Maths as puzzle solving

Stan Raimes’s third rule for solving differential equations, like his second rule, also had general applicability. Raimes’s third rule was “if you don’t know the answer, find it by hook or by crook”. Here again we get good advice. This rule tells us clearly that we are to think about our maths problems, and we are to use our imaginations to arrive at a solution. It tells us that there is not necessarily a path already plotted, an algorithm that we can simply slot our numbers into, which will yield us the answer we desire. Because at the start of their maths education, when pupils are still learning the equivalent of the maths alphabet, they are taught to learn set methods to arrive at the correct answers, and they pick up the idea that maths is not about inventiveness, or cunning, or lateral thought, but that it is about mindlessly following rules that they have learnt by rote or repetition. This does them a disservice, and although helpful in the short term, it acts as a block to later success in the subject. At Puppet Maths, we recognise this mental block, and we aim to avoid it by teaching our pupils to approach maths from the perspective of puzzle solving rather than maths problem solving. This is also the approach taken by Singapore Maths, so we feel that we are in good company in our approach.