Celebrating our mathematical thinking

The Big Bad Wolf

  • Someone is scaring young children away from math ... is it you?
  • from a math-for-teachers research project by George Gadanidis & Immaculate Namukasa
  • get the mp3 file
  • see Who's the Big Bad Wolf math fairy tale

When I was young
Math was hard
Overwhelming
Because of my fear for math

My parents disliked it
It’s scary, scary, scary
I always heard from everyone
It’s “the big bad wolf”

Now I’m the parent
That parent from the past
Scaring my children
With fears of math

Children love to copy cat
Copy, copy cat
Listening
ALWAYS listening!

 

But my mind has been refreshed
Math’s not scary after all
My feelings have changed
It’s something fun, delicious

I don’t want to be
The Big Bad Wolf
I’m excited about math
It’s “cool” to understand it

One negative comment
Creates a whole imagination’s worth
Of a child’s self-doubt
Self-doubt

Children love to copy cat
Copy, copy cat
Listening
ALWAYS listening!