Many events happen in a random, unpredictable nature. The study of probability for primary school children in many countries including Uganda therefore forms a basis for understating nature. Probability is applied in many disciplines including statistics, meteorology, game theory and risk analysis among others
Many learners go through this topic without understanding its core nature which limits their understanding of many other branches of mathematics including set theory, infinity series/sequences and limit, chaos theory, noise and information theory and so on.
Boldungu has taken time to build a collection of relevant questions as per the Uganda curriculum for primary school mathematics, starting from primary 3 to primary 7 as illustrated below.
Complete with solution for learners to practice and understand the concepts, boldungus is determined to build dreams for learners.
Fractions can sometimes seem like a daunting concept for kids, but with the right approach, learning about fractions can be both enjoyable and rewarding. Through interactive activities that incorporate everyday objects and playful games, children can develop a deep understanding of fractions while having fun. Let’s explore five engaging activities that will help your child master fractions with ease!
Pizza Party Fraction Fun: Transform pizza slices into a delicious lesson on fractions! Use a real or drawn pizza and divide it into slices. Have your child identify and label the fractions represented by each slice. For an added twist, let them create their own pizza with different toppings and divide it into fractions.
Fractional Fruit Salad: Get creative in the kitchen with a fractional fruit salad activity. Select various fruits and cut them into different-sized pieces. Encourage your child to combine the fruits in bowls and express the fractions of each fruit in the salad. This hands-on approach makes learning fractions tasty and memorable.
Fraction Bingo: Turn learning fractions into a thrilling game of Bingo! Create Bingo cards with fractions instead of numbers. Call out fractions, and your child can mark the corresponding fractions on their card. This game not only reinforces fraction recognition but also adds an element of excitement to learning.
Fractional Art Projects: Unleash your child’s creativity with fractional art projects. Provide materials like paper, scissors, and colored markers or paints. Have your child create art pieces such as collages or paintings, incorporating fractions by dividing shapes or sections of their artwork. This activity combines artistic expression with mathematical learning in a fun way.
Fractional Relay Race: Take fractions outdoors with a fractional relay race. Set up stations with different fractional tasks, such as hopping a certain fraction of the way to a marker or filling buckets with a fractional amount of water. Children can work in teams to complete the tasks, reinforcing their understanding of fractions while enjoying active play.
These interactive activities offer engaging ways for children to explore and master fractions while developing critical math skills. By incorporating fractions into everyday experiences and playful games, learning becomes not only accessible but also enjoyable.
Looking for more ways to reinforce fraction concepts? Dive into our math mobile app, where children can access a variety of interactive games and exercises designed to make learning fractions a breeze. With the right tools and a sprinkle of creativity, children can conquer fractions with confidence and enthusiasm!
Let’s make fractions fun and accessible for every child, one interactive activity at a time!
Most people that comfortable with math do not realize how much practice they have invested in it. With practice many things become easier and some become kind of reflex in their actions and activities. We can aim to make math trivial for both formal education and homeschooling.
Boldungu has two modes of practice. The standard mode and trivial quiz mode.
Trivial mode helps children to stop mixing up concepts and math formulae during examinations, which accounts for an average of 30% lost marks in most standard examinations. Even after preparing candidates for examinations, learners still lose marks for several reasons, among them: –
Basic operations – Learners make errors in application of basic operations such as forgetting brackets and adding poorly leading to wrong results.
Forgetting procedures – another common error is forgetting procedures such how to add fractions with different denominators by adding numerators alone and denominators alone without using the lowest common multiple.
Forgetting or mixing up key concepts and formula – many learners are unable fluently use formula and concepts where needed. For example formula for area of a right angled triangle, or area for a circle. When a learner is unable to trivially apply such knowledge, then the learner cannot proceed to correctly answer the question.
Trivial mode focuses on the last reason for loss of marks in math. Trivial quiz mode is designed to make such facts and formulae trivial and none-confusing to the learner.
Unlike the standard mode that aims to provide variety and confidence, trivial mode targets accurate recall and use of formula and mathematics relations. Trivial mode brings together the form of reflection that seeks to eliminate ambiguity, confusion or misunderstanding.
Trivial mode focuses on simple inquiries of fact to guarantee more concrete understanding of the matter at hand. Use trivial quiz mode to remove ambiguity from math facts and formula, promote accuracy and create a smoother path to new math concepts. Trivial mode builds fluency in application of concepts, terminologies and relations.
Boldungu is available as web app here and mobile app here
For many people, they try disconnect the math studied at school from what they are currently doing as adults. They forget that education does not take place directly and knowledge is not used in isolation. Their ability to tell time, make good judgments on quantities be it deciding on how much sugar to add in a cup of team are all math.
Vocabulary is the body of words one can use effectively to communicate in a given language. Our research shows that learners in lower classes find difficulty in using common mathematics words such as “altogether”, “diameter”, “profit” and many others, which makes it impossible for them to workout the correct answers.
This inadequacy in mathematics vocabulary can only be addressed through regular practice by putting new words into writing and speaking so that learners continue to remember them. Learners need to see many of these words in various contexts such that they become part of their daily vocabulary. Once this happens, then solving mathematics problems will be natural similar to responding to a conversation.
Students that excel in primary mathematics have better mathematics vocabulary and technology solutions can help. Based on Google Play Store reviews, Boldungu is the best technology solution in this category. Head to Google Play store for the latest version
“A Problem Well Stated is Half Solved”. These words by Charles Kettering, who was head of research at General Motors from 1920 to 1947, are still valid. Mathematics remains an uphill task for learners, teachers and countries because it has a direct impact on the economy in terms of future of work and innovations.
In Uganda, Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) released by UNEB do no lie. A few highlights
Here are some of the reasons from the boldungu data analytics
Inability to understand the right concept – our data shows that students struggle to understand concepts. For instance decimal number system is built on simple groups of ones, and tens. When dealing with other number systems such as binary, the grouping just changes to ones and twos. Alas, most students will apply all mechanical means to remember each number system separately and this does not scale.
Failure to understand the meaning of symbols – mathematics is about problem solving, and stating the problem using symbols is one way of making it precise. Good mastery of symbols is challenge for many learners and we have seen learners fail the same question when presented differently using different symbols
Inability to understand the root of principles – strong connection between mathematics and the learner can only be created if the underlying principle resonates with the learners. Here cost price, selling price, profit and loss are the most obvious examples. Many learners have been given the formula to get the profit, and loss but find it hard to apply the simple principle that if you buy and sell at lower value, you loose money or if you buy and sell and high price you gain. We have seen many cases where learners are just eager to add or subtract values with no regard to underlying principle. Alter the question a bit, and the formula fails to work.
Lack of fluency in using operators and procedures – Application of operators to process problems is a must have skill to excel in mathematics. For instance, reducing fractions, expanding numbers and many other concepts largely play around with operators.
Lack of comprehensive knowledge – concepts in mathematics relate to each other. We have seen situations where students think about mathematics in terms of islands. A student will fail to arrive at the final result by applying say long division because he or she thinks long division must be used only when asked to use it.
As said “A Problem Well Stated is Half Solved”, and that is how boldungu design principles came into action. Some call it a game, and others call it real mathematics. Whatever it is, our target remain the same – deal with the inherent challenges low grades in mathematics at national examinations, poor application of mathematics in real life, and long term applicability.
Many events happen in a random, unpredictable nature. The study of probability for primary school children in many countries including Uganda therefore forms a basis for understating nature. Probability is applied in many disciplines including statistics, meteorology, game theory and risk analysis among others
Many learners go through this topic without understanding its core nature which limits their understanding of many other branches of mathematics including set theory, infinity series/sequences and limit, chaos theory, noise and information theory and so on.
Boldungu has taken time to build a collection of relevant questions as per the Uganda curriculum for primary school mathematics, starting from primary 3 to primary 7 as illustrated below.
Complete with solution for learners to practice and understand the concepts, boldungus is determined to build dreams for learners.
Get Boldungu form here or from the Google Play store, and let your child build confidence, improve mathematics and unlock dreams! Learn more about boldungu here. See here for what you can create, print, practice and win!
Many children simply fail mathematics because of lack of practice. You will notice that they have high scores in the daily school activities and homework, but get disappointing marks at the final examinations. Yes, they learn and they forget!
What next? You can help them practice, because practice makes perfect. Our content rich and fun digital platform engages, excites, and challenge students:-
Where else will you see virtual gifts unwrap for each question passed?
Where else will you practice the same concept without repeating the same question?
Where else will you receive an answer for every possible question on the syllabus?
And where else will you receive progress report detailed to type of question teasing the child?
Checkout boldungu.com on the computer and on your phone. No money needed! Get Boldungu form here or from the Google Play store, and let your child build confidence, improve mathematics and unlock dreams! Learn more about boldungu here. See here for what you can create, print, practice and win!
Learn and practice mathematics. Get new questions, review answers and methods for arriving at the answers after trying. Detailed score card for topics, subtopics and questions. Choose topics and learn by doings. Lots of question types and explanation from best teachers.
Boldungu helps learners practice mathematics by providing a collection of questions, answers and explanation of concepts and methods.
As a person interested in improving mathematics scores for any grade, the questions are grouped into quiz sets based on the topics selected. The content is specific to the national curriculum of the selected countries. Unlike traditional text books, learners choose and have as many questions as possible for practice.
Boldungu works as follows:
Quiz Sets
Random fresh questions in groups of 10 makeup a quiz and this provides a short but challenging practice session. Questions come as multi-choice, drag and drop, and free text. They include beautiful graphics.
Linked Answers and Review
Each Question attempted is a chance to revise the answers and alternative methods. Each answer is linked to learning areas where further reading or practice questions can be selected. Lots of new question answering techniques are waiting for you.
Performance Board
Performance board is a simple score card that shows the questions attempted and improvement trends. A five-star rating gives a quick graphical view to allow you choose where to focus.
Recognition
Earn badges, certificates and virtual gifts when you excel in particular topics, subtopics or question formats.
When I interacted with one parent during needs assessment for the Boldungu application, she could not understand why, Erica (not real name) – in primary seven vacation could not estimate the number of floor tiles needed to resurface their living room and yet he had scored not only a distinction in mathematics, but aggregate 4 in total. Taking a good look at most national curriculum for mathematics, they elaborately cover how to workout areas of shapes including areas of combined shapes in form “L”, “T”, “F”, trapeziums, and parallelograms to mention but a few. In fact they also cover measurements including instruments used to measure length.
As the mother explained, she expected Erica to determine the dimensions of the living room, determine the dimensions of each tile and proceed to calculate the number of tiles needed. As the discussion raged on, we formulated a belief that there is a disconnection between the school brain and real brain especially for mathematics at lower learning levels. In the majority of the learners mind, the mathematics for school is understood and ends in class using the school brain. Questions outside the school are approached using the real brain, which encounters them as brand new concepts.
One approach to this problem is to try and bring real life questions into the classroom setting. But this does not help much as the learners still seem to store this knowledge in the school brain as long as it is delivered from the school. Our approach at Boldungu is to two fold. First, Boldungu is designed for use outside the classroom. Secondly, we have weekly activity packages that are structured for practical hands on activities and learners share their results via whatsapp. That way, we hope to bridge the gap between the two brains. We are also working on other tools and technologies to fuse these brains, because we understand that all knowledge covered in the school setting must be applied in the real word.
Most teachers and parents that have closely worked with learners will affirm that a good number of learners quickly forget mathematics concepts after learning them. They will get 100% on day one, less and lesser marks as the days pass by. Few days later, the learner gives you a blank stare on the very concept he/she previously excelled on. In the same spirit, that’s why, although a good tool daily school home-works can be deceptive especially when they focus on the work just covered a few hours ago. Yes, they learnt, and they forgot.
This state of affairs is the leading cause of gradual poor attitude towards mathematics because it dampens progress, confidence and morale for all. To address this problem, their needs to be an easy way, possibly using technology to allow learners master mathematics and keep working on it. This is part of the issues that Boldungu – for bold learning aims to address. Provide easy to use tools for schools, parents, teachers and learners to quickly spin up a cycle of questions to regularly test mastery of various concepts and keep learners fully checked.
So far, our toolbox that is helping many learners includes boldungu.com web version and the Boldungu mobile app available at Google Play store. Of course we spend lots of time and expertise from teachers to build and maintain these tools for other generations to come. That is why we change a small fee but make it affordable for weekly, monthly or even yearly payments.
Helping learners to master and perfect mathematics is matter of survival for future workforce because with automation, artificial intelligence and robots, future workers will need more analytical skills. The earlier we prepare our sons and daughters the better.
