One of the most common questions I get as a math enthusiast is: “Why does my kid hate math?” It’s not an easy question to answer. A lot goes into why kids develop their attitudes about math, but I’d like to focus on some of the reasons why children may not like it in general.
Children who lack math skills may be expected to fall behind
If you can’t do math, it’s like having a disability in this world. You’re expected to fall behind and struggle. Kids who don’t have strong math skills may be at a disadvantage in school because they won’t be able to keep up with their classmates or get good grades or get into college.
In our research, we found that many kids struggle with math because they don’t know the language of numbers and equations (e.g., if I add 10 apples and 4 apples together then what is my total?). If you ever had a teacher who didn’t explain things well enough, then you might have been one of those children who struggled with math!
Other children may bully kids who don’t have good math skills
Bullying is a serious problem in today’s world. It can lead to mental health issues, school dropout rates, and violence. Kids who are bullied are more likely to drop out of school because they don’t want to go back and face the bully again. They may also become depressed or anxious.
It doesn’t matter what you look like or how smart you are—you should not be bullied for any reason! If this happens, talk with someone about it right away so that something can be done about it before things get worse!
There’s no evidence that success in math is genetic
There’s plenty of evidence that success in math is not genetic. For example, there’s no evidence that parents pass down a specific skill when they have children. The same is true for any other skill: you can’t inherit piano-playing skills or an aptitude for basketball from your parents.
It’s also important to note that while you may have been good at some subjects in school, this doesn’t mean you’re good at all of them—and it definitely doesn’t mean your child will be good at all of them either! For instance, if you were really into math and science as a kid, but never really liked reading or writing stories, then it would be silly to assume that your child would love math too just because they share some similarities with you.
The bottom line? Math isn’t something we are born knowing how to do; instead, it’s something we must learn over time through hard work and practice if we ever hope to master the subject matter!
Math can be fun
Math is everywhere.
But math isn’t just used for counting things like numbers or words! It’s also used for measuring things too—like distance, weight, and temperature.
If you take your car to get its oil changed, they’ll measure how much oil was taken out of your car so they can refill it exactly how much oil was taken out.
They do this using an instrument called a dipstick – which measures volume by length so we can figure out how high up from the bottom it is compared with some units like inches or centimeters depending on what type of vehicle has been serviced before we arrived!