Math phobia is as real as it can get! Children are paranoid about numbers for some reason, and to top that, if the Math teacher doesn’t make the lessons fun, it may get boring to study the subject. But how can Schools make a subject like Math interesting? Well, there are plenty of teaching aids available today, thanks to the creativity and inventiveness applied.

We bet your child would change his statement from ‘I hate Math’ to ‘I love Math’ as soon as you introduce these new teaching techniques to them. Hands-on learning is so much more fun and if backed by fancy material, while learning becomes a piece of cakewalk.

Here are some Math related Teaching Aids for Students;

#1 Number Rods

These alternate red and blue rods are spotted on most shelves in Montessori environments. How exactly do they work? Well, number rods are particularly enjoyed by children of ages 4 years and above. At the time when students are still learning to master their motor skills, number rods serve dual purposes of teaching kids Math, while enhancing their grip. These teaching aids, come in a set of 10 number rods. Now ask the child to pick up the smallest rod which is like a red block piece. Place the rod on the mat and say this is one! Take another rod which has 1-red and 1-blue, place it on the mat and say, this is two, and so on. This continues until 10 is reached. Test the child by asking them questions like, show me 5, now show me 7. Isn’t this an excellent activity, plus, learning method! If you need a break from number rods, try out the Mathletics platform that provides digital Math resources in a game-like manner to entice students to spend time on their tabs more productively.

#2 Abacus

This one’s a classic Math manipulative used since quite a long time. The colorful beads on rods makes for a pleasurable experience for learners, as they perform multiplication. Instead of making a huge multiplication table from 1 – 20, simply use an abacus this time and try out how well it works. The beauty of using an abacus as a teaching resource is that, easy multiplications 2×2 and difficult one’s like; 16×19, are both done with ease, thanks to the easy trick of counting beads, staking them, and sliding them appropriately, to get the answer. Awesome, isn’t it!

#3 Spindle Box

Learning to count is a lot more fascinating with the Spindle Box. Wondering what it looks like? Well, imagine a shoe box having sections and each is numbered from 1-9. The box comes with wooden dowels (or rods) and the child has to count them and place them appropriately in the correct compartment. Example; count 5 dowels and place them in the box that is numbered 5. The Spindle Box is easily available online on Amazon or any education toy store or stationary shop in Dubai and GCC regions.

#4 Numbers and Counters

If you’ve played poker, you would know what chips are. No, these are not edible! Chips are like round coin-sized discs and they are to be sorted correctly to perform Math functions. The kit comes with square wooden blocks, each with a different number on them. Now, children are asked to do different Math calculations. For example (place wooden block 9 x (multiplication sign) and wooden block 7). So, find the answer to 9 x 7! The child takes the round chips and places 9 chips under 9 and 7 chips under 7 and then multiplies 9 by 7 times, to get the answer. At the end, the child places 63 as the number which is the correct answer. Hands-on tools are such a cool way to get students involved, and thus most IB schools that follow the modern STEM curriculum in the Middle East, make use of tangible teaching aids.

#5 Golden Bead Box

This is among the most favorite material for students and teachers. That’s because the learner can easily grasp numbers as big as 1000 digits with the help of this compact kit. The kit comes with golden beads which are tied to each other. So you have a single golden bead, a stick of 10 golden beads, a square of 100 golden beads, and a cube with 1000 golden beads. It becomes so easy for children to understand visually that the 10 stick is made of 10 individual 1’s put together and the 100 square is made out of 10 sticks (having 10 beads each), such that 10 x 10 = 100). The 1000 square is decoded by telling students that there are 10 squares (having 100 beads) tied together, such as (10×100=1000). Nothing can beat the Golden Bead Box! So simple, so efficient, and super intriguing to play with. You can even purchase this set for home tutoring purposes, as it is shipped and available across the UAE.

Contact us