Fun facts for World Maths Day

Today is World Maths Day, a day to celebrate all things mathematical!  At Kumon, we aim to nurture a love of learning in our students, and what better way to do this than by celebrating the wonders of maths?

Maths is all around us - the technology that we use every day wouldn't work without maths, the money we spend wouldn't work without maths, and the Kumon worksheets we love to do definitely wouldn't exist without maths!

In fact, did you know:

• The random shuffle function on music playing software is programmed according to mathematical algorithms to ensure no two tracks from the same album play together. This is quite tricky because mathematical randomness often contradicts our expectations of randomness - if you flip a coin several times, for instance, you are likely to get a surprising number of the same results.

• In the same way, if you randomly selected 23 people in the same room, the chances of two of them sharing the same birthday are surprisingly high: 50-50 in fact!

• In working out mathematical equations, the Greek mathematician Pythagoras used little rocks to represent numbers. Hence the term 'calculus', which means pebbles in Greek.

• Without maths, the pyramids would never have been built! According to archaeologists, Egyptians had to use complex geometry and algebra to build the massive structures.

• Sports scientist Dr Ken Bray analysed hours of footage to prove that 30% of a player's technique is down to an intuitive understanding of maths and science. Every footballer uses geometry, aerodynamics and probability to perform at their peak.

Maths is important in so many different walks of life. Careers involving maths include architecture, design, IT, motorsport, engineering, accountancy, medicine, law, teaching, statistics, and the list goes on - it's no wonder why maths is a core skill which most employers look for.

At Kumon, our students develop at their own pace and study the maths programme step-by-step until they are ultimately able to solve complex calculus without the use of a calculator. We aim for each of our students to reach a level beyond their school grade within their first year of study. Perhaps this World Maths Day is the ideal time to consider supplementing your child's school work with the unique Kumon Maths Programme.