What’s the Point of Maths?

This post is going to set about answering What’s the Point of Maths? which is a question I am asked fairly frequently by my maths-averse children. However, just recently, I am definitely being asked that question less and less. Could this change be attributed to this thing us homeschoolers call ‘Living Maths’?

If you have been reading my blog for very long, you will know I have one strong maths student, one average, and one weak. Or at least… I did.

In what may well be the most sensible decision I have made in our little homeschool (and I am not widely known for my sense!), I stopped using a formal curriculum with the twins in an attempt to rectify the growing gap between them.

Today, I can say with a certain amount of confidence that I have three potentially strong maths students.

Am I suddenly a homeschool maths genius?

Absolutely not.

In fact, I still consider myself a fairly weak maths teacher. Fortunately, I am no longer really “teaching” maths at all.

And that has made all the difference.

Find out why we decided to learn maths without text books for a while

What’s the Point of Maths? The Problem with Traditional Homeschool Maths

For years I believed maths had to be:

• Taught explicitly
• Drilled daily
• Repeated endlessly
• Practised until saturation

Unlike history, science, or geography — subjects we naturally learn together — I believed homeschool maths required direct instruction. Worksheets. Repetition. Mastery through force.

And perhaps that works beautifully for some children.

It certainly worked for my son, my naturally strong maths student. He sees patterns instinctively. He experiences the beauty of maths almost effortlessly.

But my girls?

They needed something different.

This post describes how we began learning number bonds and our second lesson on them

The Elephant in the Classroom

A turning point came when I read The Elephant in the Classroom (recommended to me by a friend). In it, the author compares traditional maths instruction to teaching a music student to endlessly copy musical notation — but never allowing them to play the music.

Imagine years of writing scales without ever hearing them.

That, he argues, is how we often approach maths.

We give children symbols, notation and much much repetition.

But we rarely give them experience.

And maths is meant to be experienced.

Click here for our learning using Pascal’s triangle and magic triangles

Discovering Living Maths

This summer, instead of drills and textbooks, we explored what I now call living maths.

Living maths is:

• Maths that is alive
• Maths that is meaningful
• Maths discovered through patterns
• Maths experienced through play and exploration

It is, in many ways, simply hands on maths.

We began exploring patterns rather than numbers.

We looked for maths in:

• Nature
• Music
• Architecture
• Art
• Daily life

Slowly, something shifted.

The girls began to see that maths is not primarily about numbers.

Numbers are labels.

Maths is about pattern.

And once you see pattern, you begin to see maths everywhere.

The Shift in Our Homeschool Maths

One of my daughters regularly proclaimed herself “useless at maths.”

What she actually meant was:

“I do not understand abstract numerical notation presented without meaning.”

When we removed the pressure of curriculum and began exploring homeschool maths through:

• Manipulatives
• Real-life problem solving
• Games
• Visual models
• Pattern exploration

Lillie began to engage.

She began to experiment.

She began to notice.

And perhaps most importantly — she began to believe she could.

What’s the Point of Maths? Why Hands On Maths Answers this Question

Hands on maths allows children to:

• Build concepts physically
• See relationships visually
• Discover rules naturally
• Experience success before abstraction

When children handle place value blocks, measure ingredients, build geometric shapes, or explore multiplication through arrays, they are playing mathematical instruments — not merely copying notation.

This approach does not ignore rigour.

It simply changes the order.

Experience first.
Notation second.

Understanding before memorisation.

Patterns: The Heart of Living Maths

When children understand that maths is the study of pattern, everything changes.

Patterns are found in:

• Fibonacci sequences in flowers
• Symmetry in snowflakes
• Rhythm in music
• Tiling in architecture
• Growth patterns in populations

Maths becomes connected to the real world.

It becomes beautiful.

And beauty motivates far more effectively than drills ever could.

Am I Against Curriculum?

Not at all.

Curriculum can be a wonderful servant.

But for us, at this stage, stepping away from formal homeschool maths curriculum allowed:

• Confidence to grow
• Curiosity to flourish
• Ownership to develop

I am no longer the maths teacher.

I am their maths buddy.

And together, we are discovering that they are far more capable than they believed.

I do not have one strong maths student anymore.

I have three.

They just do not know it yet.

What’s the Point of Maths? Hands On Maths Activities to Try at Home

If you are looking to bring living maths into your homeschool, here are some gentle starting points:

1. Pattern Walk

Take a nature walk and photograph patterns:

• Leaves
• Pinecones
• Brickwork
• Shadows
• Flower petals

Discuss symmetry, repetition, and growth.

2. Build Place Value

Use:

• Sticks bundled into tens
• Pebbles grouped into hundreds
• Lego bricks stacked for thousands

Physically build numbers rather than writing them first.

3. Kitchen Fractions

Bake together and explore:

• Halving recipes
• Doubling quantities
• Measuring fractions

Let fractions live in flour and butter before appearing on paper.

4. Multiplication Arrays with Everyday Objects

Use:

• Buttons
• Pasta
• Coins
• Lego

Build arrays physically and observe patterns.

5. Mathematical Art

Create:

• Tessellations
• Symmetrical designs
• Repeating border patterns

Blend art and homeschool maths seamlessly.

Reflection Questions for Homeschool Parents

1. How do I currently view maths — as notation or as pattern?
2. Does my child struggle with numbers or with abstraction?
3. Have I allowed my child to experience maths before asking them to symbolise it?
4. What would happen if we paused curriculum for a season?
5. How can I bring more hands on maths into our daily life?

Reflection Questions for Children

1. Where do you see patterns in nature?
2. What part of maths feels hardest — and why?
3. When does maths feel fun?
4. Can you build a number without writing it?
5. What patterns can you create yourself?

What’s the Point of Maths? Final Thoughts

Living maths is not about abandoning structure.

It is about restoring meaning.

It is about remembering that maths, like music, is meant to be played — not merely copied.

In our homeschool, stepping away from curriculum has been one of the most freeing decisions we have made.

Not because I became a better teacher.

But because we began learning together.

And that has made all the difference.

For all of my living hands-on maths posts, click here