What’s Wrong With Liking Maths?
On Friday we got DD3′s report. We were expecting to be very pleased with it and we were. She is just finishing Year 1 and has done very well at school.
She has enjoyed this year tremendously despite her designated teacher being off sick for one term, then two, then eventually being officially replaced. She has gone on school trips, taken part in after school clubs, played with her friends and advanced academically.
And she’s looking forward to Year 2.
In our school, the children write the first page of their report themselves, and draw a little picture to illustrate the points they have made.
I used DD’s effort as last week’s Silent Sunday photo, mainly because it had a funny spelling mistake in the first sentence.
But a few people read through to the end and came to the last two sentences which read ‘ I am looking forward to year 2 because I really want hard maths work. The best thing this year has been number work.’
Some readers specifically commented on them and said that she’ll change her mind about the maths work one day.
It wasn’t just my readers either. I’ve shown a few people at school that first page ( it has no indication of how well she’s doing on it) so they could have a laugh at her slightly rude spelling mistake. Again, they kept reading and commented on DD’s liking for maths.
‘I wonder how long that will last?’, said one.
‘She won’t be saying that next year!’, remarked another.
I was surprised and a little insulted. What’s wrong with liking maths? If she had said the same thing about reading, I’m sure no one would have said anything in the least disparaging about her enthusiasm. If you have a child who likes books, people are wildly enthusiastic about it. I know because all three of my girls are keen readers and are often complimented for it. Everyone ‘knows’ that reading is a good thing and you’d never dream of suggesting to a child who is enjoying learning to read simple books, that next year the books will be harder and that she will no longer enjoy reading then!
As it happens DD3 is very good at maths as well as enjoying it. This is not surprising as her dad is mathematically inclined and I’m not terrible at it either. Her two older sisters don’t love it as much as DD3 does but they are both good at it too. DD3 likes numbers. she ‘gets’ them; as her teacher said, it is her ‘best thing’.
This attitude towards a little girl liking maths confuses me. Would people’s attitude be different if she was a boy?
I know a lot of people struggled with it at school, but I know a lot of people ( myself included) who felt the same way about PE. They hated it, but if their children, or their friend’s children turn out to like sports, everyone accepts and applauds their enthusiasm.
I don’t understand. What’s wrong with liking maths?
S is good at maths (in top set) but hates it! B is good at it and likes it (his fave is Science). I was dreadful at maths, but DH is pretty good at it so they’ve got his maths brain. I’m slightly disappointed they’re not as good in literacy as that was my top subject, which I loved too. They’re great readers so I’ll let them off on that score I spose…
I have the same thing with science. Mine like it but they don’t love it, which does slightly disappoint me until I think about it and realise that it’s not really presented as a ‘real’ subject until secondary school!
Oops, guilty as charged! Nothing at all wrong with liking maths; I’m just in awe of (and slightly surprised by) anyone who does, as it was my worst *ever* subject at school. She has obviously done extremely well this year; I’ll be happy if Tom’s report is half as good.
I think I feel the same with languages. I just don’t see the point but I think that’s common with antipodeans. My kids will probably go to a secondary school with a language speciality, so I need to develop an enthusiasm for them!
I definitely see the point of maths, I’m just bemused that anyone likes it, as I hate it so much. Same goes for coke (the drink…).
My daughter is very good at maths and she used to love it but she went off it a bit last year. I suspect because she wasn’t really being challenged with it. This year they’ve been put into sets and she seems to have renewed her enthusiasm a bit. Her first love will always be reading though.
We are lucky in that our school are happy to challenge the kids as far as they can go. I do think this helps keep their attention.
Leona loves maths. She didn’t like as much when she was younger but she really enjoys it now and I think she likes that it challenges her a bit more than literacy. I think it’s fab that L loves maths!
I think keeping them challenged is key.
I hope she continues to enjoy maths, she could make a good career out of it, accountant maybe?
By the way, I’ve nominated you for a Reader Appreciation Award, no need to join in, just thought I’d let you know.
I used to enjoy maths and was debating doing it for A level but had things I preferred in then end (luckily as I don’t think I was good enough at it for studying it further). I still like numbers now and work with spreadsheet and data at work everyday. Let’s face it, the world and especially schools nowadays, need people who like and enjoy maths – let’s hope your daughter continues to be inspired by her teachers and her maths work as she gets older.
Oh – this is very current with us at the moment and our school. At a recent parents’ maths workshop (to show us how maths is taught not to teach us maths) this comment has stuck with me.
“It is socially acceptable to say that you can’t do maths” not said but implied it is not socially acceptable to say that you can’t read. This is one of the problems facing schools and maths attainment at the moment.
I am in the “like maths” camp – it has never frightened me and I took it all the way to A level, with a respectable B grade. My mental arithmetic is not great but I now put that down to the way I was taught.
My eldest son was good at maths although wasn’t inspired by it, my daughter struggles with it, and the littlest is showing all signs of being a natural. I think my daughter struggles because she doesn’t like getting things wrong, even though school insist that at her stage the correct answer isn’t the most important thing as understanding how you get there.
That’s a very long way of saying – there is nothing wrong with liking maths – stand your ground – tell everyone you are very proud of her abilities and will continue to be so. Good for her xxx
We’re quiet a mathematical family here ourselves. I’ve always loved it and think I’ve passed it onto my children. My oldest is just finishing year 10 and is awaiting his maths GCSE mark (which should be an A* or something is amiss) as he took it a year early and is wanting to use his mathematical knowledge to write computer games – sounds pretty cool to me.
Good luck to her.
Absolutely! An enjoyment of Maths I a girls particularly, should be celebrated and encouraged
I think there is a stereotype that says boys are good and science and maths but girls are good at art and English. My dd2 falls into exactly that category but dd1 and ds3 seem to be good at everything! Encourage it, she obviously has a natural aptitude and she may help to buck the trend.