Learning without learning

Many kids don’t like mathematics, because they believe they are not good at it. But you watch them do math while maximizing their pocket money or adding points playing a game, and you will be surprised at how very good they are at math. As babies grow, they learn language by primarily listening to others speak the language. It’s far more difficult to learn a language when it is taught. It is obvious that learning something without actually learning it is the best way to learn it. Might sound confusing, but learning via play is the best way to learn.

Kids Playing Monopoly Chicago by Colleen Kelly

Teachers who can get their kids all excited about what they are learning, have accomplished half of teaching. In his article Don’t Teach Math, Coach It, Jordan Ellenberg talks about getting his kids to do math without resenting it. Math is all around us, in everyday life. All we have to do as adults is to get the kids to do math without knowing that they are doing it. The author talks of sitzfleisch, the ability to focus on a complicated skill for the length of time it takes to master it. Gaming is all about that. Wanting to master a game, can get kids to focus and learn enough to win.

Apart from our everyday life where we trip over math in shopping, cooking (proportion), craft making, sport etc. there is a whole world where kids pick up math with ease – play. The old board games of chess, Monopoly, Snakes and ladders etc. use math. The newer world of gaming uses Math in Rush Hour, Dragon Box and a whole bunch of other Games in Mathematical Education.

Learning something must not be a pain for kids. Games are a great way to get kids to learn without learning