5 Math Tips to help Parents teach their Children

Mastering the art and science of math is essential for your child’s success in all future endeavors, be it school, a career, or personal pursuits. If your child is struggling, here are 5 math tips to help them improve their skills.

Actively Support Your Child’s Learning

According to research, it has been found that children who are highly successful learners are backed by parents or guardians who provide a high level of active support to their learning.

Get involved with your child’s academics and remain involved throughout their school experience.

This will result in a positive learning attitude and a high level of confidence.

When a child looks at math in a positive way, have the confidence to know that they will succeed, and are given the active support of their parents or guardian, they will master mathematical skills and concepts more quickly and with a higher level of aptitude.

Teach Your Child That Problems May be Solved in a Different Ways

It is true that nearly every single math problem only has one answer; however, it is also true that there may be more than one method to get that answer. Children should be taught this important fact.

Math is not simply getting an answer. It is the process associated with solving the problems by applying the various skills and concepts that have been learned.

Take the focus off of forcing a child to solve math problems a certain way; instead, encourage them to discover their own “way” of coming to the correct answer. This will enhance their critical thinking skills and will allow them grow and flourish in the subject in their own way.

Make it a Goal to Analyze and Evaluate Mistakes for Academic Growth

As you know, accuracy is critical when it comes to mathematics; however, it is important to utilize wrong answers and other mistakes in order to optimize growth in the subject. Instead of saying the problem is wrong, have the child analyze and evaluate their mistake to figure out – for themselves – where they went wrong.

Have them explain how they got the answer that they did. According to research, we learn 98% of what we teach. As your child explains, their reasoning skills will kick in and help them identify the area where they went wrong.

Integrate Mathematics into Everyday Life

In order to make math relevant, you must make it meaningful. To succeed in this endeavor, you must integrate it into everyday life for your child. Many kids mistakenly believe – with the advancements of technology at their fingertips – that they do not need to “learn” math and do not understand why such a subject holds such a high level of importance.

You should integrate it by explaining how saving money, spending money, paying bills, buying their favorite items, washing their clothes, and making their favorite foods and snacks all depend on mathematics.

Make the lesson fun and encourage them to discover other ways that math is incorporated into their lives. Soon, they will be seeking out math every single day and will gain a newfound appreciation for the subject.

Encourage Your Child to Read and Use Their Critical Thinking Skills

Believe it or not, using critical thinking skills while reading is an excellent means of helping your child become better at math. By learning to read and reading to learn, a child will think about what they are reading and will be more successful and mathematical skills and concepts.

Furthermore, they will be able to better solve word problems. Reading, thinking, and computations all require various parts of the brain. One builds and benefits from the others. Reading is an excellent strategy for training the brain to be mathematically-inclined.

There are many ways to help your child improve their math skills. In addition to the ideas outlined in this guide, you may encourage them to put together puzzles, do word puzzles, play games that use numbers, utilize software learning programs – such as IXL – and utilize a tutor and/or a math coach to help.

Math is a necessary aspect of our lives. As technology continues to advance, it will become even more important.