Passionate About Teaching Kids Math...

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   bspiderposted 8 years ago

   Hello,
   
   I'm a "newbee" here at HubPages, and I'm passionate about teaching kids math.  Studies show that our children are falling behind in this area, and I'm trying to do what I can to stop it.  For example, I'm developing a series of comics that will teach math skills to kids via the use of a "superhero". 
   
   I am interested in joining some forums where I can talk to people of "like mind" on topics such as "teaching math to kids", "homeschooling", "child education", etc.  Since I'm new here, I really don't know my way around just yet.  Can someone send me some links to forums that you think would be useful?
   
   Thanks So Much...

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      Lady_Eposted 8 years ago in reply to this

      Hiya
      
      Welcome to HP.
      
      I'm not familiar with any kid's teaching sites, however I know you can interact with other teachers in Forums on the website below. There is an interactive button on the Homepage.
      
      http://www.talent.ac.uk/
      
      Good Luck

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         bspiderposted 8 years ago in reply to this

         Great Lady_E...thanks for the link!

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      GreenMathDrposted 8 years ago in reply to this

      Well I like math and I like teaching it to kids- only the kids I work with are much bigger.  I like your idea if kids had a better foundation they would be better able to handle the demands that are made of them in High School and College. I'm new here so I'm not sure about the forums but if I find any I'll let you know.

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   Fawntiaposted 8 years ago

   We don't have forums on those specific topics here at HubPages yet, but we will soon (within the next couple of weeks if all goes according to plan). In the meantime, you can post about those things in this forum (the education forum).

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      bspiderposted 8 years ago in reply to this

      Hi Fawntia,
      
      Wow, new forums in the next couple of weeks...I joined HubPages at the perfect time...   Thanks...
      
      Cheers

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   belief713posted 8 years ago

   I think he means links to other forums outside of HubPages on those topics... not sure if that's allowed bspider, but you can ask people to email them to you on your contact page :-) There was a thread on homeschooling and math a few months back... http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/14081#post193915
   
   You can search the hubpages forums in the search bar at the top of the site and then select forums from the drop down menu. Or you can also search hubs to find hubbers with similar interests as you.
   
   What made you become so passionate about teaching kids math? Was it just the stats or was there a personal experience you had?

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      bspiderposted 8 years ago in reply to this

      Hi Belief713,
      
      Thanks for filling me in on all the site rules/regulations.  I do want to be a law abiding Hubber...so thanks for the input.  I'll get the hang of all this "stuff" sooner or later.  Hopefully "sooner"...
      
      To answer your question, I guess my desire to teach kids math goes way back to my early years.  I always loved math, and made good grades, but for whatever reason, I often found myself tutoring other students and helping them out with their homework.  Now I'm just a "regular joe", so I guess that I was always amazed at how something I found so "easy", others struggled with.  More often than not, as I probed deeper, I found out that "something happened" along the way, or they had "missed something" at one point or another, and this meant that they deemed math "hard and difficult" and could not progress on to the next level.
      
      To this day, I think that ANYONE who is mentally able can learn math (even if they think they can't).  In most cases it's just a matter of finding the proper approach...which is more often than not, love and patience on the part of the teacher.  In the past how many kids were asked to go to the blackboard and resolve the 2+2= question, put own 5, and had the teacher yell and the kids laugh.  Talk about giving our children a mental block to take years (if ever) to overcome.  Our kids need to be shown compassion and love and the teachers need to alter and vary their techniques til they find one that works with the particular student they are teaching.  Our kids need these math skills now, and most definitely in the future, and we need to find a way to teach them...all of them...
      
      The statistics show that our kids are just not competing well with children from other countries in the area of math.  More specifically Hong Kong, Japan, and China.  In this global economy we are developing they will be competing for jobs with these same students, and they will need these math skills to compete.  We need to teach them to love math, because if you love something, you will cherish it.  It's no longer work in this case...it's love, and fun...
      
      Whoops...sorry, did I talk too much on this subject?  Did I answer your question?  I guess you can see I feel passionate about this subject...   Sorry if I gave you the whole movie when you only wanted the highlights...
      
      Just my "2 cents worth"...but I'd love to hear if others agree or disagree with this approach.
      
      Thanks for asking...Belief713
      
      Cheers

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   rsmalloryposted 8 years ago

   I think teachers should be passionate about whatever they teach-math or otherwise. I am an accountant and always hated math in school. It is my son's worst subject and I try to encourage him by telling him math is presumed a lot harder than it really is because people just dread it and make a big fuss over it. But in reality math is one of the easiest concepts becuase it is absolute. 2+2=4 everytime. It's not like a-e-i-o-u and sometimes
   y or i before e except after c with so many variables. Good luck!

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   belief713posted 8 years ago

   I've always loved math! I don't know if it was the challenge or what?! But it's always been "fun" to me - I know - weird LOL
   
   @rsmallory - I completely agree. A bad teacher on any subject can completely spoil the experience.

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   belief713posted 8 years ago

   You know, it's funny, because I love math, and my hubby hates it. But I honestly think that's only because he never had a teacher good enough to help him understand it or make it a fun learning experience. On the other hand, he's all into history and I always hated in school because the teachers I had made it so boring. But now his interest in it has caused me to take a second look at it and I've started to actually find it more interesting now that I'm a little older!
   
   My mom just retired from being a special education teacher and she's always done creative things with teaching her students math - and it was a lot more challenging for her with special ed. students. But that just goes to show that it depends on the learning experience as far as who will grasp it and who won't.
   
   Thanks for your answer. I was just curious... maybe put that info in your profile to help people identify with you more when they find your hubs...?

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