Spotlight on: Charlotte Hayward, Meaningful Mathematics

“If you take a bite of your dinner, you can do another math problem,” I prod my numbers loving 4 year-old.

With a heaving sigh, he sinks his teeth into his chicken and broccoli then grabs his purple marker with his tiny fingers.

“What is 42 plus 22, Mama? Let’s work this out.”

So different from me, this kid.

Math. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, and I do use it every day. But, I can’t imagine math being a huge motivator to finish a task.

Fortunately, this community is blessed with many talented folks who, like my little guy, just love math. I mean, really really love math.

And fortunately, some of these great folks are here to help you, and your kiddos, improve math skills and maybe even fall in love with the subject.

I present to you, Exhibit A: MOD Mom Charlotte Hayward, math teacher extraordinaire and blogger at Meaningful Mathematics.

Mathematics instructor and blogger, Charlotte Hayward. (c) C. Hayward
Mathematics instructor and blogger, Charlotte Hayward. (c) C. Hayward

Kate: In just a few sentences, can you give me a quick overview of who you are and your math qualifications?

Charlotte: Back in the day, before children, I was a primary school (Elementary) teacher (in England). Over the years I had taught all ages from Reception (Pre-K) to Year 6 (5th Grade). As part of my education degree I specialized in Maths and so, when the opportunity came up for me to lead maths at school, I grabbed it. When I left teaching I was teaching maths 80% of the time, across the school. Along with this I was organizing fun maths events to raise the profile of the subject and make it fun!! After my daughter was born I went back to the school as a Teaching Assistant where I was teaching all the maths support classes for both ends of the spectrum: the children that needed a boost and those that needed extending – such fun and so rewarding.

Kate: You are deeply passionate about mathematics for early learners. Why do the little ones need math in their lives?

Charlotte: Maths is everywhere and is often one of the keys to success. As young learners, children can learn to enjoy maths and at the same time absorb a lot. If we can get them feeling confident about and enjoying such a key subject then we are giving them the best possible chance to be whatever they want to be.

Math can be so much fun. (c) iStockphoto

Kate: Tell us a bit about “Meaningful Mathematics” — what is it, what are your plans and hopes for it?

Charlotte: Meaningful mathematics is myself and a friend. We are both maths teachers and incredibly passionate about helping others to learn to love and understand maths in a way that makes it fun and meaningful!

So, for us, the blog is just the beginning. At the moment it is just me sharing my mad ideas and hoping there are a few parents out there that can make sense if it and use it to help their children. I hope, over time, that others will be able to access it and that it can make a difference to how parents view their children’s maths learning and that it will help the whole family to get more pleasure and understanding from the subject. Eventually we hope to extend the blog into a full website where parents, teachers and children can have access to activities, resources, lesson plans and anything else that we can think of that can help people with their maths learning.

Kate: So, do you plan to extend that out to video tutorials? Meet-up groups? Tutoring sessions? Parent groups? Inquiring minds want to know .

Charlotte: Yes!! I love tutoring and would love to branch into doing a little of this out here (as long as I can make it work around the munchkins).

I also hope to start running a Preschool maths class within the next year. I have a vision of something where parents and children can come and have fun together learning and exploring the subject through games and activities.

So many equations, so little time. (c) iStockphoto
So many equations, so little time. (c) iStockphoto

So how about you, MOD Moms? Are you math math whizzes? Do you kids love numbers or cringe at equations? Do you have special tips for math homework or for making math meaningful? Any horror stories? Tell us about it in the comment section!

 

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