Why Does Math Matter?

Have you ever heard your child groan, “Why do I have to learn math?  I’m never going to use this when I grow up!”  As a parent, you struggle to find real world examples where math is crucial, but in a world with smart phones as calculation devices, it leaves some of us speechless.

A classical education in liberal arts evokes mental images of classic literature, fine art, and philosophy.  How does something so pragmatic as math fit into this form of high education?  Can we pursue Truth, Goodness, and Beauty through math equations?

In an interview with Quanta Magazine, Francis Su, the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, describes how mathematics promotes human flourishing, “It builds skills that allow people to do things they might otherwise not have been able to do or experience. If I learn mathematics and I become a better thinker, I develop perseverance, because I know what it’s like to wrestle with a hard problem, and I develop hopefulness that I will actually solve these problems. And some people experience a kind of transcendent wonder that they’re seeing something true about the universe. That’s a source of joy and flourishing.”

At our lower schools, young scholars study Singapore mathematics. The Singapore math method is a highly effective teaching approach originally developed by Singapore’s Ministry of Education in the 1980s for Singapore public schools. Singapore math has become an established part of national and international conversations about math education, and the method has been widely adopted in various forms around the world.

The intentional progression of concepts in the Singapore math approach instills a deep understanding of mathematics. At the center of Singapore math is the Model Method, in which students learn to represent the information of a problem with a bar model or other visualization tool in order to arrive at a method of solution.  This method is not only easier for younger students to grasp, but it also gives them a powerful set of tools for building an intuitive visual understanding of how to solve the unknown in a problem.

The methods and approaches result in the 5 outcomes of Singapore math; Metacognition, Processes, Concepts, Skills, and Attitudes (as illustrated in the graphic below).

Students’ primary goal in grades K-5 is to become familiar with basic numbers and shapes and the way that they act together. As philosophical realists, we believe that truth can be encountered and known, and that students at early ages learn best by examining what is close to them. For this reason, mathematics in the lower schools is taught with heavy reliance on manipulatives: physical representations of numbers. When students learn to count, they will count actual objects. Through a deliberate program of using these manipulatives, students begin their journey towards abstraction. They move from the physical, concrete objects, towards a pictorial representation of the objects, and finally on towards the abstract symbols and algorithms for operating on these symbols. We do this not only to aide their understanding, but also to emphasize that mathematics is grounded in the real.

Cammie Passey, Director of Curriculum for our lower schools, explained how this approach fits in with the classical education that our scholars receive at Great Hearts. “The focus of the curriculum is problem solving and developing mathematical skills,” said Passey. “We aim to teach students to truly understand the math. Not just producing answers like number machines or human calculators but to approach mathematics with critical thinking and wonder.”

Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts?  Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.