It’s a common phrase that we all have heard or even used when we were in school. “I’m never going to use this. Why do I need to learn it?” This phrase has been especially common in many math classes over the years during algebra and geometry classes. However, as we grow older and we learn more about how society works, we gain a better understanding of why we need math, even the obscure concepts. Keep reading for five reasons that you can give your child about why math matters in today’s world and why math literacy is important.
Teaches Children How to Budget Money
Learning how to add and subtract are some of the first things we each learn in our mathematics journey. Knowing simple arithmetic can go a long way to helping our children learn how to manage money as adults. The principles of subtraction, equation manipulation, and negative numbers are necessary for everyone in the process of creating a monthly budget and learning how to manage money. While there are other steps involved in the process like controlled spending, the basics of math will help children understand the basics of budgeting.
Encourages Time Management Skills
Along the vein of learning how to budget money, students will learn how to budget their time as well. They can often see how much time they have to work on their homework or projects, but learning how to divide makes it easier to set aside specific amounts of time for each. Children who are proficient in math are often better at time management because of their ability to divide their available time into manageable chunks. This is a skill that will benefit them through their schooling and into the professional world.
Promotes Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Understanding how to solve math problems that are based on word problems and algebraic concepts helps children learn critical thinking and problem-solving. Word problems are a great way to see the real-world application in a textbook. This is true even if one person happens to be buying an unnecessary amount of watermelons.
Math teachers used to require students to show their work on assignments and exams behind the reasoning that students wouldn’t always have a calculator with them. Well, thanks to smartphones, nearly everyone has a calculator with them at all times. Now, the reasoning behind showing work should be to understand the concepts behind manipulating equations and seeing how each function interacts with the other. It’s also important to teach students that a calculator can only process an equation how you enter it. The machine won’t account for the order of operations or other processes.
Starts the Path to a Fruitful Career
Students who are proficient in math are more likely to choose a profession where mathematics is used regularly. Whether this is somewhere in STEM fields or the healthcare industry, these are careers that continue to offer bright futures. Math literacy with real-world applications will be beneficial to students as they start considering their career choices so they can focus on the reality of what’s to come. Whether you have a student who wants to be a rocket scientist and work for NASA or make video games for Nintendo, they should understand the role that math plays in their future so they can learn how to absorb the principles early. Many careers students want as children are heavily laden with mathematics and the sooner they understand this the earlier they can prepare for the future.
Teaches Data Interpretation
Understanding data is an important part of everyday life. Many professionals need to understand how to interpret data and manipulate it to fully understand the impact that it has on their work. This can be anybody from doctors to lawyers to those working in marketing. Data parsing and interpretation are critical thinking skills that students will learn in their math curriculum over the course of many years.
Not only will data interpretation play a major role in their professional lives, but it can also help to understand information that’s given based on anything from the current state of the world in some respects or how well their children are doing in school. Understanding how to decipher data can be an important part of understanding things that might be as big as the efficacy of a medical procedure you’re considering or as small as the health benefits of the type of apples you’re considering buying at the grocery store. We can make inferences and make sense of data we’re presented in our daily lives with a high level of math literacy.
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