Many ways to solve a maths problem

It is a humbling experience for any maths teacher when a pupil comes up with a better way to solve the problem than that used by the teacher himself. Naturally, the teacher teaches the standard method, and when faced with a maths problem, as a matter of routine, launches into a solution based on applying that standard method. This saves the teacher from having to think about the problem. Then along comes a pupil who has thought about the problem, and using imagination reframes it in terms that are significantly simpler. This allows the pupil to shortcut the route to the answer. This ability to think about a problem and reframe it with simplicity is the mark of a good mathematician. Unfortunately, this is not a skill that is taught in most school maths classes. At Puppet Maths, we think about how maths problems should be approached, and we encourage our pupils to think about how they might be solved. We present our pupils with a number of different ways to view the same data, and a number of different ways to manipulate that data to arrive at an answer. By this means we show our pupils that there is more than one way of considering a maths problem and that there is more than one method reaching a satisfactory answer. We want our pupils to be aware of this diversity, so that they can use their imaginations to arrive at the best path to a solution. We, at Puppet Maths, want to lead children away from the idea that the way that teacher does it is the only good way of doing it, and that it must only be done by that method. Whether at home or at school, we want pupils to develop insight and, yes, cunning into their relationship with numbers.