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Procedural Lessons: Children and Mathematics

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Mathematics has become a very large part of society today. From the moment children learn the basic principles of math to the day those children become working members of society, everyone has used mathematics at one point in their life. The crucial time for learning mathematics is during the childhood years when the concepts and principles of mathematics can be processed more easily. However, this time in life is also when the point in a person’s life where information has to be broken down to the very basics, as children don’t have an advanced capacity to understand as adults do. Mathematics, an essential subject, must be taught in such a way that children can understand and remember. All children learn differently and teachers, …show more content…

These three methods are collectively known as the VAK model, which stands for visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Each is different from one another and most people learn best when taught through a combination of these methods. The first method, visual, involves the use of visual representation of knowledge to understand concepts. Visual learners learn best through charts, diagrams, videos, handouts, and reading the body language and facial expressions of the teacher. A visual learner will also benefit from note-taking, highlighting certain areas and reviewing every so often. For example, a visual learner will learn best when they see the teacher using blocks to explain the problem three times five. Watching the teacher place three stacks with five blocks and counting the total blocks will let the visual learner understand why three times five is fifteen. The student would then write notes on this concept, drawing a picture of the three stacks of five blocks to refer back to later. Auditory learners, on the other hand, learn best through lectures, listening to the teacher explain the concept and following a set of instructions. Auditory learners learn best in a classroom environment, allowing for classroom debate upon a topic. This debate allows for multiple different approaches to a concept to be put forth until the one the learner prefers is found. An auditory learner would learn best from hearing the concept and then going over it again out loud to

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