Counter Poor Numeracy with Classroom Teaching Resources

National Numeracy, a new charity set up to promote maths skills in the UK, has said that poor numeracy “blights the economy and ruins lives”, according to a story from the BBC. The problem stems from a culture where it is acceptable to say, “I’m rubbish at maths.” Apparently, millions of people have problems doing everyday numerical tasks, from understanding bills to reading a bus timetable.

Research compiled by National Numeracy links poor maths skills with a host of other lifestyle factors. People with poor numeracy earn less on average, are more likely to get into trouble with the police, and are more likely to be depressed or in poor health. Girls who don’t know their sums are also twice as likely to get pregnant in their teens. Although people often say they are bad at maths, when surveyed, 28% of people with poor numerical skills said that their maths was “very good”.

One of the problems identified by National Numeracy is that a lot of the maths done in school focuses on ‘doing sums’, which people find boring. A lot of children also become very anxious during maths lessons. 

Real mathematicians more often focus on posing questions and looking for patterns, and leave the actual ‘sums’ to computers. This is not to say that sums are not important, of course, but that classroom maths needs to be more exciting. The charity says that “a firm foundation of early number understanding can be developed through recognising the in-built patterns in numbers and number relationships.” These skills can be developed in early years and primary classrooms by using colourful and interesting resources.

Good resources can be used to teach almost any topic, make learning fun, and are decorative enough to be used in displays. Sweet Counter, for example, produce a wide range of cute, colourful resources, each aimed at teaching a specific skill or idea. They have laminated images of foods, each with a value of money on, to enable children to find differences, add up values and work out change. Other products get children counting the number of people on a train or teach them number patterns using dinosaurs.

If children are taught to enjoy maths early, this may go some way in combating its negative image amongst the general public. Visual aids are a perfect way to get children looking at patterns and problem solving, rather than simply working through lots of sums. Contact Sweet Counter for more information on how to use these resources in the classroom.