A lot of children, teenagers, and even adults struggle with mathematics, however, some students find it even more daunting and complex than others. Of course, this does not mean that they have difficulties with other subjects, it just means that they often perform badly when trying to figure out math problems.
Additionally, as mathematics evolve, falling behind means that a student might miss what others already know. Having basic skills in mathematics, no matter what career path they choose later on. This is why it is important for teachers and parents to determine what the problems are as soon as they can.
After they figure it out, the teachers and parents can then implement different strategies in order to help the student improve in math. If you are wondering what strategies you can implement, fear not! This article has got your back. Let’s take a closer look at the approaches you can utilize for assisting your students:
1. Support Them With Comprehending The “Why”
Children who struggle with math often need a lot of instructions. This is why it is important to figure out their learning process, as well as exactly what they cannot comprehend. In most situations, children improve when they learn the reasons behind different math concepts.
What does this mean? Well, understanding math strategies such as how and why theorems work and why the equation needs to be done in a specific way. This is why you may want to consider breaking everything down and provide a throughout the guide that children can refer to as they do their homework or different tasks.
2. Try And Make Everything Positive
When we have problems with understanding different things, it is easy to give up learning something. In the case of mathematics, kids struggling with a particular thing will probably end up hating the subject, which can easily make them lose interest and motivation that they need to learn and improve.
This is why it is crucial for you to prevent this from happening. How? Well, you can try and make everything more interesting, positive, and easy to understand. You’ll want to try and keep them focused, motivated, and encourage, which will, in return, help them stay positive.
3. After School Classes Can Help
The one thing that parents could choose to do is to sign up their children for after school classes. Depending on the school you choose, as well as the problem they have. Additionally, the teachers employed there can work with them one-on-one, which means that they can entirely devote their time to helping your kid.
For instance, there is a middle school mathematics class that children can attend at the School of One, which is a company that provides transformative solutions based on the assessment that takes place when each student begins the classes. They offer innovative, dynamic, and completely customized solutions.
4. Use Various Designs And Audio/Visual Tools
At times, kids will need to see something in order to understand it, or they need to see examples as well. When they need to understand a complex mathematical topic, you can help your students understand it better by utilizing models and audio/visual aids. If you have older students, you should allow them to utilize calculators, rulers, and other tools that they may find useful.
5. Teaching Them to Think Out Loud is Useful
When solving problems, learning how to think about the issues is a crucial move when solving problems. As children work on their equations, you should motivate them to think out loud. Explaining the entire method, as well as what they need to do is perfect for helping your students understand everything better.
6. You Might Need to Speak And Explain Slowly
Now, the problem might not be in the student, but in the teacher. Most commonly, the issues are the speaking speed. Hence, you might want to pay attention to whether or not you speak too fast for your children to understand what you are explaining. If you notice that you are speaking too fast, ensure that you slow down your pace.
7. Always Check Their Work And Give Feedback After
One of the best things about being a math teacher is that you can actually see the mistakes they make. This is why it is important for you to always check their work or homework, as well as give immediate feedback to them. They might often skip a certain step, they might utilize a formula incorrectly, or they might not understand what they need to do.
So, this is why you must ensure that you frequently check their work, and direct them on what they are doing wrong. Keep in mind that you should be patient and kind when giving feedback, especially if you do not want to want to be the reason why they start hating mathematics.
8. Start From The Basics
Last, but not least important is that you need to begin from the basics. What does this mean? Well, once you determine what problem a specific student has, you will want to start from the beginning. This means that if they have a certain problem, you should start explaining it to them, but, from the basic things.
This will allow them to understand a specific process, learn all the steps they need to take, as well as how they should utilize it for specific things. Hence, you should always start with the basics and move on to more complex things that they’ll be able to understand easily when they know the basics.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is actually a wide range of tactics that you can implement in order to assist your students with understanding and comprehending math easier. Additionally, by making everything more interesting and fun, as well as encouraging them, you’ll help them make the learning process easier.
So, now that you know what you can choose to implement and do, you should not lose any more time. Instead, go back to the beginning of the article, determine which strategy might be best for some or all of your students, and start helping them understand that math is not as difficult as it seems.
