The truth of the matter is that math can be difficult for anyone. For children, however, math can be exceptionally challenging. In fact, many polls point out that math is the most difficult subject for children – more than reading or science. However, learning and becoming comfortable with math is incredibly important. This is especially the case during your child’s most formative years. Having these math skills will help your child do better in other subjects and it will help him or her do better in many other facets of life later on. Fortunately, there are a number of strategies to improve your child’s math grades.
Make math an adventure. One of the main reasons why children don’t enjoy math is because it isn’t fun for them. Indeed, you need to make math fun for your child. One of the best ways to do that is to make it an adventure. You can include games, puzzles, riddles and other methods to make math more interactive and exciting. The earlier you encourage the concept of math as an adventure, the more successful you will be.
Find a math tutor. Indeed, finding a math tutor is also important, because sometimes your child will need a little extra help with math homework. The truth is that the better your child understands his or her homework and notes, the better your child’s grades will be. In order for your child to learn math in a way that is easy and not daunting, professional help should be welcomed. For instance, you may want to tap into the services of Mathnasium, which is a tutoring service that has a track record for success.
Encourage positive reinforcement. On top of making math fun and getting tutoring, you also want to encourage positive reinforcement. Every time that your child does better on a quiz or homework assignment, you want to do something nice for your child. For instance, you could increase your child’s allowance, or you can take your child somewhere fun. The whole idea is to promote the concept that doing well in math will reap rewards. Eventually, your child’s motivation to do better will increase and his or her grades will improve.
Practice basic math exercises. Math requires daily concentration. Just like it is encouraged to do some sort of physical exercise everyday – you also want to do some kind of mathematical exercise. If your child is learning multiplication tables, you may want to go through the basic multiplication tables. The same thing goes for addition, subtraction, division and even algebra. Ideally, you want to help your child practice every day.
Listen to your child. On top of everything, you also want to listen to your child. If you don’t listen, your child may not be so encouraged to do well. You can start listening by simply asking your child what is so stressful or daunting about math. Starting this dialogue will reduce a lot of the anxiety. In the end, anxiety is often the biggest thing getting in the way of good grades when it comes to math.
Image from http://www.koobits.com/2013/07/03/how-to-ace-psle-problem-sums