Why Parents Should Learn Algebra
When I was teaching children, the phrase ‘my parents have never used Algebra since school’ came up more times than I care to remember, alongside ‘why should I learn algebra?’. At Parents Evening too parents would say ‘I’ve never used algebra since school’ or ‘I could never do algebra’ We know that mindset makes a massive difference to the way that we learn, and so as a parent, your attitude will have an impact on your child. Plus, algebra is more than what you learnt in school.
Here’s some of the skills that you learn by tackling algebra that I bet you have used since school:
Problem Solving
Tackling an algebraic equation and having the confidence to do it, gives you resilience. It also helps you with solving complicated problems or puzzles. If you get used to solving algebra and tackling something that looks complicated, the more you will be willing to solve problems that at face value look difficult.
Logic skills
Although you don’t have to practice algebra in order to improve your logic skills, algebra will improve them. As you work through the algebra problem logically, breaking a problem down into smaller steps, and solving them sequentially you are increasing this higher-order skill. This skill is useful for reasoning, and goes hand-in-hand with problem solving. If you like to do brainteasers, play board games, or use brain-training apps, then you are also improving your logic skills.
Abstract Reasoning Skills
Analysing information, detecting patterns, and understanding complex concepts are all skills that employers want to see. Improving abstract reasoning is a way to improve ‘intelligence’ as these skills are often tested in IQ tests and we need to remember that the idea of a fully fixed intelligence is outdated, and that with a growth mindset we can make improvements.
Formulae
Have you ever followed an instruction where you needed to input numbers? Then you’ve used algebra! From baking, to calculating how much wool you need in that knitting pattern, to following formulae to work out what your pension is worth. What about using a spreadsheet, you can be most efficient by using formulae.
Algebra is also the basis for science, engineering, computing, medicine and economics. You may not use that yourself, but algebra will have been used for most of the things that you use day-to-day. If you decide you can’t do algebra, and this mindset becomes your child’s, you are limiting what they can do significantly.
Have I convinced you? There are so many reasons why algebra is a crucial part of education. Let’s change the conversation from ‘when will I ever use it?’ to ‘how do I learn it?’. Join the conversation in Education Support 4 Parents.