How do we excite children about maths?

[Anne Strachan]

I lost my interest in maths somewhere between mental arithmetic and quadratic equations. The teaching was uninspired and dull. I feel cheated! What can educators do to redress this?

[alastermcdonach]

I have 2 children. One at nursery and one in P2. Both seem to do a huge amount of maths. Also, they the P2 child does a lot of project work that involves maths. Maths is his favourite subject. I try to encourage him to play with numbers and shapes and problems. I had to learn the process of not answering his questions but encouraging him to discover and check his own maths processes. I would say that primary maths education is succeeding. I am a bit more worried about secondary maths teaching. From what I can read on the web, it is not able to take advantage of the progress in primary school maths. My own experience is that many Secondary maths teachers are struggling a little. The older rote learning is more popular with many teachers but taking the time to allow the children to discover the topic is difficult.