A new survey has shown that 1 in 3 parents reported feeling physically ill when they help their children with math and science work. Helping our children with their school work is part of parenting, and it is not always easy. It has usually been a long time since parents were in school, and subjects are taught differently now than they were when parents were young, making it hard for parents to help. There are also common subjects that children and parents continue to struggle with, but surveys are showing that this may be much worse than anyone had thought.
According to Study Finds, a new survey is showing that 1 in 3 parents “feel ill” when they are trying to help their children with their school work that involves math and science. The survey was completed by OnePoll, on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology and it looked at parents of children between the ages of 5 and 13 years old.
It found that when it comes to STEM, 48% of parents did not even know what that meant. Half of the parents also reported that their children knew more about science than they did. Similar numbers showed the same for technology, engineering and math.
When it comes to math, parents may struggle the worst, with 68% reporting that they no longer remember how to do long division. More than half, 52%, can not calculate fractions and 61% do not know how to calculate the circumference of a circle. It even found that 47% do not understand prime numbers and could not recognize the symbol for pi. This may be information that a lot of parents can relate to, and the reason is simple.
When we are done school, and time goes by, a lot of the textbook things that we learn in school get stored so far back in our brain because we are not using them in our everyday lives, and if we do need to calculate something, we all have calculators in our pockets with smart phones. When we do not use pieces of information enough, or for a long period of time, it is likely to get forgotten. While some of it may come back when our children start school, it doesn’t always and when they are taught a different way than we were, it is harder for adults to recall the information. This means that parents are stressing out to the point where they are feeling ill.
Sources: Study Finds, OnePoll, The Institution of Engineering and Technology