'ZERO IS HERO'-Puppet presentation on 'Number Concept'

2012 is known as 'Year of Mathematics'. Other day, during a training workshop, a quaetion was raised how  to teach Mathematics throgh Puppetry. My reply was-'Puppets can teach Mathematical Concepts like Numbers, Place value and so on verywell'.

 'ZERO' the number I took and made a presentation using puppets for class 1 to 111 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Public School, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. This is second time I am using puppets to teach elementary concepts of numbers to children attending primary school. I have noticed an dit has been my own personal experience as a child also that many kids are not confortable with Maths. I am not good at it and as a child, I faced lots of learning disability with Maths and various concepts. However, I did enjoy ALGEBRA and GEOMETRY. 

The fear or say it hateredness development towards Maths develops when the concepts are not made clear to the children. I hold TEACHERS and PARENTS responsible for this. Concepts of Numbers have to be taught to children by understanding the level of understanding of the children and not with the assumption that they are at the understandable level. The negligence of the same or to say unable to recognise the problem of understanding Mathematical concepts in children at an early stage is a Fault of the TEACHERS and PARENTS. As a chilld spents most of his/her time at school with tecahers and remaining time with parents. So, learning disability, specially with Maths should be diagnosed at early age and and treament for the same also has to begun at early age.

I have quoted in my earlier blogs about my father Sri. T. Rangarajan -versatile personality and a good teacher. Though teaching was not his profession. He would always say-'It is mistery as well as miracle that passionless persons are into teaching field and persons with  passion for teaching are in other professions'. He has helped me to come out with FEAR OF MATHEMATICS, during my school days. some of the concepts of Mathematics he taught and later my brothers taught me was making it interesting and sounding the concepts as 'NEAR and DEAR to me.

Yeah, that is one way of making the concepts easier to understand. Again, we need to allow the children to think. This THINKING is seldom done by children now a days, as  most of the things are readily available in a READY MADE FORMAT.

Well, coming to my Puppet Presentation on June 18, 2012 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Public School for class 1 to 111 (around 600 students) was a great learning experience for me too. It was an interactive session. It was making them to understand that number 'ZERO' has value and it also makes other numbers grow bigger and bigger in digit. Students enjoyed it and also were quite reciprocative to the presentation.

This way  of interacting with puppets and talking about numbers makes learning easy and interesting.

"As each number is unique and has value so are we humans too"

Vice Principal Mrs Shashikala Madam crowning  'HERO-ZERO'

"Life is full of Calculations; Permitation and Combination"