How can parents help their child with math at home?
What can parents do to support their children at home in math class?
Parents are the most important part to their child's education. They are the ones that set the tone for education. How can you help your child with math at home? There are five easy tips you can do with your child at home today.
Math Tips for Parents at Home
Does your child like math? This is one of the first statements from a child at the beginning of a school year. "I like math" or "I don't like math". How can you help your child build a positive mindset about math?
Tip #1: Be positive about math.
Talk about math in a positive way at home. Have a supportive attitude for your child. Celebrate your child's achievements in math no matter how small. Showing them that you care that they are successful in math is important. Create these moments with your child to celebrate and motivate them to do their best in math.
Ask questions like, "How can I help you?"
Tip #2: Ask questions about topics
Show your child that you care by asking thoughtful questions. How is your homework going? What can I do to help you? Reading the homework problems with you child is helpful. Pose your questions as actionable. What can I do for you? Make sure you're not doing the work, but rather aiding with the process. If you and your child are unable to solve the problem reach out to the teacher. If your child is struggling on an assignment ask for help. Teachers want to help your child and not see them struggle for hours.
Tip #3: Watch videos for support
Sometimes a simple video can help. Have you searched on YouTube or TeacherTube before? Looking for math content and similar examples can help. Learning from videos can be insightful to figuring out your homework problems.
Play card games to develop problem solving skills.
Tip #4: Play games
Do you have a family game night? Playing games with your child doesn't have to be boring. Play Battleship, Dominoes, Monopoly, Sequence, SKIPBO, or UNO are great choices. Make it competitive and have your child keep score with a tally chart. Playing card games helps your child develop problem solving skills, which helps them become better mathematicians.
Tip #5: Practice math skills
What does a player do to become better at football? Practice. What does a ballerina do to become better at dancing? Practice. Math is no different. Set a timer for thirty minutes or less to complete an assignment. See how many problems your child can answer. Try it again the next day. Can they do it faster? Exercising with flash cards and worksheets is important to build fluency. Your child should be practicing grade level math skills regularly for mastery.
Engaging children at home in math is essential. Practicing math skills, playing games, and having a positive attitude for math starts at home. Help your students at home and download the Parent Tips printable today!
Happy Teaching!
