Learn Math, Earn Screen Time

Image courtesy: Scholastic

Screen time refers to the use of any electronic screen such as television, laptops or desktops, DVDs, tablets, smartphones or electronic games of any sort. With kids preferring to spend their time glued to screens for long hours rather than playing games with their peers outdoors, screen time is becoming a big problem for parents in the present day and age.

A group of researchers at Grand Valley State University in the US has come up with a novel educational approach to help such parents – an app called ‘Test 4 Time!’ that tests kids with age-appropriate math questions. One question correctly answered on the app translates to one minute of screen time for the kids. The greater the number of correct answers to math problems, the more time a child gets to spend online.

Tim Smock residing in Forest Hills is to be credited for this idea in the first place. “I would write down 20 math questions and tell my son that if he answered them, he could have one hour on the Wii. I wondered if this process could be automated and came up with the idea for Test 4 Time!”

A wonderfully innovative idea – learn math and you get to earn screen time!

Math & Positivity

“Emotions are a powerful driver of students’ learning,” says Reinhard Pekrun, a psychology professor at the University of Munich in Germany. “Students who get positive feedback develop positive emotions, learn better, and their enjoyment further increases. For those who are bored or anxious, performance deteriorates, they get negative feedback, become even more anxious or hopeless, and continue to spiral downward.”

“Numbers” by Clker-Free-Vector-Images is licensed under CC by 2.0

Professor Pekrun was part of a study called Project for the Analysis of Learning and Achievement in Mathematics which studied 3425 students coming from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds during grades 5 to 9. The students were tracked on the basis of their math test scores and other subjects’ grades, followed by an annual survey to know how they felt about a particular subject.

The findings were thus: Highly intelligent students obviously performed well with good grades; those students who had a sense of pride and accomplishment and liked doing their math homework performed even better than the former, whereas bored or anxious students had the lowest grades in the said subjects.

The key here lies in getting rid of the boredom or what is known as ‘math anxiety’ in a large number of kids. Developing interactive ways (activities and games) to get them playing about with numbers instead of mere worksheets or problems will inculcate a sense of enjoyment in them and hopefully drive away the fear of math from their minds. After all, math is all about positivity – a positive attitude in dealing with numbers and their problems is but a prerequisite to enjoying math.

Traditional Math Games - Connect 4

I was playing Connect 4 the other day with my niece. Our age didn't matter – we both had equal parts of fun and equal parts of brain busting. It is such a simple game, it’s sometimes mind blowing to know just how much critical thinking you can teach or learn from a few pieces of colored coin. It is also a great way to teach counting and math to preschool math learners.

Image Source - http://uncannyflats.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/connect-4.jpg

If you haven’t played the game, the premise of Connect 4 is seemingly simple, with players taking it in turns to drop colored coin like pieces into a vertical grid of 7 columns and 6 rows. The winner is the first player to 'Connect 4' pieces either vertically, diagonally or horizontally. This game is a great leveler for adults to play with children, because the simplicity of the play masks the fact that there are actually 4,531,985,219,092 positions and the fact that the game is one in which very real strategies can be developed. There are many different versions of Connect 4 under guises such as Pop out, Pop 10 and 5 in a row, but the original remains the simplest and the best.12:15

I would recommend you buy a game for the classroom or home for those moments when you need a break but don’t mind having a bit of intellectual activity mixed in.

Math Games for Kids with Autism

Teaching math to children with autism is challenging on multiple levels. Broad difficulties like the inability to remember a long sequence of instructions, trouble with language skills and the inability to generalize ideas makes math as a subject particularly difficult to master. However, this doesn’t mean that kids with autism cannot be taught math; rather, it takes special teaching approaches and a great deal of patience from the teacher in order to help an autistic child learn and understand math.

Using Math Games for Autistic Kids

For autistic kids, one of the biggest challenges in understanding math is understanding the language of math. While teachers in traditional classrooms use language to explain mathematical concepts, autistic kids with weak language skills cannot benefit at all from this teaching style. Using manipulatives and demonstrating the concepts works far better in this case. 

                                                       

                                            Photo by jimmiehomeschoolmom

There are many simple math games for kids with autism, designed to help them grasp basic concepts with ease. Notice how the following games are structured to appeal to autistic kids.

1.       Find the Number

This math game for kids is very simple and structured, making it easy for children with autism. It helps them master number concept by associating numbers with the visual imagery of dots. 

Cut out large index cards and number them from 1 to 10. Cut out another ten index cards of the same size. Cut out fifty five small dots from foam paper. For each number card, stick a corresponding number of dots on a blank index card. 

Begin with the numbers 1 to 3. Show the child a number card and ask him to give you the corresponding dotted card. Then show the child a dotted card and ask for the corresponding number card. Gradually add more numbers as the child masters the ones you’re practicing. The foam dots are meant to appeal to the child’s sense of touch. You can replace the dotted cards with manipulatives like toy cars or blocks if you think it will work better.

2.       Potato Numbers

This is another math game dealing with number concept. It allows autistic kids to work with their hands and gives them a visual representation of what each number corresponds to.

Cut out a long strip of cardboard about 20” long and 5” wide. Cut out a white strip of paper to cover the cardboard. Glue the paper to the cardboard strip. Draw five lines across the width of the strip, dividing it into six equal parts. Draw another line across the length of the strip dividing it into half. Cut three medium-sized potatoes into half so that each half can sit comfortably in one of the boxes on the strip. Write the numbers from 1 to 6 along the bottom row of the strip and arrange the potatoes in the boxes along the top of the strip.

Give the child 21 toothpicks and have him stick the right number of toothpicks into each potato, corresponding to the number written below it. For a more challenging task, you can write the numbers out of order instead.

These are just a few examples of math games for autistic kids. It is important to remember that no two autistic kids learn the same way. Each child has his or her own set of strengths and weaknesses, and a math game that may work brilliantly with one child may get you nowhere with the second. However, with many broad similarities among kids with autism, you could try the same game with the other kids and find it successful with a few more students in the class.

In general, a trial-and-error method is best when coming up with the best techniques to teach kids with autism. With each trial, analyse the method used to figure out why it worked or not, and use your conclusions when choosing other teaching methods for the same child.