The importance of studying mathematics

Math is an incredibly powerful tool! Good math skills can help you in many aspects of life. Is your child unconvinced? Talk about situations where math comes in handy. For instance, math can help them do the following:

• Cook well (e.g., calculate recipe portions, add ingredients)
• Shop wisely (e.g., add up their purchases, determine value-for-money, estimate change owed)
• Improve their athletic performance (e.g., anticipate plays, assess possible options, calculate the angle and strength of a throw, understand scoring)
• Etc.

Knowing how to count is the first step toward good money management and financial health. That’s because math helps students learn to do the following:

• Calculate their income and expenses
• Make a budget
• Mentally calculate tax
• Determine the most affordable option when choosing modes of transportation
• Etc.

At school, your child will learn to solve word problems. This activity aims to develop their analytical ability, which is useful in many situations. For example, students learn to do the following:

• Read a problem and look up any words they don’t understand
• Identify the math concepts they’ll need to solve the problem
• Come up with a hypothesis
• Rule out possibilities
• Check their result
• Etc.

What does math have to do with punctuality? Think about it: to be on time, you need to make estimates. Kids can avoid being late by properly estimating the following:

• Route length
• Average travel speed
• Number and duration of stops
• Etc.

In math class, students learn to read and use various everyday measurement tools, like the following:

• A measuring cup
• Measuring tape
• A square
• A thermometer
• Etc.