Maths is literally everywhere in our daily lives so no, there is no escape!  We use it almost constantly and I for one, was not always aware of that. From things I do everyday without thinking to calculations in my Discovering Mathematics elective.  For example, I look at the clock immediately after waking up in the morning (so to think I actually do maths at 6.30am is pretty impressive for me!) and I do the shopping and work to a budget every week which tests my mental maths.  Even fun things I do with my youngest child Carly who was 3 in October involves maths.  We count the stairs in the house when going up them or coming down them, we sing rhymes that involve numbers like ‘5 little monkeys jumping on the bed’, ‘5 little ducks went swimming one day’, and ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, once I caught a fish alive’ to name a few of our favourites!  I cook, measure and sometimes weigh during cooking which are all concept of mathematics.

One thing that used to baffle me (and still does slightly!) was when trying to figure out how long to roast a fresh chicken for in the oven.  Instructions:  allow 20 mins per 454g/1lb plus 20 mins extra.  Erm…….what??!  All I can say is thank heavens for ‘roast in the bag’ and ‘pre-cooked, ready to eat’!  (Although my understanding has somewhat improved since then – honest!)

Mathematics play a part in each of these everyday life activities and also in many others.  It is important we have a good understanding to enable us to make sense of all the numbers and problems life will throw at us!