Maths problems

Why do people do puzzles? They do them for fun. They like the challenge... but only if it is a challenge that they think that they can succeed in. So it is with Maths. Pupils will happily do maths questions if they are intriguing and the pupil can sense that they are soluable. When they succeed in solving such a question they gain a sense of achievement that bolsters their self esteem, their self confidence, and makes them enjoy the subject that has such a positive effect upon them. So many problems in maths are bland calculations that the pupil has to "do". There is a place for these, in so far as they allow the pupil to practice a technique or routine that they've learnt, but this should be the minority of the problems that the pupil undertakes. They should also be given complex many layered problems, that they can approach from different angles, which make use of their learning, their cunning, their insight and their imagination. These are the types of problems that, once solved, give the pupil the greatest satisfaction, these are the types of problems that can make maths fun. At Puppet Maths, we do both types of problems. Some will be to enable the pupil to practice their mathematical techniques, others will be of the more interesting type, but we demand of our pupils that in every case they use their imagination to solve the problems.