Last week I posed this sixth grade math problem to over twenty adults in my life:
The carnival has a large and a small Ferris wheel. Jeremy gets gets on at the bottom of the large Ferris wheel. Deborah gets on at the bottom of the small Ferris wheel. The ride begins at the same time. The large Ferris wheel makes one revolution in 20 seconds. The small Ferris wheel makes one revolution in 11 seconds. Find the number of times each ferris wheel goes around before Jeremy and Deborah are both on the bottom again.
I got two reactions. The first group said, after taking in all of the information, “You have to figure out the common multiples.”
Literally everyone in the second group said, “Tell Jeremy and Deb to get on a carousel!”
A recent study found that how we react to math problems like these can affect how our children approach math too. Yikes- another thing to blame parents for! Researchers at the University of Chicago found that children of math-anxious parents learned less math over the course of the year if these parents provided frequent help with math homework. As parents, this information might make us feel stuck: should we help with homework or not?
My advice is to never let homework negatively impact your relationship with you child. If you find that they need help that you cannot calmly and constructively provide let us know. We have an army of teachers who belong to group one of my unofficial study on reactions to Jeremy and Deb’s Ferris wheel adventure.
I also suggest that you attend the parent math workshop (grades 2-5) on November 6th after drop-off. The more you understand how your children learn math in school, the less anxious you will feel.