HOW TO HELP YOUR KIDS DO WELL IN MATHEMATICS IN THIS INCOMING SESSION


Now that the long holiday is almost over, parents need to get their kids prepared for school so as to get the best from them in the incoming session. This article is meant to help parents who have basic knowledge of Mathematics and those who have the time to assist their kids at home.
As an experienced tutor in Nigeria, I am aware that most parents never liked Mathematics while in school and some who were very good Mathematics students may not have the time to assist their children at home. As a parent, if you are under this category, I will advise you to engage the service of a reliable home tutor in your area. I recommend Think First Tutors www.thinkfirsttutors.com or you may need to use Google search engine for more options. So far, Think First Tutors have proven to be reliable and result oriented especially for critical cases in Mathematics and other Science based subjects.

At first, you need to understand that learning and mastering Mathematics is absolutely essential for future opportunities in school and careers. Your children will need to reach a certain level of competency in Mathematics in order to take many advanced high-school courses, to be admitted to universities, polytechnics or colleges, and to have a wide variety of career choices. Here are the few steps you need to take in case you would want to DO IT YOURSELF:

1. Ensure that your children understand mathematical concepts.

Otherwise, Maths becomes a meaningless mental exercise of just memorizing rules and doing rote drills. Have your children manipulate objects to figure out basic concepts. For addition, they could add one, two, or more blocks to a pile of blocks and then tell you how many blocks are in the pile.

2. Help your children to understand and master the basic facts.

Mastery of a basic fact means that children can give an answer in less than three seconds. Considerable drill is required for children to give quick responses. Expose them to as many questions as possible under each topic treated in school. When they don't know an answer, have them lay out objects to solve the problem.

3. Teach them to write numbers neatly.

As an experienced tutor, I have observed that twenty-five percent of all errors in solving Maths problems can be traced back to sloppy number writing. Most schools in Nigeria don’t pay special attention to teaching pupils how to write legibly any more. You need to improve your children's number-writing skills by having them trace over numbers that you have written. Suggest they use graph paper to keep the numbers in problems neatly aligned.

4. Provide help immediately when your children need it.

Mathematics is one subject in which everything builds upon what has been previously learned. For example, a failure to understand the concept of percentage leads to problems with decimals. If a pupil fails to understand the concept of multiplication and division of numbers, such pupil will find it very difficult to understand fractions. So, if you discover that a teacher is unable to help your child, please provide the help yourself or engage the service of a professional tutor that can teach your child one-on-one at home.

5. Show your children how to handle their Maths homework, don’t just help them.

Doing Maths homework reinforces the skills your children are learning in class. Teach them to begin every homework by studying the textbook or worksheet examples. Then have them redo the examples without looking at the textbook before beginning the homework to make sure they understand the topic.

6. Encourage your children to do more than the assigned problems from school.

It is important for parents to understand that considerable practice is necessary for their children to hone their Mathematics skills. If their teacher only assigns the even problems, having them do some of the odd ones will strengthen their skills. The more time your children spend practising their skills, the sooner they will develop confidence in their abilities. You can get extra workbooks or exercises from online materials so as to expose them to other tough questions apart from the ones treated in school.

7. Take time to explain how to solve word problems.

Mathematicians have a common expression: to learn to solve problems, you must solve problems. Teach your children to read a word problem several times. Also, have them draw a picture or diagram to describe it. Make it easier for them to understand the steps in a problem by teaching them to substitute smaller numbers for larger ones.

8. Help your children learn the key vocabulary of Mathematics.

They will never get a real feeling for Maths nor learn more advanced concepts without an understanding of its vocabulary. Check that your children can define new terms. If not, have them use models and simple problems to show you they understand how the term is used.

9. Teach them how to do Mathematics "in their head."

Yeah, that is what I call it; “in their head”. One of the major ways to solve problems is by using mental Mathematics. Kids should use this method frequently instead of using pencil and paper or a calculator. When helping your children with a problem, help them determine when it would be appropriate to use mental Mathematics.

10. Make Mathematics part of your children's daily life.

Mathematics will become more meaningful when your kids see how important it is in so many real-life situations. Encourage them to use Maths in practical ways. For example, ask them to space chairs or objects in the room a certain distance apart, double a recipe, share certain portions of meal while serving dinner and pay bills in stores.

I’ve worked with so many kids who struggle with Mathematics in school. I understand that kids are resilient and they can learn and adjust with some coaching and support from you. Also, don’t forget about engaging the service of a professional and reliable home tutor if you are busy or unable to assist them in Mathematics. It might be just what your child needs.

Written by Akinyele Kolade Abel,
koladeakinyele@thinkfirsttutors.com
www.thinkfirsttutors.com
“There are no dull students anywhere...”

Source: http://grammarembassy..com/2014/08/how-to-help-your-kids-do-well-in.html

Nice read @OP. You have done a great job here. There was a time I had to conclude that almost all kids have problems with Mathematics. But the truth is that it depends on the teachers involved. Some Maths teachers are even afraid of Mathematics. I remember my Maths teacher back then...

Thanks

Thoughtful piece. Much thanks @OP. I will save this till when I become a father. I know I'm good at Maths, you have just given me clues on how to teach my kids easily and comprehensively.

OP, you and some few other knowledgeable posters are one of the reasons why I will stick to Nairaland. I learn everyday. Thanks to Seun, thanks to OP and thanks to Nairaland. If I just said your mind, ooya hit the like button. Yes na command I command you o!

Now lemi go and sleep...I know before I wake this thread must hit the front page. No be today I don dey talk am.

Detailed. @OP, nice one. It came at the right time for me.

DanielJones: Thoughtful piece. Much thanks @OP. I will save this till when I become a father. I know I'm good at Maths, you have just given me clues on how to teach my kids easily and comprehensively.

OP, you and some few other knowledgeable posters are one of the reasons why I will stick to Nairaland. I learn everyday. Thanks to Seun, thanks to OP and thanks to Nairaland. If I just said your mind, ooya hit the like button. Yes na command I command you o!

Now lemi go and sleep...I know before I wake this thread must hit the front page. No be today I don dey talk am.

Do you speak English at all?

OnlyMary:

6. Encourage your children to do more than the assigned problems from school.

It is important for parents to understand that considerable practice is necessary for their children to hone their Mathematics skills. If their teacher only assigns the even problems, having them do some of the odd ones will strengthen their skills. The more time your children spend practising their skills, the sooner they will develop confidence in their abilities. You can get extra workbooks or exercises from online materials so as to expose them to other tough questions apart from the ones treated in school.

I like this part.

Why do kids hate Mathematics? #Justpondering

budiliscious: Why do kids hate Mathematics? #Justpondering

A lot of factors are involved. Please, note that this doesn't happen only in Nigeria. In fact, some set of scholars believe that the advent of computer technology may have contributed to the decline of students' interest in the subject. There had been several instances in the UK and USA when high school pupils protest that the use of calculator should be encouraged in schools. They often wonder how on earth they need to rack their brain to calculate the square root of 15 when they can just get it within a second by pressing their calculator.

I hope and pray that primary and secondary school pupils will resume next week. If these kids are not denied of their right to go to church and worship (Sunday School Things) or to Arabic lessons (Ile keu), why should our government deprive them of their right to basic education?

This piece is still as relevant as ever.

#Update

Thanks for sharing.

LaRoyalHighness:
Thanks for sharing.

You are welcome. Oh this is still relevant now.