How to Get Kids to Do Their Math Homework!

By Matthew Smith

As I was watching the news the other day they flashed a statistic on the screen that was extremely shocking. It stated that 66% of kids in American grade 8 classes were not able to do the required math. Not 5%, or 10%, but 66%. How in the world could this be the case? Our kids spend years in school by the time they reach grade 8, and to have such a high percentage of kids with low math scores is, well, shocking. Enter math comic strips to the rescue?

As we enter this brave new world of a global economy, our kids are going to need to have all the education they can obtain in order to compete for jobs with all those highly educated kids from other countries. I saw on television a while ago where tutors in South Korea were treated like "rock stars". Why is this? It's simply because in South Korea they realize that tutors are there to help educate their kids...education that will eventually help them get those great jobs of the future. Is this what we do in the United States? I'll let the laughter subside before I continue...

In the "good ole' days" (if that is what you want to call them), if children wanted to have fun they could play games, play sports, or read books. Then came along the challenging new world in which we live today. A world of cable television with more shows to watch than anyone could possibly have time for. Welcome to the world of instant on-demand movies and 24-hour online gaming. Where does homework and schoolwork fall into this equation? Simply, most of the time homework doesn't make the list.

In this world of constant distraction, the key is to make this homework fun. We need to make the experience of learning exciting and fun if it is ever to compete with everything else that is vying for a child's time. How do we do this? Ah, enter the world of the comic book! Comic books have been around for generations, but often they are used for entertainment not to teach kids useful skills like math. This doesn't mean that comics can't be adjusted to meet this lofty goal in the future.

The web site " math comic strips " proposes a solution to the problem. The key is developing a line of comic books with a superhero theme. In reality, this guy is a mere mortal, but he is able to solve some fantastic problems and crimes via his extraordinary math skills. Now how did he come across this stunning math ability? He did his homework, that's how. The hope and desire is that kids of all ages will be inspired to follow his example... - 31407

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