Math is often one of the more difficult lessons for younger children to grasp. In fact, you may not have been particularly fond of math back when you were younger. This can sometimes make it a little difficult for your children to grasp a better understanding of math lessons from school, leading to disinterest or even lower grades.

As parents, it’s only natural that you want your children to excel in all their school subjects. This is probably why many parents whose children find math difficult hire an experienced math tutor for help. After all, a math tutor can help identify the difficulties children face and help light the fire your child needs to start getting into math.

Of course, simply relying completely on a math tutor won’t be enough to ensure your child will learn and retain mathematics lessons. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps that you can take to help make sure your child stays engaged with math lessons and reinforce what he or she learned at school and from the tutor. Some of these steps include:

Make Math Fun!

Math isn’t as boring as many people believe it to be. You can use your understanding of basic mathematical concepts to create fun ways to help your child better understand math. A good example of this would be playing with Lego pieces as a way to introduce the concept of fractions to your child. On the other hand, games like Yahtzee are a good way to practice addition.

Today, many children are spending more time in front of a screen, so why not make sure that time spent is productive. There are hundreds of math-based apps and games that you can download for free from Google Play and the App Store. This can be useful during car rides or other scenarios that require your undivided attention.

Show Real World Applications

How many times did you say “Why do I need to study this? I’m never going to use it in the real world!” back during your days as a student. There is a good chance that your child may also feel this way. As such, it’s a good idea to show them real world applications.

One of the simplest ways to show why learning math is important is having them compute the check after a dinner out. If you need something a little more advanced, introducing them to cooking is another way to show the importance of math and proper measurements.

Find the Source of Disinterest

In many cases, children simply find a particular lesson too difficult for them to understand, which is why they become disinterested in lessons. However, this can easily be remedied by breaking down more complex ideas into simpler concepts that they previously understood. A prime example of this is explaining multiplication as “skip counting” or adding multiple times.

Don’t always mistake disinterest as a negative sign though. There may be times when the disinterest in math is due to the fact that your child already has a good grasp of the lesson and wants something more challenging. This is where a math tutor can really help as a tutor can help teach advanced lessons. You may be surprised that you possibly have a math prodigy living in your home!

Sources:

When to Get a Math Tutor for Your Child, pbs.org

10 Ways to Boost Your Child's Math Success, scholastic.com