Here we have focussed on how mathematics learning can be made meaningful for primary school children. We have done this through examples of how children learn and how we can create appropriate games and activities for them. We have given examples to show that mathematics learning relates closely to how children think. We have particularly stressed the following points. 3÷ =-3/2
1. A child comes to you with a certain level of mental development and knowledge. You need to build on that.
2. Children should be helped to develop skills involved in mathematical thinking, like making connections, going from particular to general and vice versa, making hypotheses and proving or disproving them.
3. Formal mathematics should be related to children's intuitive understanding, using concrete objects.
4. While teaching child mathematics, we must sequence learning experiences appropriate to the child's level of development, and not only according to the logic of the subject. The sequencing is broadly:
5. Repetition is necessary for the child to become comfortable with a new concept. You need to make repetition interesting. Repetition is not the same as rote learning.
6. Children learn from their peers very easily, because their interaction is usually non-authoritarian and non-threatening.
7. Children's errors must be analysed and utilised for teaching them.