Why Numerical Ability is a Life Skill

“Please Sir, I want some more.” When Oliver Twist from Charles Dickens novel utters this, the impact is dramatic and takes us to a world of despair and gloom outside our comfort zone. The silver lining is Oliver Twist demonstrated his numerical ability to compare quantities of oatmeal gruel served to him and mustered the courage to ask for more. This latent numerical ability of the character was not developed further, possibly because it was not relevant to the plot. Nevertheless, Oliver Twist leaves a mark in our minds!

However, in reality, our inability as parents and teachers to recognize such traits in children leads to suboptimal realization of their potential. Numerical ability is one such trait. It is a life skill for enabling kids to transition into confident adulthood capable of managing financial challenges along the way. Balancing their budget, making buy or sell decision of assets, investment decisions to grow their net worth are a few instances where numerical skills are called for. Some children are blessed with ability to demonstrate this and some are not. The focus of this note is to share my experience with children in the latter category.

Top Misconceptions

Most common explanation that parents come up with to explain a child’s apparent lack of numerical ability can be categorized as :

• Comparison

“Though his parents are university toppers in math he is miserable with math”

“His best friend always scores distinction but he barely gets through!”

• Stereotyping

“Girls are not wired to think logically and this shows in their lack of numerical ability”

• Not cut for it

“Though he is not good with numbers, his oratory skills are excellent”

• Slow thinker

“He takes an awfully long time to solve simple problems”

• ADHD 

“We have tried all options to explain her lack numerical skills. We believe she is suffering from ADHD. “

Invariably the last straw. If nothing works, blame it on ADHD without seeking profession medical opinion.

How parents can Help

Before taking the extreme step of labelling the children, parents should take a step back and consider the following check list:

• Do we realize that if we label the child, his peers will assess his capabilities through this prism and it will become his natural comfort zone?
• Do we realize that numerical skills are different from mathematical skills and that the former is a life skill?
• Are we imposing our anxieties and expectations on the child?
• Do we see the child as an individual and not as an object of comparison with her peers?
• How much time have we spent with the child to help her improve her skills?
• Do we appreciate the efforts made by the child to improve, however, slow he may be?

What Worked

Labeling the child may seem to provide the apparent understanding of child’s behavior and a possible solution. Doing this, without evaluating the check list above, has a high probability of depriving the child of developing key decision making and logical reasoning skills. These skills are required to excel in their personal financial planning and career progression.  

Following suggestions to parents have worked to address this challenge faced by majority of them and I’m happy to share this with you :

• Be patient. Just as walking is a life skill and your support and patience enabled the child to master this, so is numerical ability.
• Do not box the child by labeling him. If required, seek external help, to explore the optimal approach to help your child learn the skill.
• Identify her area of interest. If she likes sports use analogy related to this to build her numerical skill.
• Do not shut the child. Answer every question in a style and manner which the child relates to.
• Do not encroach into their playtime when responding to question. Keep it short and simple. Your challenge is to ensure that they do not hesitate to ask you a question/doubt anytime.