Help Your Child do Better at Math - A 3-Step Plan for Parents
The Short Answer:
Get to know what your child is learning and what they should be learning for their age.
Find out your child's strengths and weaknesses and make sure the foundations are solid.
Practice in the real world.
Develop a healthy mindset towards learning.
I'm often asked by parents if there is anything they should be doing at home to better support their child's math learning. The trigger may be a disappointing school report, the start of a new school term, or simply a belief that their child could be doing better than they currently are.
My answer is always a resounding, "Yes, you can help your child get better at math." And the good news is that it needn't be difficult or time-consuming.
Math ability is not set in stone and parents can help in very practical ways. Here are the top three ingredients to get you started with helping your child succeed in math.
Step 1 - Be Aware
Learning math is like building a pyramid. Math skills like counting, addition and subtraction are the foundation building blocks that make up the base. If one math skill doesn’t quite sink in, it makes the foundations shaky and new skills become harder to learn.
It's important to be aware of potential issues as early possible, so that you can address and correct them before children start to lose confidence. That's when they can start to fall behind.
However, it can be tricky to really know how your child is doing in math - even after you've read the school report!
So, here are a few tips to help build an accurate picture of your child’s strengths and weaknesses in math (forgive me for stating the obvious!)
Speak to your child regularly about how they are doing in math.
Try asking:
- What are you learning about in math this week?
- How did you do in that homework / weekly test?
Look at their school books.
- Keep an eye on their latest topics.
- Brush up on your own math skills by searching for parents' guides to all the elementary math topics.Check out the core curriculum.
- Familiarize yourself with the skills your child will be working on in school.
- Visit our year-by-year curriculum pages for a general idea:Fifth Grade - coming soon!
Speak to your child's teacher.
- They will have a good grasp of how your child is doing compared to what is reasonably expected for their age.Prepare for school meetings.
- Rather than just expecting to be told everything you need to know, have a few questions in mind to draw out the detail, e.g., "What can I do to improve their understanding?" "Which curriculum areas seem to be sticking points?"
Try Komodo Kickstart.
- Komodo's series of short math quizzes are free to use and help parents build up a picture of a child’s fluency and accuracy in the foundational math skills.
NB: If you have particular concerns, don’t wait until the parent-teacher conference to address them. Although teachers are busier than ever, there are very few who wouldn’t welcome the efforts of an engaged parent.
Step 2 Practice
Math, like sports or music, is a skill that needs practice.
For the best outcome, the ideal plan includes a mix of different approaches to math practice to develop true math fluency.
Direct, targeted practice based on your knowledge of your son or daughter’s strengths and weaknesses, which complements their school work. This the core of what is required (and where Komodo math comes in). But tread a fine line, as too much/too often is likely to burn out even the most enthusiastic learner. Komodo uses a "little and often" approach which reduces the likelihood of this happening.
Real world math. Math is all around us - so you can use everyday experiences to reinforce and develop math skills and vocabulary. Measurement, fractions, shapes, time and money all benefit from real world application and often can be naturally harnessed as a way to learn math.
Here are a few ideas for practicing math in every day life:
Shopping
- Involve younger children in counting out items
- Talk about one more or one less, bigger or smaller, etc.
- Older children can practice money management: comparing discounts is a great opportunity for some quite complex mental math which is really relevant and ever-useful.Cooking
- A mathematician's favorite!
- Perfect for understanding and practicing number, measurement, size, shape, time, and estimation.
- Introduce fractions when you're sharing out portions.Gardening - most kids love to help out in the garden so it makes a fun and memorable learning opportunity. Counting, measuring, reading temperature, sorting are all easy mathematical activities for younger children. Older children may enjoy planning a gardening project - introducing scale, evenly spacing out seeds, checking temperatures and measuring plants as they grow.
Games and puzzles - I’m particularly keen on the value of math puzzles when it involves the whole family and younger members can be involved in working through and finding creative solutions. Check out these puzzles from the Komodo Blog.
Step 3 Develop A Healthy Mindset
A healthy mindset towards learning math includes self-belief, confidence and the resilience to keep learning even when it gets tough .
- Start with yourself - are you setting a good example? Throw-away remarks like “I’m not good at math,” “I hated math at school” etc are picked up by children and can have a big impact on their attitude. So show enthusiasm towards math - even if you need to fake it!
- Build confidence - if your child is struggling and has lost some confidence, go back a few steps to the skills that they feel comfortable doing and build from there.
- Praise for effort, not performance - continued effort is the most important thing. Making mistakes isn’t bad, it’s a necessary part of the journey for every learner. Change “I can’t do it,” to “I can’t do it yet.”
- Keep your learners motivated - this is a key role (and challenge) for parents. Think more carrot, less stick. And consider getting other family members involved in the all-important encouragement.
I'm Ged, Co-founder of Komodo, ex-mathematics teacher and dad. If you have any questions please get in touch.
About Komodo - Komodo is an online math learning program for ages 4 to 11. It’s designed by qualified teachers to help parents support their child’s math learning in an effective and rewarding way.
Building math confidence and fluency through little-and-often learning sessions is at the core of how Komodo works. Each child receives a teacher assigned personal learning plan that ensures learning is at a level appropriate to their needs and the curriculum.
Plus, with features such as Komodo rewards and belts, we’ve ensured there is plenty of motivation built in.
And now we've got Komodo English too - check it out here.
