With subjects such as English or writing, marks can come from a variety of factors like creativity, spelling, grammar, style, punctuation, and more. With math, there are few opportunities to earn marks because an answer can only be right or wrong.
Help your child learn to view answers being right or wrong as a positive. With essays and reading assignments, it can be difficult to achieve high marks because there are so many different ways marks can be awarded or taken away. If your child works hard and understands the material, there is a possibility of getting close to 100% on his or her tests.
Some students dislike math because they think it's dull. They don't get excited about numbers and formulas the way they get excited about history, science, languages, or other subjects that are easier to personally connect to. They see math as abstract and irrelevant figures that are difficult to understand.
Show your child how math relates to real-world scenarios in order to spark his or her interest in the subject. If you have any relatives or friends who work with numbers for their career, ask them to talk to your child about their job the next time they visit. You can also point out how math plays a part in everyday life like when totalling up groceries and telling time.
Many students who struggle with math struggle with memorizing all the rules and equations involved. In reality, memorization is only one part of learning math.
Instead of simply memorizing, students should concentrate on understanding how and why these formulas work. Students who depend on memorization when learning math aren't able to apply their knowledge and tend to become discouraged when asked to think outside of the box.
In your child's spare time, offer him or her number-based brain teasers that focus on building problem-solving skills rather than memorization. These can be a fun way to get your child excited about math.
Use these brain teasers as a start:
What digit is the most frequent between the numbers 1 and 1,000?
Answer: "1"
What 3 positive numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?
Answer: "1, 2, and 3."
In order to learn, math requires making a lot of mistakes. Students have to repeat the same types of questions over and over again until they get the right answers- and it can get frustrating. Repetitively getting wrong answers can take a toll on one's confidence, leading them to shy away from the subject.
It's important that children don't avoid tasks that are challenging and require hard work. Help your child understand that the harder it is to get an answer right, the more fulfilling it will be when he or she eventually solves it. If your child gets discouraged while learning math, remind him or her that making mistakes is just part of the process of learning. This valuable lesson applies both in the classroom and to life as a whole.