Inspiring a Love of Math in Your Children - Student Resources

Inspiring a Love of Math in Your Children

Inspiring a Love of Math In Your Children

When you first hear your kids say something like, “When am I ever going to use math in real life?”, you might chuckle to yourself because you thought the same thing at one time. But by now you know math is useful in adult life. Here are a few ways you can inspire a love of math in your children.

math tips - how to inspire a love of math in your kids

“When am I ever going to use Math?”

The next time you are faced with this question as a parent or teacher, let your kids know that there are many ways they will use math skills throughout their entire lives:

Home Improvement

build it better with math skills
Build it Better with Math!

 

You might not realize just how much math a handyman does on an average day. This can be an easy way to connect to math to the real world. Inspire your kids’ math ability with examples like this:

  • Electrical (Measurement)
  • Carpentry (Geometry)
  • Tiling (Area)

… what will you create?

 

Exercise, Health, and Fitness

strong math skills make for a strong body
Strong Math, Strong Body!

 

Assuming your kids don’t need to be convinced that exercise is worthwhile, there are plenty of ways to show them how math factors into fitness.

  • Calorie Counting (Mental Math)
  • Weightlifting (Calculation)
  • Cardio (Efficiency)

… use math to add to your health!

 

Jobs and Work

cool jobs use math!
Cool Jobs Use Math!

 

There are a whole bunch of dream jobs that require top-notch math skills to be successful. Here are a few inspirational career choices that require math:

  • Sports Announcer (Statistics)
  • Fighter Pilot (Trigonometry)
  • Game Designer (Coding)

… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

 

Financial Management

math skills to make more money
Math Makes Money!

 

This one should be easy to sell to your kids. Money is directly linked with numbers, but if you want to inspire your kids to do more than master basic addition and subtraction, you’ll need to show them some bigger examples. Try inspiring your kids by telling them how they could use math to make more money:

  • Big Purchases (Percentages)
  • Budgeting (Arithmetic)
  • Buying a House (Algebra)

… the smart money is on math!

 

Food Preparation

put math to work in the kitchen
Math in the Kitchen!

 

You might think that the average chef has bigger fish to fry, but calculation in the kitchen isn’t a rarity, it’s a necessity! Here are some of math-infused points to inspire your kids to get cooking:

  • Measurements (Volume + Weight)
  • Temperature (Calculations)
  • Portions (Fractions)

… master math, master chef!

How do you answer questions like the infamous, “When am I ever going to use math”?
Let us know in the comments below!

Check out this infographic poster we made for more ideas!
Take a look below (or click here to view it full-sized in another tab):

Inspire a love of math in your kids

If you are looking for ways to give your child an academic boost, you’re in the right place! For more information on how Kumon can help your child improve their math skills this school year, visit a centre near you.