Public Science & Reference

An Innovative and Fun Way of Teaching Math

Frank Ho

Teacher and founder of Ho Math and Chess

www.mathandchess.com

I have observed that one of the main reasons that children hate math is they have not mastered the foundation of math, surprisingly the root of problems can be traced to the basics they learned in the elementary grades such as addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. When elementary students are asked why do we have math? Lots of these children can relate math to our daily life such as shopping, cooking, measuring, driving, time, shapes etc. and most of the time they think math is important because it has something to do with counting and numbers.

It is very good these youngsters realize that math has relations to our daily life but does the traditional way of doing of math worksheets such as 2 + 3 reflect the environment today our youth lives? It certainly does not. Math is not just about counting numbers. Apart from teaching the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, math is supposed to teach our next generation on how to solve problems and be creative. Part of the problems why some children hate math worksheets is simply because these traditional worksheets do not represent the world they are living now.

The Effect of Math and Chess Integrated Instruction on Math Scores

John BUKY, Education Consultant

Frank HO, Canada certified math teacher

 The Chess Academy, Chicago, USA, June 2008

Research studies have shown that chess can be used as an effective game-based teaching method. However, all the past studies used chess as a separate instructional tool. There were no math contents in chess instruction provided and there was no math and chess integrated workbook used. This study examined the effect on pupils’ math scores when a truly integrated math and chess workbook was used as an instructional practice workbook. The results show that the integrated math and chess workbook significantly increased pupils’ math scores between pre-tests and post-tests among grade 1 to grade 8 pupils.

Key Words: math and chess; math and chess instruction, math and chess integrated workbook; math and chess integrated workbook; mathematics scores of the students

Introduction

Research papers have demonstrated that chess instruction improves analytical reasoning, problem solving skills, and academic achievement (Chrisiaen & Verholfstadt (1978); Frank & D’Hondt (1979); Smith & Cage (2000)). Research conducted by Gaudreau (1992) shows no significant differences among the groups on basic calculations. These research studies point to the direction that chess has strong effect on improving children’s cognitive ability than their arithmetic computation ability. By teaching math and chess as two separate subjects, children do not have opportunities to work on basic arithmetic operations using acquired chess knowledge, this may explain why by playing chess, it may not statistically significant improve children’s basic arithmetic computation ability.

Chess for Math Curriculum Comparison

Frank Ho

Amanda Ho

Ho Math and Chess teachers

www.mathandchess.com

Comparison

Number Concepts and Operations

Grades

Math Learning Outcomes

Matched chess knowledge to the math learning outcomes

Math knowledge learned not matched by chess

Math knowledge learned in chess but not included in math curriculum

Grades K to 1

Recognize, describe, and use numbers from 0 to 100 in a variety of familiar settings.

Demonstrate and use a variety of methods to show the process of addition and subtraction on one-digit whole numbers.

Chess pieces values of 0, 1, 3, 5, and 9 Counting chess pieces values Compare object with values Understand the concept of “half” of the chessboard Skip count to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. Estimating and Comparing estimates Addition and subtraction to 18.

Algebraic notation Cancellation of equal values of chess pieces. Counting in multi-direction with multiple attacks Special tactics pattern Chess pieces movements Checkmate pattern Attacking sequence Interaction square Logic

Grades 2 to 3

Develop a number sense for whole numbers from 0 to 1000 and common fractions to tenths.

Use a variety of strategies to apply a basic operations (+, ) to whole numbers and use these operations in solving problems.

Chess pieces values of 0, 1, 3, 5, and 9 Counting chess pieces values Compare object with values Understand the concept of “half” of the chessboard Estimating Rounding to the nearest 10 and 100 Skip count forward and backward by 2s, 5s, 10s, 25s, and 100s to 1000. Writing number in words Place vales Divisibility by 2, 5, 10 Multiplication up to 25 (5 5) Even and odd Understanding of halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, and tenths.

Ho Math and Chess Worksheets Really Work  

Frank Ho, Amanda Ho

Ho Math and Chess Learning Centre Teachers

Vancouver, BC, Canada

www.mathandchess.com

Much attention on math reforms has always been on how math shall be taught? The most heated up debate was conceptual teaching vs. algorithm teaching and usually the conceptual teaching prevails and then a new set of textbooks follows. The most obvious change was in the area of “word problems” section in the textbooks, which is more exploratory and requires a real understanding of some math concepts.

The trouble is most teachers at school already have their hands full on basics teaching and do not really have enough time to go through word problems very carefully. Many times, we heard students told us that they “hated” those word problems. Many told us that their teachers did not even explain how to work out those problems and they simply were stuck on those word problems.

Is this the only thing we can do after each textbook change that is to increase the difficulty level of word problem to higher level thinking skills for students to work on? Without properly training teachers, the consequence is only to get lots of students frustrated. We personally like those word problems, which require conceptual understanding, but unfortunately most teachers do not know how to teach students well in tacking those word problems and the end result is that most students would not do well.

We can see the computational problems in textbook have not changed a lot in terms of their formats and styles. The idea of creating some new word problems is good but the problem is still how we can teach students so that they actually understand them, instead of creating stress on students with something they feel that they do not understand at all.

Students who say they suffer from “math anxiety” usually have the following symptoms:   Upon entering their math classroom, even on the first day, they panic and feel immediately unsuccessful.  Feelings of nervousness, frustration, annoyance, even anger are felt.  Even when offered help or opportunities to get assistance, the student remains passive and afraid.  On tests these students feel like they are alone in their suffering; that they are the only ones who are struggling; that they will mess up even the simplest problems.  These students have lost their confidence, and have often felt this way for many years.  What is perpetuating this problem, and what can parents and teachers do about this?

The problem of math anxiety is universal.  Yes, many students come to class with skill gaps in the curriculum and poor training in study and test-taking skills.  But it is mostly a mental block and self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuated by those who care for the struggling student the most:  parents, relatives, and teachers who show a negative attitude about their past challenges in math class.  The clue to the power of the self-imposed block is when the student travels to his next class and immediately feels better and more confident, and is glad the torturous hour of math is over.  For most kids with math anxiety, this is the reality.  Why the sudden relief, the sense of going back to normal, and the instant sense that things are better?

Math anxiety is simply an emotional condition, extended through many days, weeks, and years and blown up in the student’s mind as being something unrecoverable, innate, and permanent.  One of the first steps in dealing with this strong emotion is to examine the myths about math in general that create mistaken ideas about how math concepts and ideas fit in to our world.

What is Ho Math?

Frank Ho

BC certified math teacher

Founder of Ho Math and Chess Learning Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Ho Math is a special concept and game-based math teaching method especially designed for elementary students (from kindergarten to grade 7). It was invented in Canada by a Canadian math teacher Frank Ho.

How Ho Math was invented?

Below is a short description by Mr. Frank Ho.

When I was a teenager, I went to a few learning centers including general purpose and some specialty learning centers (like English only) and also went to my teacher’s home for preparing for junior high entrance examination. The purpose of these learning centers is for one simple reason that is to cram students with exam questions so students can get higher marks, there is no other real mission. None of these learning centers expanded or made to the international stage since they were geared to prepare for local exams and they exist or die depending on education policy in the area.

In recollection, I realized how wrong it was to learn something for the sole purpose to get better in exam, although I agree the marks are important and some employers only recognize marks for new graduates. But learning for the purpose of getting high marks without training to think is definitely wrong.

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