Education: what if you helped your children or grandchildren revise using the “problem library”?

Louise Sallé / Photo credits: Nicolas Guyonnet / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 6:23 a.m., February 18, 2024

What if, during the holidays, you helped your children or grandchildren with math problems? Problem solving constitutes the main weak link among French students, as indicated by the latest PISA study, published in December 2023. To remedy this, the ministry has put a site online since January which lists statements, all validated by the Scientific Council of National Education. In total, nearly 150 problems are listed on this site.

Encourage students to solve complex statements

A search engine allows you to select them according to the level, the program and the concept to be worked on. “Problem solving tends to be a bit of a poor relation, at certain times, in mathematics education,” explains Emmanuel Sander, professor of education sciences at the University of Geneva. The objective with this site is to encourage students to solve more complex statements in class and at home, particularly for children at the start of primary school. 

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"Typically, we have a problem in which we say that Stéphane bought a schoolbag and a computer. We know that this schoolbag is 20 times less expensive than the computer and we ask how much the computer costs. With a statement like this "There, it brings home the fact that multiplying is not always times more, but sometimes it can be times less", he continues.

Also, don't hesitate to get your child to handle objects: "There is something that is very important, that is to offer them materials, cubes of units, tens, tokens, banknotes, bank", explains the professor. But it also works with toys, like Playmobil, or candy.