Top Tips For Helping Struggling Math Students
If your child struggles with math, you may have tried many different ways to help them understand. However, these methods may not always have been effective. In this article, we share with you some more tips to help your child who may be struggling with learning math.
Use Visual Representations for Struggling Readers
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for students who struggle with math to struggle with reading, as well. This means that their struggle with math is linked to their inability to understand and interpret the way the questions are worded. Such students will benefit from learning how to read and accurately interpret math word problems. Important steps for solving word problems include looking for keywords in the text, crossing out extraneous information, circling any numbers your child will use, drawing simple pictures to visualize the problem, and more. Your child may only need to understand what is being asked in order to work their way to the right answer.
Provide Context
Struggling math students can benefit from the use of rich context when solving mathematical problems. This can be something as simple as real-life application. When students feel that what they are learning has relevance to their daily lives, it instantly becomes more “useful.” Another way of providing context is to refer to previously acquired skills. Can they use this existing math knowledge to solve a new problem?
Recap Math Lessons with Your Child
Always make time at the end of a class or session, even if it is five minutes, to refresh your child’s memory on basic mathematical facts. This can be done through singing a song or using flash cards and can include anything from multiplication tables to the equations needed to calculate the circumference of a circle. Spending ten minutes every day can have a huge impact on helping students absorb information and build speed and confidence.
Use Mnemonics to Aid Memorization
Very often, struggling math students are not provided with the strategies they need to succeed. By introducing acronyms, you can help make basic facts easy to remember. In fact, there are already lots of established acronyms out there, such as PEMDAS, FAST DRAW, TINS and STAR. By chanting these acronyms to themselves, students can commit basic facts to memory much faster, allowing you to focus on other aspects of problem solving, such as choosing an equation and more.
Enroll Your Child in JEI Learning Center
Are you looking for supplementary learning for your child? Are you keen on teaching styles that accommodate their individual needs and abilities? If so, JEI Learning Center is perfect for you. When you first register your child, they will take a Diagnostic Test and receive a report. This allows our instructors to personalize a learning program that caters to their needs and, with a low teacher-to-student ratio of 1:5, you can rest assured that your child will receive the attention they need.
For more information about JEI Learning Center’s math programs, contact us today.
