The number system

Most children do not understand the number system we use. It is never explained to them. This is not surprising, because children are expected to start using numbers at a very young age when a description of how the number system works would be incomprehensibly difficult for them. However, the consequences for these pupils of not understanding the system can be quite substantial. They lose confidence in their ability to do maths, they start to think that it’s a hard subject, so they find it hard to do. In extreme cases they give up trying. This is exacerbated by competition in the classroom. If a pupil cannot do something that others around them can, then they lose face from their lack of ability. The result of this is that they switch off from maths, they dismiss it as being of no importance and inconsequential, purely as a mechanism to protect their self esteem.
My eldest daughter could add 3 and 3 to get 6, but couldn’t add 300 and 300 to get 600, simply because she didn’t understand how the number system works. If you don’t understand the number system then you will struggle to manipulate numbers. Puppet Maths explains the number system to children in an accessable manner, allowing them to avoid this pitfall in the study of aritmetic.