Contraindications for practicing kundalini yoga

Do not practice https://www.julianalucky.com/post/proven-8-ways-to-make-school-morning-routines-easier if you have exacerbations of chronic diseases, mental disorders, after surgery. Kundalini yoga can bring harm, not benefit, if you are diagnosed with bronchial asthma, cerebral circulation disorders, in the first months after a stroke or heart attack, with pronounced hypertension and type 1 diabetes, as well as in the presence of malignant tumors. In all these situations, it is necessary to consult your doctor before deciding to exercise.

During pregnancy, exercises should be chosen very carefully. It is desirable to exercise with an experienced instructor who specializes in working with pregnant women. During menstruation, do not perform inverted poses and with a load on the abdominal muscles. If you have a fever or if you feel unwell, it is better to postpone the training.

It is important not to overdo it. Do the exercise as many times and for as long as you think it is possible for your body at the moment. Next time you can do more, but in the meantime do not overdo it, do not be violent to yourself.

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD COPE WITH LEARNING STRESS

Returning to school after vacations, large or short, can be stressful for many children. The reasons for academic stress are different: https://argoprep.com/blog/k8/go-math-grade-1-vs-argoprep/, new subjects that were not there last year, a large volume of assignments and workloads, old debts in exams and tests that will have to retake, or the upcoming graduation year. But what unites them is that the child feels regular or even constant anxiety and anxiety due to school and school.

Stress can be increased by the expectation of greater independence, organization and responsibility for academic performance on the part of parents, teachers, and the child himself, who may feel stupid if he forgets to write down homework assignments, misses a test deadline, or does not understand a new topic. …

The good news is that parents can help their children learn to cope with learning stress and https://argoprep.com/blog/k8/go-math-grade-2-vs-argoprep/ before academic performance gets out of hand.

Child psychologist Wendy Moss recommends several ways to support you.

1. Talk to your child about how he sees this problem.
Try to understand what exactly is interfering with his studies. Children are very discerning, and by asking the right questions, you can get to know the situation better from the perspective of the child himself, and not just the people around him. This means that we must unite in the search for a solution to the difficulties that have arisen.

2. Help your child learn useful skills in planning, organizing, and time-managing their classroom work.
Many homework problems for example about https://argoprep.com/blog/k8/go-math-grade-5-vs-argoprep/ are associated not with a lack of ability, but with distractions (phone, TV, noise during homework preparation), insufficient ability to organize the workplace and time (begins to prepare for the test at the very last moment; forgets the necessary books; doesn’t know where to start and therefore puts it off).

3. Support your child by teaching him how to make difficult work easier.
Learning anxiety is especially pronounced in children with long and difficult assignments (such as exams). This can suppress the child’s self-confidence and cause a desire to avoid, hide, get away from their implementation. Help him divide the big work into small steps that in themselves will no longer seem impracticable, and move from one “step” to another until the entire “ladder” is overcome.

4. Build your child’s self-confidence.
This is a very important part of dealing with learning stress. Constant disappointments can turn anxiety into chronic, and all the strength and energy of the student will go to it. Pay attention if the child compares himself too much to his peers. Or maybe he strives for unattainable perfection (perfectionism) and because of this he is constantly dissatisfied with himself (“I’m so stupid!”). Or, perhaps, he believes that he should only do all the study assignments on his own, without asking for help.

If you notice something similar, take the time to discuss these issues with your child and help him not to be alone with his worries, but to learn to trust himself and other people more. And for prolonged anxiety, when learning stress does not decrease or even increases, it can be helpful to seek support from a teacher or psychologist to discuss options for helping your child.

How to hold your breath correctly in yoga?

Briefly, we recall that kumbhaka (holding the breath) including in the process of https://www.julianalucky.com/post/spectra-breast-pump contributes to:

increased cell viability,
improving the functioning of the nervous system,
stimulation of pranic metabolic processes in the body,
an increase in the bioenergy produced by the body.
Now let’s talk about what rules you need to follow when performing it.

Practice asanas regularly. This will make the spine flexible. It is not for nothing that in the 8-step yoga system, pranayama follows asanas. Yoga exercises improve blood circulation and help distribute prana evenly throughout the body. A delay of more than 40 seconds is recommended only after a series of asanas. Performing a delay with an “unheated”, non-flexible spine can provoke pranic disorders.
During the delay, the back should be perfectly flat. It is permissible to feed the body slightly forward.
Kumbhaka must be accompanied by Mulabandha (perineal lock).
The breath hold is not performed on a full stomach. You can do it on an empty stomach or a few hours after eating.
It is unacceptable to force events. It is necessary to increase the duration of the delay and the number of rounds gradually. Monitor your physical condition. If your body temperature rises during practice, it’s okay. However, this state should not persist for a long time after practice.
Before performing the “ventilate” delay. Perform a series (5 or more) long and deep exhales of equal duration. It makes no sense to draw the maximum amount of air into the lungs immediately before the delay – this will not increase its duration in any way. Also, before kumbhaka, it is advisable to perform Kapalabhati or Bhastrika.
While holding, concentrate on the sensations in the thoracic region, trying to hear and feel the heartbeat. Feel the heart rate decrease and the beats become stronger.
Don’t overexpose the delay. When you feel that the body needs air, resume breathing. The main thing is that the inhalation and exhalation are calm. Some masters advise taking a small additional breath just before exhaling.
After a delay, you must exhale completely. You seem to push out the rest of the air, using the intercostal muscles and muscles of the press. Then, after exhaling, you can hold your breath for a short time (for a few seconds) so that the next inhalation occurs automatically.
If you are unable to control the exhalation and the body requires rapid emptying and filling of the lungs, then you have overexposed the delay. This will not entail dire consequences. Just the next time, do a shorter breath hold, gradually increasing the duration of its implementation.
Hold your breath correctly and you will feel the powerful effect it has on the body.

YOGA IS AN Escape From Life OR A TOOL FOR GROWTH ?!

Why do we start doing yoga including https://www.julianalucky.com/post/9-ways-to-practice-mindfulness-with-kids? Often to improve health and energy levels. But that’s not what I’m talking about today!

It happens that doing yoga and other practices of self-improvement, we find inner peace, tranquility and ease, and

we like this state. It contrasts strongly with what we encounter in everyday life and there is a desire to do it more. There is a desire to run away from problems into practice. And this is a good substitute for alcohol and other means of escaping reality! What’s the catch?

You may notice that while you are practicing, being among like-minded people and attending various retreats and so on, you have a fairly balanced state, but as soon as you leave this corridor, encounters with real life become more and more traumatic and annoying.

Why do people aspire to monasteries, ashrams, solitude, or even to a cave to meditate? Because, having a high sensitivity, doing yoga and thinning more and more, they begin to feel that it is unbearable here and that everything will be perfect THERE. Unfortunately, this is an illusion, there will also be trials, distracting and annoying moments, albeit calmer.

The bottom line is that we cannot avoid meeting ourselves!
The best way to check what we have achieved with the help of yoga practices is every day, when faced with a variety of life situations and people, to look at our reactions. Can we maintain inner peace, calmness and optimism, or can we do this only in ideal conditions of practice, if we are not distracted by the noise of neighbors or our own children ?!

This is a good question and a great indicator of how far you’ve come in working on yourself. Therefore, you should not avoid Life, you should not look for ideal conditions, since learning is faster in the thick of things. And solitude will be very beneficial for periods. It will give you the opportunity to recuperate and gain deeper contact with yourself. It can be a retreat, vipassana, or a trip to the country house for a couple of days.
In this case, yoga, meditation and solitude will not be an escape from Life, but a reliable tool on the Path to a better version of yourself!

5 SOOTHING YOGA POSES THAT WILL HELP YOU FALL ASLEEP QUICKLY

Tens of millions of people around the world suffer from sleep disorders, and the number is growing inexorably. It’s a problem in today’s society, and if you’re familiar with it or just want to improve your sleep quality, these 5 soothing yoga including https://www.julianalucky.com/post/mommy-and-me-yoga-benefits poses will help you.

The purpose of each of these postures is to relax the body and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation.

In other words, these poses lead to a calming of the muscles responsible for relaxation.

These postures make up a 10-minute complex before bedtime. However, it can be modified or supplemented for optimal results.

Remember, you must first listen to your body.

1. Cat Pose (Marjariasana)
To start, put your knees strictly under your hip joints, palms strictly under your shoulders and pressed tightly to the mat. As you exhale, round your spine and stretch your rounded back toward the ceiling. Allow your head to drop freely, but don’t press your chin tightly against your chest.

Combine this pose with Cow pose (below) and make sure to inhale in Cow pose and exhale in Cat pose.

2. Cow pose.
The beginning is identical to the Cow pose: knees bent strictly under the hip joints, palms pressed firmly against the mat under the shoulders. As you inhale, pull your tailbone and rib cage upward, while simultaneously pulling your abdominal area toward the floor. Also lift your head up and direct your gaze in front of you.

Combine this pose with Cat pose (above) and make sure to inhale in Cow pose and exhale in Cat pose.

3. forward leaning sitting (Pashchimottanasana)
On the exhale, try to walk your arms as far as possible and remember to extend your upper body while bending over. If you can’t touch your feet, use a yoga belt or towel and pull yourself forward.

Hold for 30 seconds. Perform two approaches.

4. Child’s pose (Balasana).
Get down on your knees and sit on your heels. Gently bend forward until your forehead touches the floor. Your arms may be extended forward or remain behind you.

This is the resting pose in yoga. It is a restorative pose that you can return to whenever you feel overstretched or just want to take a break. Focus on breathing deeply and filling your lower body with air.

5. Relaxation Pose (Shavasana).
Oddly enough, this pose is called the “hardest pose” because many people struggle with lying down after practicing yoga. Try to relax your brain and detach yourself from your thoughts.

Stay in this position for 1-5 minutes or longer if necessary.

Bonus tips:

Most importantly, focus on your breathing. The goal is to sink into a meditative state and relax your body and mind. Concentrate only on the breath, not on developing flexibility.

This is the very last thing you do before going to bed. Do not do this practice before your evening routines. Finish all your bedtime preparations (alarm clock, dressing, digging into your phone, etc.) and then start doing the complex.

Create a comfortable atmosphere in the room. To help the relaxation process, dim the lights in the room gently before you begin. You can leave the soft light of a night light.

About karma yoga. Yoga of action

Any kind of yoga including https://www.julianalucky.com/yoga-for-kids is directed at the spiritual development of a person. The first step to development occurs when a person begins to see something new, which he or she has not noticed before, and begins to strive for it. Exit from the comfort zone, expansion of consciousness – this is possible only through conscious work of a person, leading to inner transformation and acceptance of new aspects of the world.

Expansion to the world in the concept of karma yoga takes place through work for the benefit of society. Let’s examine in more detail how this works.

In order to work for the benefit of other people (society, Guru, company, family) it is important to consider their desires. And they have to be comprehended, to realize their essence, so as not to turn out like in the proverb about good intentions. The process when you begin to empathize with other people is already moving beyond stereotypical views of the world. After all, in order to feel and understand someone as fully as possible, you must completely dissociate yourself from your ego, from your selfish attitudes and desires. Learning about the world comes through knowing other people, their feelings, and fundamentally new points of view.

The Bhagavatgita, the books of Vivekananda, Sivananda, and other classical texts speak of not being attached to the fruits of one’s activity as one of the main aspects of karma yoga. One can see the common sense in the existence of this condition, based even on personal experience. By concentrating on work without thinking about personal gain, praise and merit, one does not unburden energy to thought. When there are no worries, work becomes more efficient and enjoyable, thoughts don’t bounce around, and the mind is clear. Such a calm and harmonious state is already a pledge for further realizations, transcendental experiences, understanding of the essence of being, etc.

As one famous Russian yogi said, “Before meeting with Shiva in meditation, your body and psyche have to be prepared. You are mistaken if you think that God is interested in communicating about your ailments. When one is totally immersed in an activity, one is in a state of what is called flow. For example, it is often experienced by artists in the process of continuous creativity.

At some moment the brush itself begins to paint, not from the mind, but as if by “divine command. Similar states are described by programmers: when working at the utmost concentration, lines of code begin to appear by themselves, satisfaction comes from the feeling of endless creative activity.

In my opinion, the condition of utmost concentration and work for the benefit of others does not yet define action as karma-yoga. After all, you can diligently obey and still there will be no development in a person. Therefore, the third important condition I would like to consider is conscious practice. This is the condition that makes any action yoga.

If karma is the law of cause and effect, then mindfulness is awareness of this law. Being in the here and now, we understand exactly why and for what we are here and now, our place in the moment and our role among people. The higher our level of awareness, the better we can relate to all the events in this world, beginning with the impact of our own actions on them. Everything in this world strives for progress, and a conscious person does not go against nature–he also strives for development and harmony with the world. It follows that the activity one chooses must be consistent with one’s inner self. It must lead to development, to getting rid of stereotypes, complexes, blocks, which prevent from harmonious
This is the natural need of all living beings to develop, to get rid of stereotypes, complexes and blocks that prevent them from living harmoniously.

Development is a natural need of all living beings. Therefore, when we are not engaged in our business or idle pastime, we intuitively feel that there is no benefit in it, such activity oppresses us.

So, the practice of karma yoga is also learning to be in harmony with the whole world, starting with oneself and gradually expanding to other people, the whole society. This is the practice of conscious action for the sake of developing oneself and the whole world.

Now we come to the question of application of karma yoga in modern society.

If a person lives in the modern society, this means that he/she carries within him/herself the basic characteristics, and performs certain tasks, which are peculiar to this society at the given period of time. These tasks and cultural characteristics may be absolutely natural from the point of view of evolution, but at the same time not understandable to a single person (depends on the degree of his consciousness again).

Regardless of whether we are talking about physical labor or intellectual labor, humans must strive to reach the limits of their abilities and use the resources of the modern world. In order for science and technology to advance, people must make the most of the opportunities that science and technology provide. If people are born here and now, this is their karma and their task is to learn the laws and values that underlie the existence of a given society. That is, the task of karma yoga in modern society is to develop oneself harmoniously and to help others develop, using the experience and knowledge of the modern world.

How to get your child to study when you don’t have to go to school

If a child doesn’t do his homework during quarantine
Distance learning doesn’t give a child “F”, the teacher doesn’t look at him with a strict gaze, and the homework with go math 5 grade can be stretched over a week. If the child has not developed skills of self-organization, parents have to push him, which sooner or later leads to conflicts. Is it possible to make a child force himself to study?

“Studying remotely is more difficult, they ask more than usual,” complain the schoolchildren. But instead of complaining and waiting for this period to end, maybe we should reconsider personal self-organization and benefit from such a regime?

There is a whole direction that in the business community is called “self-management” – a system of self-management. Why not use it in school education? We will not delve into theory, but only use the tools that will help you effectively manage time, your own energy and concentration, which, in turn, will allow you to achieve your goals.

Where do I see myself in 5 years?
Try to figure out with your child, “What is go math sixth grade for?” You can do this with the help of a very simple but effective exercise: write on a piece of paper what your child sees himself or herself as in 5 years.

Someone will write that he or she studies at a lyceum, participates in Olympiads, is fluent in two languages, plays the drums, collects robots and is popular with the opposite sex because he or she has an athletic physique, communicates well and has many followers on social networks.

Someone will already pass the exam and get into a dream university, speak at scientific events and publish articles in Web of Science, save the world from ecological disaster, live separately from parents and have a pug.

The main challenge in this exercise is to understand what the child sees himself or herself as in a few years. After all, in order for this to happen, you need to start moving in this direction today. It is important to explain to the child that schoolwork and future direction in life are inextricably linked, although it may not seem so at first glance.

20 hours a week to achieve a goal
In order for goals to become a reality it is necessary to act, the results will not just fall on their heads as a gift (maybe a pug), it will require skills and abilities that need to be developed over the years. About this, too, you should talk to your child. It is necessary to explain that the sooner he starts, the faster he will reach his goals.

In the book “Geniuses and Outsiders” Malcolm Gladwell proves that geniuses are not born, but become as a result of hard work. He cites a number of studies that show that excellence in any field can be achieved with 10,000 hours of practice – that’s about three hours a day or 20 hours a week for ten years.

This applies even to prodigies. If you take Mozart, for example, who started writing music at age 6, his most outstanding works are considered those he wrote at age 21 and beyond. Once again: the earlier a child starts practicing, the faster he will achieve mastery.

So, the big goals are set, now the main task – every day to take steps to achieve them. And to do that you have to at least graduate high school, right? Don’t count on Bill Gates to succeed. And Bill Gates became what he became, not because he dropped out of Harvard, but because he spent 20-30 hours a week in a computer lab and mastered programming from the eighth grade to high school graduation.

Three important things to do every day
Tasks are many, it is important to prioritize them. Give more attention to some things, and less to others. This is easy to do if you know the end goal. The “rule of three” will help – at the beginning of each day, before you start doing tasks, you need to decide what three important things should be done by the end of the day. For example, the priorities for today are math, computer science and English, so these activities should be the main focus, the rest – the rest of the time.

Use the most active time in the day.
What else would help? Undoubtedly, knowing the circadian rhythms of a child. This is the body’s internal biological clock, which is responsible for periods of sleep and wakefulness, decline and increase activity. Almost all living organisms on the planet have such a clock.

How should the ideal human daily routine be arranged? At 4-5 a.m. the body prepares for awakening: melatonin production begins to decrease, body temperature rises, the production of “activity hormones” – cortisol and adrenaline – increases. These phenomena are intensified under the influence of light, heat and noise.

But “owls” and “larks” have different indicators. Most people are of the “dove” chronotype, their activity peaks in the morning around 9-10 am and in the afternoon around 3-17 pm. Only 20% of people have a well-defined morning or evening activity type, so there are not many true “owls” and “larks”. When planning your day, it is important to consider the level of energy fluctuation during the day and use the biological “prime time” to your child’s advantage.

How to beat procrastination
Constantly putting off important things and tasks, which leads to negative consequences and causes mental suffering, is called procrastination. Familiar with it? “Things to do for later are put off by everyone. Procrastination is inherent in human nature,” says Tim Pitchel, bestselling author of “Don’t Procrastinate Tomorrow: A Quick Guide to Procrastination.”

What tasks are we more likely to procrastinate on? Boring, complicated, during which there is a feeling of futility of effort, unstructured and ambiguous, with no value to you as an individual, containing no “reward within yourself” (when there is no pleasure in the process of completion).

What to do with such tasks? Change the negative triggers to positive ones. If you’re bored, you can, for example, do the task together with your classmates; if it’s difficult, you can break it up into parts, think up a reward for doing it yourself.

It is important to catch yourself procrastinating in time and think about the negative consequences of not doing the assignment. “It takes more time and energy to experience the fear of a task than the task itself,” notes Rita Emmett, author of “The Book for Slackers.” And she’s right!

How to make up for a lack of energy
Finally, a few words about energy. Let’s say a child knows what he wants and has enough time to do everything. It would seem that this is it, get it and do it. But it’s still there. Either nothing happens, or he starts, but gives up after a couple of days or weeks. Why does this happen? Not enough energy! Where to get it?

First, a good night’s sleep is the foundation of the basics: health, mood and attractiveness. Some people need seven hours, some need nine. It is known that girls need more sleep than boys. In winter you need more sleep than in summer. If there are problems with sleep – look for a way to solve them. Change your child’s bed, curtain the windows, offer soothing teas at night, air the room, lower the temperature in the bedroom before going to bed, and no gadgets an hour before bedtime.

Secondly, physical activity, which will give a charge of energy, and as a bonus – a trim body, good posture, unloading the nervous system. The most important thing is to choose an activity that gives you pleasure, and to do it regularly. Dancing, yoga, fitness – let the child choose what he or she likes best. You can use online applications or lessons on YouTube – there are a lot of options now.

Thirdly, a healthy regular diet. It’s hard to give specific recommendations, the selection of nutrition is very individual. It is important to get a sufficient amount of protein, fiber, various micronutrients and vitamins. It is known that heavy meat food requires energy for digestion, so after such a meal you feel sleepy. Simple carbohydrates (pastries, sweets) have a short effect and require supplementation, it is advisable to exclude them from the regular diet. Focus on foods that give energy – fruits, vegetables, nuts (complex carbohydrates).

And, most importantly, do not forget to praise your child for the tasks he is doing! Remind him that he does them not for the teachers or parents, but for himself – in order to move towards his dreams. Everything is in our hands!

8 strategies for developing student motivation in mathematics

Student motivation is one of the most important aspects of mathematics instruction and an important aspect of any curriculum. The eight motivational strategies discussed below have repeatedly proven their effectiveness, and I can honestly recommend them to my colleagues.

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation including addition sentences for word problems
Extrinsic motivation is always based on the benefits that teachers or parents promise the student. Intrinsic motivation is always based on the student’s own desire to achieve some goal.

Strategy 1. Demonstrate failure in student knowledge
Give several assignments, among which will be very simple, simple and difficult. On very simple and easy assignments, students will get a taste for the process of doing, but will stumble on the difficult ones. There may be a desire for the new knowledge needed to complete difficult assignments.

Strategy 2. Show a sequence of knowledge.
This strategy is related to the previous one. It is important to prove to students that they have the necessary basic knowledge set to easily grasp the new topic including pennies, nickels, and dimes.

Strategy 3. Suggest little tricks.
For example, if your students need to learn the multiplication table, prompt them with the following patterns:
1. When multiplied by 1, any number remains the same.
2. All examples for 5 end in 5 or 0: if the number is even, assign 0 to half the number; if it is odd, assign 5.
3. All examples for 10 end in 0 and start with the number we are multiplying by.
4. Examples by 5 are half as many as examples by 10 (10 × 5 = 50, and 5 × 5 = 25).
5. To multiply by 4, we can simply double the number twice. For example, to multiply 6 × 4, you have to double 6 twice: 6 + 6 = 12, 12 + 12 = 24.
6. To memorize multiplication by 9, write down a series of answers in a column: 09, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, 90. Remember the first and the last number. All the others can be reproduced by the rule: the first digit in a two-digit number increases by 1, and the second decreases by 1.

Strategy 4. Challenge the students for example about telling the time – whole hours
When children are challenged, even taken “for granted,” they light up. Just choose the task for this challenge carefully; it should be challenging, but within the students’ abilities.

Strategy 5. Offer a paradoxical challenge.
For example, when studying probability theory, talk about a paradoxical problem with birthdays. In a group of 23 or more people, the probability of at least two people’s birthdays (number and month) being the same is greater than 50%. For example, if there are 23 or more students in a class, it is more likely that some of the classmates’ birthdays will fall on the same day than that everyone will have their own unique birthday.
For 60 or more people, the probability of this coincidence exceeds 99%, although it reaches 100%, according to the Dirichlet principle, only when there are at least 367 people (exactly 1 more than the number of days in a leap year; taking into account leap years).
This statement may not seem obvious, because the probability of coincidence of birthdays of two people with any day of the year (1/365 = 0.27%), multiplied by the number of people in the group (23), gives only (1/365)×23 = 6.3%. This reasoning is incorrect because the number of possible pairs (( 23 × 22 )/2 = 253) far exceeds the number of people in the group (253 > 23). Thus, the statement is not a paradox in the strict scientific sense: there is no logical contradiction in it, and the paradox lies only in the differences between the intuitive perception of the situation by a person and the results of mathematical calculation.

Strategy 6. State the practical usefulness of the topic.
When studying interest, make up a problem about bank loans. Draw on material that the children will be familiar with: for example, a situation in which they take out an educational loan.

Strategy 7. Tell a relevant and interesting story.
For example, about how Carl Friedrich Haass solved complex math problems in 1 minute when he was 10 years old.

Strategy 8. Discuss mathematical curiosities with your children.
For example, that the number 37 has many curious properties. For example, multiplied by 3 and by numbers divisible by 3 (up to and including 27), it gives products represented by a single digit:
37 × 3 = 111;
37 × 6 = 222;
37 × 9 = 333;
37 × 12 = 444;
37 × 15 = 555;
37 × 18 = 666;
37 × 21 = 777;
37 × 24 = 888;
37 × 27 = 999.

Math teachers need to understand the underlying motivations already present in students. The teacher can then play on these motivations to maximize interaction and enhance learning.

How to teach a child to count

Every parent wants to see their child smart beyond his years and familiar with adjectives that start with i to describe a person. However, not all children develop quickly, surprising others with extraordinary intelligence. Some kids learn easily, while others perceive information with difficulty. Therefore, adults will need to make efforts so that the child as soon as possible to master the basic knowledge, among which a special place is counting. This skill will give a start to further successful learning in school, the development of thinking, memory and intelligence. How to teach a child to count, what, how and when to do – read in our article.

Learning to count: general

recommendations

There is no need to rush and load a small child full of lessons about area of a triangle practice problems, but to prepare him to mastering counting is worth starting from infancy. Training is carried out systematically and in stages, depending on the age of the baby:

Up to a year old. A one-year-old child’s brain is not ready for the perception of complex information. The most important thing at this stage is to develop fine motor skills and figurative thinking. It is useful to repeat nursery rhymes, curling the fingers on the hands of a baby.
From 1 to 3 years. It’s time to acquaint your baby with the concept of “a lot or a little. Here all kinds of play materials will help. Explain that one toy in your hand – it’s a little, and in a box a lot of them. Looking at training books, you can ask what kind of figures in the picture more, what less, or equal amount. At age 2, a child can not yet consciously count, but already three years – is able to learn to count to 5.
From age 3 to 4. At this age, clarity is important for learning. You can start to count everything in sight: fingers, sticks, toys, trees, steps, candy. Three- to four-year-old toddlers love to help their parents with household chores. This urge can be used to teach them. There are many options: put four cups on the table, count the cakes and tell if there are enough for all members of the family, serve three napkins, etc.
Ages 4 to 5. Explain the principle of formation of numbers from digits and try to count to 100. If the child understands, you can assume that he was born with a mathematical mindset, and if the information is given with difficulty, do not despair, he will definitely understand everything later.
At the age of 5 or 6, go from visualization to counting in your head, without the help of fingers or sticks. It is worth practicing counting backwards, adding and subtracting.
In order that lessons for the baby were in pleasure and did not cause a negative reaction, you need to adhere to simple rules:

Remain calm and patient. Nervous and snapping at the shouting can discourage learning. At the first signs of the child’s negative reaction, fatigue, loss of interest, you need to interrupt the training.
Conduct classes with kids only in the form of a game. To make a child absorb information, do not necessarily put him behind a desk, to learn better in the game: scoring goals at the gate, building a construction set, loading cubes truck, jumping rope. With preschoolers can start more serious lessons, but their duration should not exceed 15-20 minutes.
Include surrounding objects in the training. Everything is suitable for counting: spoons, mugs on the table, candy, fruit, cars in the yard, children playing on the playground.
Keep in mind the individuality of the child. You should not demand from your baby more than he is able to do at this stage. Doesn’t understand – come back to the subject later. Understanding comes to everyone in its own time.
Involve the child’s senses. Learning is more productive if the kid shifts items of counting himself, says the numbers out loud. Connect to the process of smell and taste can be a simple trick: count the candy before you eat it or flowers, inhaling the fragrance of each.
Beginning training, you need to give the child time to get used to the terms, names, the process itself and only then try to convey the meaning of what is being studied. When the baby understands the spoken meanings, you should move on to memorization.

How to get your child into math

Mathematics “according to Peterson” is widely known not only in Russia. In December 2018, Ludmila Georgievna’s textbook for elementary and basic schools successfully passed all the necessary examinations and returned to the federal list by numerous requests from teachers and parents. At the beginning of the school year, we asked her to tell us how to help a child with math, how to get adults interested in it, and why it is important for children to feel math magician addition.

How do you get a child interested in math if the teaching at school is mediocre?
First of all, let’s say that “mediocre teaching” is a very arbitrary term. All parents and teachers have different ideas of what it should be. But in general I understand what you mean: let’s say a child comes home from school with glazed eyes, and the word “math” makes him or her cringe.

Let’s try to understand why it is impossible to tear children away from computers, for example, as opposed to learning math. What is it that draws them to computer games? I think there are a number of factors:

they’re not forced to play;
They aren’t scolded if they don’t succeed;
Children understand the goal (to score a goal, overcome an obstacle), it’s meaningful to them, and they achieve it themselves;
they are interested in the content and design;
achievements are necessarily recorded (points, levels), which feeds the sense of victory;
the results of the game are meaningful for peers, and, thus, the child’s need for recognition is satisfied.
This set of factors sufficiently provides the mechanism of “must” – “want” – “can” motivation. You could use an analogy to get your child interested in math.

1. The main thing – not to force, but to inspire
The desire to do anything arises only in an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and goodwill. Without a close relationship with the children, parents can do little to help them, except buy food, clothes and stationery.

It is very important to understand what makes a child reluctant to study. Perhaps he doesn’t understand what is the cogat. This requires a calm, non-judgmental conversation. Your child needs to be sure that you’re not asking him or her to evaluate or admonish you, but to help him or her cope with the things he or she isn’t good at yet.

Give him or her a chance to speak out. Think together about the reasons why math has moved into the category of unloved subjects. It is always easier to write everything off to “mediocre teaching” or something else external that does not require work on yourself. But this doesn’t help solve the problem, rather the opposite. To inspire children to work on themselves, you should sincerely believe in them and never get tired of telling them that they will succeed.

2. Not to scold the child for mistakes and bad marks
It doesn’t mean to remain indifferent to his results. On the contrary, the adequate reaction of parents to failure is empathy and complicity: “Let’s figure out what has not yet succeeded. It is not a lecture that helps to move forward, but an awareness of one’s problems.

Each child develops at his or her own pace, so it is not so much the result that counts, but rather the dynamics in relation to oneself.

Any effort is already a small victory. A correctly completed task is one more step. Having achieved something that I could not do before, is the next step.

It is very important to notice and fix any movement forward, even the smallest one. Then the child will feel that he is not the one to blame, that his parents are on the same side with him, that they are his friends and support.

3. Help achieve the goal
The child’s awareness of what is not working out so far will help lead him to a new goal. In learning, it is always to learn what he “doesn’t know” yet, to learn what he “doesn’t know” yet. That is why it is so important to understand what exactly causes difficulties. Let me give an example of introductory dialogue. Suppose he says he doesn’t understand anything about math.

– Nothing at all? Let’s leaf through a textbook or a notebook.

– Is this the kind of task you know how to do? How about this?

Looking through the textbook with your child, you should first show the simplest tasks, then the most difficult ones. And so on, until you find something you really don’t understand. Then you need to think together about how to do these tasks.

– Great! You’ve figured out what you need to learn (the goal). Now let’s think about how to do it?

It is important to let the child speak, listen to his/her options, suggest possibilities he/she has not named. There can be many of them. For example, approach the teacher, ask a friend or an older sister, figure it out from a textbook by himself or with you.

The main thing is to outline a plan of action and bring it to a successful result. Let your child believe in himself, be sure to pay attention to what you’ve accomplished: “That’s cool, and you said you couldn’t do it!”

4. Maintain interest
Of course, it is useful to involve a child of any age and any level of training in solving playful and non-standard tasks. It is always better to start small. Throw in a problem he is sure to cope with, and then another one that is more difficult.

Now on the Internet you can find a lot of interesting tasks of any complexity, not limited, of course, only to our textbook. For example, a wonderful book by J. Perelman. Perelman’s great books: “Entertaining Mathematics,” “Funny Tasks,” “Quick Count,” “Live Mathematics”; B. Kordemsky’s “Mathematical Savvy”; A. Kalinina, E. Katz, and A. Tilipman’s “Mathematics in Your Hands,” TED cartoons, and many others.

Don’t rush him, don’t hum if he gives the wrong answer. Marvel at his accomplishments: “Wow, I didn’t guess that! That’s great!” Explain salutatorian definition.

If the child’s eyes light up when he talks about the problem he was able to solve, then he is ready to set higher goals – first participating and then winning in various math Olympiads. There are many of them now, in addition to the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren, in-person and online. The main thing is to make sure that interest is not lost, and the level and pace are within his grasp.

5. To notice and fix the situation of success
The child will always strive only for what he is good at. We all, like water for life, need a situation of success. Educator Vasily Sukhomlinsky wrote: “The moral strength to overcome his weaknesses a child draws from his successes.

Thus success is not directly connected with marks. For example, you can get an “A” for a paper you have written off. There is nothing to be happy about. But you can, with effort, reach a “C” – a real victory! Her formula: “difficulty – effort in overcoming it – success.” The greater the effort, the greater the joy of victory.

Adults often praise the child only for the marks. I think that it is much more important to watch his or her efforts, dynamics, achievement of goals and to share with him or her the joy of victories.

6. Making victories meaningful family events
The need for recognition and respect of others is one of the basic needs of any person. Recognition breeds self-confidence, a desire to achieve results that are meaningful to others.

This is why it is so important to pay attention to the family’s successes. Tell grandmother and grandfather about your child’s victories. Remember and rejoice at a family dinner or on a walk. This will not only encourage your child to do math, but it will also help your child develop self-respect.

These simple rules are just some model to follow that won’t hurt. Of course, it is important that mathematics be of interest to the parent himself: the greater the benefit will be the more he is enthusiastic about it. After all, you can hardly be fascinated by something you are not interested in yourself.

So what should adults do who didn’t like math at school, but now realize that they are missing out on something important? Where do you start?
There are more and more adults like that these days. I recently came across a book by Nellie Litvack, a professor of mathematics at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, co-authored with Alla Kechejan, “Mathematics for Hopeless Humanities,” which was born as a response to this demand from adults. The authors, learning how many readers the book had, created a Facebook group for them called “Mathematics Is Great and Terrible. It now has tens of thousands of members and is growing steadily.

This is just one example, but there are many other great books to recommend. For example, “The Great Novel of Mathematics. A History of the World through the Prism of Mathematics” by Michael Lone. This book comes in a series called “The Pleasure of Science” and helps you understand how interesting and exciting mathematics is. The author talks about the history of this science from antiquity to the present day and what it will become in tens, hundreds of years.