Parents, If Your Child Needs Help in Math, Here’s What You Can Do to Help

Your child may have been coming home lately complaining about math class saying that he just doesn’t understand. It’s the worse subject known to man, and has, in fact, declared math to be the stupidest thing there ever was!  Well parents, don’t despair. I offer to you my best suggestions of what you can do help your child not necessarily to love math, but be better able to tolerate it, and be more successful with it.

First, encourage your child.  Explain that sometimes in life we are faced with great challenges and unforeseen obstacles that we must ultimately overcome victoriously.  In the end, these challenges make us greater people.  “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” so just encourage your child to continue to build on their already existing skills.

Second, turn everyday life into a math problem.  Use fractions for measurement during cooking. You can add, subtract, multiply, and even divide fractions in your daily meal preparation. Calculate the distance traveled leaving from home to school.  Calculate how long it would take to arrive at school at the speed you are traveling.  Add up the total miles traveled in a day and the amount of gallons of gas used. Calculate the cost of refueling the car with gas. The point is to begin to speak more mathematically, making it more natural for your child.  This is a fun way to learn math, and it shows your child that we use math in our ever day lives.

Third, make sure that your child reviews his math lesson for 15 minutes each night, even if there is no assigned homework.  The goal is to get your child to practice, practice, and practice.  He will retain the information longer and will build a much stronger mathematical foundation.

Fourth, become knowledgeable about your state’s mathematics curriculum standards.  It helps you to understand what your child must accomplish in order for you to effectively help him.  It is also helpful for when you must speak to your child’s teacher about his performance.  Teachers will often speak about curriculum standards and mathematical skills using education jargon with the assumption that the parent knows about them.  They do not do this intentionally though.  Ask questions and familiarize yourself by going to your state department of education’s website to find the math standards for your child’s grade level.   Sometimes these websites provide links to helpful activities for you and your child.

Fifth, communicate regularly with your child’s teacher.  Teachers love hearing from parents about their children.  They are more than happy and willing to share with you your child’s successes and areas needing improvement.  So, make sure to get that teacher’s email address.  I highly regard this as one of the most effective ways to keep in touch with a very busy teacher.  If problems or concerns are too large to send in an email, then request a conference with your child’s teacher.

Last, ask about tutoring programs available at your child’s school.   There may some after school tutoring programs offered free of charge.  You child’s school may even keep a list of private tutoring services in the area.  Gaining in increasing popularity are online tutoring services offering the same types of services of a brick and mortar company all the while offering convenience for today’s busy families.

Whatever route you choose, tutoring at the school, a private tutor, or an online tutoring service, please ensure that you do your homework.  You will want to know how many students are participating in each session.  Ask about teacher to student ratios.  Find out if it is just homework assistance or will your child be taught the skills he may be lacking? Look at the overall quality of the program.  Does the program address state standards? Most importantly, how is your child going to benefit? Weigh your options carefully, and I’m sure you you’ll make the best tutoring decision for your child.

Parents, realize that you are child’s biggest supporter.  You can help him to make the best of what seems to be the most impossible situation.  The fact that you are reading this article shows you really care and want to help your child.  He appreciates it, and so do I.