"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn".

Imagine eating a delicious pizza and learning fractions simultaneously. Imagine baking a cake and learning measurements, understanding statistics and probability while watching a cricket match, calculating distances or estimating travel times when travelling. Isn't it interesting? All these activities involve Mathematics.

Even after experiencing mathematics on a daily basis, there's a line I frequently get to hear from some students and even adults too, "When I look at a Mathematics problem, it often feels like I'm staring at a foreign language."

They often claim Mathematics is like a big puzzle for them rather than a discipline, possibly as a consequence of their fear. This fear is often interlinked to the incapability of the child to understand the concept.

Evidently from my experience, there are other reasons why a child is intimidated by the subject. The main problem appears when a child fails to see the real-world relevance of Mathematics or has trouble connecting theoretical concepts to concrete situations. Moreover, societal pressure and comparison with peers discourages the child, resulting in self-doubt.

Mathematics is a subject where each new concept builds on the previous knowledge. Missing on foundational concepts can lead to struggle with advanced topics.

I think Mathematics is a block game rather than a big puzzle. That mean children need to clear their foundational concepts rather than running away from it. Also, encouraging little efforts can elevate their confidence. Even nodding to answers, praising in front of the class or giving a thumbs-up can do wonders.

Instead of focusing solely on applying the formula, emphasis should be given on visualizing the problem and then working through it.

Albert Einstein beautifully summed this up in his words,

"If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about the solutions."

Now who better a man to follow advice on Mathematics other than the genius Albert Einstein himself?