes a special kind of parent to think effectively how a child can improve him/herself.
4. It goes without saying that the influence of peers and role models to a child can make a huge impact. Think of creative and fair ways to get your child motivated to improve themselves.
5. In retrospect, my conscious love for math didn't really begin when I started achieving in Math. Instead, mastering the multiplication table gave me the confidence I needed. I realized that I didn't fear Math--I feared the embarrassment. I didn't want to be shamed in front of my teacher and classmates, especially during class recitations. Knowing the basics by heart meant that I could at least get the chance to understand the next level more, then the next. I no longer had to dread Math class, even if my teacher was scary. The confidence I gained allowed me to think straight.
6. In my case, mastering at least the basics also meant I could build upon it later. Acquiring the skills at that age gave me the choice to discover new possibilities for my future. If back then, my interests were playing, stories and art, after that episode, I learned I could also have a future with numbers, if I wanted to.
7. Based on my two previous points, I learned that fear may hinder learning. For some people, the more they are afraid, the more they tend to shy away. Knowing this may help in figuring out the best type of learning strategy, not just for Math, but for any topic.
8. I think that Math is a combination of remembering and understanding. Some people might think that memorization is not good for Math. Personally, I think memorization alone is not good for Math, because it entails learning from a single perspective, e.g. memorizing the derivation of formulas instead of understanding how you arrive at each step. Since our brains are wired to make connections, the more connections are made, the stronger the concept stays in our heads. However, there some things about Math that need to be remembered, such as the ordering of 1, 2, 3.. to 10, or that centimeters are bigger than millimeters. In more advanced Mathematics, derivations of formulas and creation of mathematical proofs often require mathematicians to recognize patterns, forms and terms to come up with a robust solution. This is where remembering by heart can come in handy.
Thank you to my adviser, Ms. Dinglasan, wherever you may be. If it hadn't been for your concern, I wouldn't have been able to discover one of my major interests that would eventually lead to my career. That goes to all teachers who heed their calling and think about the welfare of their students beyond what is expected from them.
