Math is a subject that many of us struggle with. We are envious of kids who seem to find it so easy, especially those from China.
Why is it they find it so easy while most of us don’t?
A Different Approach to Learning
When it comes to math, Chinese educational systems take a different approach by focusing on practice and mastery. It trains children to identify a problem and apply the knowledge they have to reach the solution. The focus is not just on memorizing facts, but understanding underlying concepts, which is why the students understand the math better and can work through complex problems.
Strong Foundations
From a very young age, Chinese children begin to learn their math fundamentals. This is highly encouraged as part of their culture and education system, as many of the Chinese believe that this will help their children excel in mathematics. Thus, Chinese students get a very strong foundation early on and grasp the basics of math quicker compared to others.
Mental Patterns and Calculations
As the foundation of math is taught to the Chinese students at an early age, they start to build up the mental patterns and calculations they need to solve math problems. Chinese students learn to see math problems as a journey or mental story that they can follow to get to a solution. Thus, they become quite fluent in problem-solving, as long as they understand the basic concepts.
Math-centric Culture
Chinese culture places a lot of importance on math education and success. Because of this, a lot of emphasis and resources are put into improving Chinese students’ math abilities.
Thus, parents and teachers spend a lot of time and effort on encouraging their children to learn, practice, and master their mathematics.
Competitive Nature
The Chinese education system puts more emphasis on the traditional ways of grading, including test scores. As a result, there is more pressure on students to perform well academically, and math is seen as an important subject in which students should excel. This encourages competition, with each student trying to outperform the others to achieve higher scores.
Available Resources
Another reason why Chinese students may find math easier than most is due to the amount of resources available to them. There are many books, competitions, and extra instructions available to boost their math skills.
Many of these are free or of low cost, so students can access all the resources they need to advance in their math education, giving them an edge over those who don’t have the same nowledge pool.
Presence of Math Olympiads
In addition to the above factors, there are math Olympiads organized in China every year. This encourages students to put in more effort and dedicate their time to studying and mastering mathematics. The winners of the mathematics Olympiads, or those who do exceptionally well, are rewarded with scholarships, giving them greater motivation to excel in math.
Rote Learning
Rote learning is encouraged in China, as it is seen to lead to better math performance. By repeatedly and quickly remembering math formulas and equations, students are able to recall it quickly and apply it to problem-solving.
This technique of rote learning is seen as a shortcut to success, enabling children to get their math problems done faster.
Emphasis on Practicality of Math
Finally, the focus on making math practical is yet another factor that is contributing to Chinese students being better in mathematics than others. Their educational approach emphasizes the importance of math in everyday life, teaching them about applying math on real-world problems and scenarios.
This helps the students to better understand math, which in turn makes them find math problems easier to solve.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is clear that there are several reasons why math comes naturally to Chinese kids. These aspects of their educational system, culture, and learning techniques all play a significant role in producing these results. Chinese students understand math on a deep level due to their mastery of basic concepts, and specialized resources available to them.
In addition, they develop mental patterns and calculations over time, enabling them to solve complex math problems. As a result, Chinese kids are able to find math easier than other children.