HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD WITH MATH

How To Help Your Child With Math

Does your child struggle to grasp basic math skills, relying on their fingers to add and subtract? Do your efforts to help them memorize addition and subtraction always seem to end in frustration? If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. Many parents struggle to help their children keep up with their peers when it comes to mathematics. That’s where we come in! At Japanese Abacus Math School, JAMS for short, we know how important math and problem-solving skills are for a child’s cognitive development.

Understanding Memory Processes Can Help Children Succeed

Research suggests that children who are not comfortable working with numbers at an early age tend to stray away from careers in technology, math, and science down the line. We aim to make math and problem-solving skills fun and manageable for all children, giving them their best shot at a STEM-related career. “Dream Jobs Use Math” and by developing these techniques early, can help your child dream big and apply their skills as an animator, game developer, or even a physician. 

Through encouraging insights from experts and research-based examples that draw upon the experiences of students who have faced similar challenges, you’ll walk away from this article with a clear idea of how to help your child succeed in math and inspire learning success!

How Does Memory Impact Math Skills?

At its very core, math is all about problem-solving. But did you know that children are more likely to retain some strategies over others? This is because of their brain’s retrieval process. The hippocampus is well known as the area of the brain responsible for rapid learning and short-term memory. Only recently have experts begun to recognize the critical link between memory recollection and problem-solving skills. Helping kids transition from counting on their fingers to using memory-based retrieval methods can positively impact math performance later in life. 

One study from the Stanford School of Medicine suggests that by relying more on the hippocampus, kids develop better problem-solving skills that last beyond the classroom. 

Teaching children how to process mental math is an investment in their future— one whose benefits are likely to extend far beyond achieving success with arithmetic. At JAMS, our goal is to help children ages five and up, in this transition and give them the mental tools they need to add and subtract easily.

It All Starts With Memorizing Basic Math Skills

This new research has revealed something exciting – children who can recall simple math equations quickly are more likely to excel in the classroom. When a child’s brain doesn’t have to labor over the basics of arithmetic, they have more short-term memory space to learn more complex concepts earlier and faster, which gives them a unique competitive advantage. To measure this phenomenon, researchers observed brain activity under MRI scans while they simultaneously solved math related questions. In order to collect qualitative data, the researchers analyzed and tested them based on lip movements or if they counted using their fingers.

After a year and a half, researchers checked back in with their subjects and revealed that those who had shifted to retrieval-based methods were solving the problems with improved accuracy and speed. With this detailed study comes the opportunity for educators to drive better learning outcomes in classrooms around the world.

What Does This Mean For Math Students?

This math and cognitive development study in children has drawn one clear conclusion: the brain activation patterns in those children improved over time as more information was sent to long-term memory

This is incredibly encouraging news, because it means that even if a child struggles with understanding mathematics at first, they have the ability to build robust schemas for mental math when they are taught problem solving skills like we do here at JAMS!

Every child can have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and create better neural connections – this research is optimistic proof that the brain’s capabilities are limitless.

Choose Abacus Math School

JAMS encourages children as young as 5 years old, to develop a deeper understanding of basic skills through interactive applications. This allows them to move on to tackling more significant numbers with ease, becoming more confident in their abilities. 

As parents of future professionals, it’s essential that we give them every chance to reach their dreams and ambitions. With the help of JAMS, success in the STEM field will be well-within reach for your child’s future. 

Don’t let your child miss out on the opportunity to excel – contact JAMS today to see if the abacus method is right for your child.