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WAYS YOUR CHILD CAN IMPROVE MATH SKILLS (& STUDY MORE EFFECTIVELY)

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WAYS YOUR CHILD CAN IMPROVE MATH SKILLS (& STUDY MORE EFFECTIVELY)

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1. START WITH SIMPLE QUESTIONS
Just like anything, your child needs to start small before tackling more advanced concepts. Before mastering tougher math problems, your child should have a good handle on the basics. A solid foundation is especially important in math, where concepts and knowledge build upon themselves.
Have your child start with simpler math questions before moving on to advanced concepts. This will ensure that he or she has the basics down, while also providing a good confidence boost to take on those advanced questions when they come.

2. DO PRACTICE QUESTIONS & EXERCISES
While comprehension is always better than memorization, math does require a bit of memorization. Students need to practice different types of questions again and again before getting comfortable with concepts and the equations used.
If your child is aiming to improve his or her math grades, start doing practice questions each night after school (even when he or she doesn’t have assigned homework). These can be from previous homework assignments and tests. Many textbooks will also have revision sections at the end of each chapter with practice questions to review what your child has been learning in class.

3. CREATE PRACTICE TESTS
Unlike other subjects, your child shouldn’t be simply reviewing his or her class notes. Instead, math study sessions should include working through examples and practice questions to help your child master the problem-solving process.
Creating practice tests is a great way for your child to study math more effectively. Round up all the previous practice questions your child has been studying and create a mock exam for him or her to complete. This will give your child a chance to tackle the types of questions that may be on an upcoming test so he or she can prepare for the real thing.

4. UNDERSTAND THE “WHY”
While memorizing and remembering formulas is an important part of math, it’s also important to understand how those formulas work. Not every math question is the same, and there’s not always a one-size-fits-all answer. That’s why many students end up struggling with math.
Memorizing is only half of the equation—the other half is knowing how and why those formulas are used. When studying, help your child break down problems and decide how (and why) he or she should go about solving it. Ask your child to explain why he or she solved the question a particular why and how or she arrived at the answer.

5. SOLVE PROBLEMS OUT LOUD
Studying math involves sorting through a lot of information and following many different steps. It can be easy for students to get lost while thinking of these things, especially if they don’t have a strong grasp on math to begin with.
When studying, encourage your child to solve problems out loud, explaining what he or she is doing while working through the steps. This will help your child actively think through what he or she is doing, and identify which areas he or she needs further clarification on.

6. WRITE OUT EACH STEP
When faced with a math problem, many children will try to figure it out in their head. But math problems can be complex, requiring students to organize information and work through multiple steps before coming to an answer. Trying to tackle everything at once is a recipe for confusion and frustration for many students.
Working through a problem by writing it down helps guide your child through each step of the problem-solving process. This strategy will become even more valuable as your child takes on more complex math problems, allowing him or her to work through problems in manageable chunks (rather than all at once). Writing out each step also gives your child a record to look back on, so if your child arrives at the wrong answer, he or she can go back to find the mistake and learn from it.

7. COMPLETE HOMEWORK
Keeping up with homework is important for all subjects—but it’s especially important for math. Math builds upon itself, so if your child isn’t completing the homework, he or she won’t be prepared to move on to the next unit.
Set aside a time each night for your child to complete his or her math homework or tackle a few practice questions. Helping your child keep track of any assignments with an agenda or calendar is a good way to keep organized and ensure homework is being completed rather than forgotten.

8. REVIEW MISTAKES
One thing every successful math student has in common is that he or she learns from past mistakes. Math can be a difficult subject for many students to grasp, but the quickest way for your child to learn is to identify which areas cause struggles and which need more practice.
Help your child review previous assignments and tests to find out where marks were lost and identify questions that caused struggles. During your child’s next study sessions, focus on reviewing those areas most. Then, use similar questions to create a practice test that your child can tackle to prepare for his or her next exam.

9. ASK QUESTIONS
A question not asked is a learning opportunity lost. Understanding new math concepts can be difficult for many students—so make sure you let your child know he or she is not alone. Encourage your child to ask questions when they come up and to listen to questions that other students in the class are asking.
If your child isn’t comfortable asking questions in front of the class, help him or her schedule time with the teacher after class to review class material and answer anything he or she is unsure of.

HELP YOUR CHILD BUILD MATH CONFIDENCE
Getting good grades in math starts with building the proper study skills. By following these tips, your child can start studying math more effectively to become a stronger, more confident math student.

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Here are Brodkey’s top ten tips for performing well in math.

1. Do all of the homework. Don’t ever think of homework as a choice. It’s the most important way that students practice and master the concepts taught in class. Set up a regular time and place that make doing the homework feel automatic.

2. Fight not to miss class. Math class moves fast, teaching a new concept every day. What students do today builds towards tomorrow. Math punishes absences; to keep up, students have to make time to come back and learn what they missed. So if there’s an optional appointment to be made, take care not to schedule it during math.

3. Find a friend to be your study partner. We all have reasons for legitimate absences. So find a friend who will take good notes when you’re gone and will call that night to fill you in on the homework. This is good practice for the real world, where building positive relationships is necessary to thrive. In more advanced classes, it’s a good idea to build a study group to practice for tests.

4. Establish a good relationship with the teacher. High school teachers have up to 175 students, so it’s important to distinguish yourself. During the first week of school, introduce yourself. Let your teacher know that you are interested in her class, and welcome the opportunity to learn. Ask questions that show you’re paying attention. Parents should also introduce themselves, via e-mail or at Back-To-School night. Teachers respond best to students who show that they care about the class.

5. Analyze and understand every mistake. Our culture has become perfection- focused, and it’s tempting to ignore our mistakes. Students want to pass over a mistake made on homework or a test, to just let it go. But it’s important to fix mistakes and understand why they were made; otherwise we’re doomed to repeat them. Take time to figure out the thinking behind a mistake, and figure out how to do it right. Ask the teacher if you’re unclear. In advanced classes, it can be helpful to write a paragraph of reflection about why errors were made.

6. Get help fast. If a student realizes that something is difficult, he should seek as much help as possible as quickly as possible. Teachers are very receptive to requests for extra help. Straighten out misunderstandings before they start to snowball.

7. Don’t swallow your questions. Questions are the vehicle by which we learn. If you have one, ask it. Chances are that many of your students have the same question. Saying it out loud will help you, your classmates, and the teacher. Asking good questions is a lifelong skill, and school is a safe place to practice. The more questions we ask, the easier it gets. A good teacher will respect all questions. If you feel that your teacher embarrasses you for asking a question, talk to your parents and have them tell the administration; this is a serious problem.

8. Basic skills are essential. Quick: what’s 9 times 7? To be successful, students must be able to answer this correctly in their sleep. The multiplication tables are the basis for most high school math problems. If your child doesn’t know them, practice! Make flash cards, buy a computer program, and practice, practice, practice.

9. Algebra I must be mastered. Algebra I skills are crucial to later math courses. Students must master skills like solving systems of equations, graphing, slope, and simplification of radicals. Don’t push students to take Algebra I until their teacher says they are ready. And if their Algebra grade is below a C, strongly consider re-taking the class. Even in Calculus, most problems consist of one difficult step, followed by ten steps of Algebra.

10. Understand what the calculator is doing. It’s not enough to know how to use the calculator; students need to know what the answer means. They should ask themselves what the calculator is doing for them, and always analyze the calculator’s answer. For instance, if the teacher asks for “the square of negative three,” many students will type in “-3^2” which gives the answer “-9.” But the real answer is “(-3)^2”, or 9. Students should play around with their calculators and become familiar with the way they work.

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Math does not come easily to everyone. It doesn't come all that easy to me either, but I am blessed with an inordinately strong interest and motivation for the subject. I have tried about everything when it comes to surviving and doing well in math classes. This article is based on my experiences in learning math and my observations of students while teaching math. If you are unsatisfied with how you've done in your past in math classes then isn't it time to change your tactics?

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Yeah..

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you can apply this also..

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Many people feel they are naturally bad at math, and will not be able to improve in the area. This is simply not true. Studies show being good at math is a matter of hard work just as much, if not more, than innate talent.[1] You can become good at math simply by dedication. Take time each day to practice math until the concepts start to click for you. If necessary, seek outside help. A tutor, a teacher, or even someone who is simply good at math can help you perfect your skills. You should also work on developing a healthy attitude about math. Many people have a defeatist attitude about the subject, and are inclined to think, "I'm not good at math now, so I never will be." Understand this is not the case. Most people can improve at math with some extra hard work.

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Mental math isn’t as difficult as it might sound, and you may be surprised at how easy it is to make seemingly impossible calculations using nothing but your beautiful brain. You just need to remember a few simple rules.

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Calculators are awesome, but they're not always handy. More to the point, no one wants to be seen reaching for the calculator on their mobile phone when it's time to figure out a 15 percent gratuity. Here are ten tips to help you crunch numbers in your head.

Mental math isn't as difficult as it might sound, and you may be surprised at how easy it is to make seemingly impossible calculations using nothing but your beautiful brain. You just need to remember a few simple rules.

Add and Subtract From Left to Right

Remember how you were taught in school to add and subtract numbers from right to left (don't forget to carry the one!)? That's all fine and well when doing math with pencil and paper, but when performing mental math it's better to do it moving from left to right. Switching the order so that you start with the largest values makes it a bit more intuitive and easier to figure out. So when adding 58 to 26, start with the first column and calculate 50+20=70, then 8+6=14, which added together is 84. Easy, peasy.

Make It Easy on Yourself

When confronted with a difficult calculation, try to find a way of simplifying the problem by temporarily shifting the values around. When calculating 593+680, for example, add 7 to 593 to get 600 (more manageable). Calculate 600+680, which is 1280, and then take away that additional 7 to get the correct answer, 1273.

You can do a similar thing with multiplication. For 89x6, calculate 90x6 instead, and then subtract that additional 6, so 540-6=534.

Memorize Building Blocks

Memorizing multiplication tables is an important aspect of mental math, and it shouldn't be discounted.

Spencer Greenberg, a mathematician and founder of ClearerThinking.org, says that by memorizing these basic "building blocks" of math, we can instantly get answers to simple problems that are embedded within more difficult ones. So if you've forgotten these tables, it would do you well to quickly brush up. While you're at it, memorize your 1/n tables so you can quickly recall that 1/6 is 0.166, 1/3 is 0.333, and 3/4 is 0.75.

Remember Cool Multiplication Tricks

To help you do simple multiplication, it's important to remember some nifty tricks. One of the most obvious rules is that any number that's multiplied by 10 just needs to have a zero placed at the end When multiplying by 5, your answer will always end in either a 0 or 5.

Also, when multiplying a number by 12, it's always 10 times plus two times that number. For example, when calculating 12x4, do 4x10=40, and 4x2=8, and then 40+8=48. One of my favorites is multiplying by 15: just multiply your number by 10, and then add half to the answer (e.g. 4x15 = 4x10=40, plus half that answer, 20, giving you 60).

There's also a neat trick for multiplying by 16. First, multiply the number in question by 10, and then multiply half the number by 10. Then add those two results together with the number itself to get your final answer. So to calculate 16 x 24, first calculate 10 x 24 = 240, then figure out half of 24, which is 12, and multiply by 10, giving you 120. Simple math finishes it up: 240+120+24=384.

Similar tricks exist for other numbers, which you can read about .

Squares Are Your Friends

These simple tricks are all fine and well, but large numbers present a different challenge. For that, a physicist from askamathematician.com says it's a good idea is use the difference of squares (a square being a number multiplied by itself).

"Take the two numbers you're multiplying and think of them as their average, x, plus and minus the difference between each and their average, ±y," he says. "These two numbers are squared, so rather than memorizing entire multiplication tables you only memorize squares."

It may seem like a daunting task, but memorizing all the squares from 1 to 20 isn't as bad as it sounds. It's just 20 numbers, after all. Armed with this prior knowledge, you can perform some pretty incredible calculations.

Here's how it works, starting with a simple example. Let's assume for a moment that we don't know the answer to 10x4. The first step is to figure out the average number between these two numbers, which is 7 (i.e. 10-3=7, and 4+3=7). Next, determine the square of 7, which is 49. We now have a number that's close, but not close enough. To get the correct answer, we have to square the difference between the average (in this case 3) providing us with 9. The last step is to do some simple subtraction, 49-9=40, and wouldn't you know it you have the correct answer.

That might seem like a roundabout way to calculate 10x4 (it is), but this same technique works for bigger numbers. Take 15x11 for example. Once again, we have to find the average number between these two, which is 13. The square of 13 is 169. The square of the difference in the average (2) is 4. Finally, 169-4=165, the correct answer.

It's Okay to Approximate

When doing mental math, particularly for large numbers, it's often a good idea to make an informed estimate, and not worry about getting a perfect answer. Back during the Manhattan Project, for example, physicist Enrico Fermi wanted a rough estimate of the atomic blast's power before the diagnostic data came in. To that end, he dropped pieces of paper when the blast wave hit him (from a safe distance, of course). By measuring the distance the paper traveled, he estimated the blast strength to be about 10 kilotons of TNT. This estimate was fairly accurate, as the true answer was 20 kilotons of TNT.

This technique, now known as a "Fermi Estimate," works by estimating numbers in powers of ten (see TED-Ed video above for more). So when trying to come up with a seemingly impossible solution, it helps to chunk items in this way and then break them down. For example, when trying to estimate the number of piano tuners in your city, first estimate the population of your city (e.g. 1,000,000), then estimate the number pianos (10,000), and then the number of piano tuners (e.g. 100). You won't get the actual answer, but you'll get an answer quickly, and one that's often close enough.

When in Doubt, Rearrange

It's a good idea to use the rules of math to rearrange complex problems into a simpler form. For instance, computing the problem 5x(14+43) is a daunting task on it's own, but it can be broken down into three fairly manageable calculations. Remembering your order of operations, this problem can be rephrased as (5x14) + (5x40) + (5x3) = 285.

Turn a Big Problem Into a Bunch of Small Ones

When in doubt, decompose. "For many problems, the way to do them fast is to break them into subproblems and solve those," says Greenberg. "When you get a problem that sounds hard, it's often fruitful to look for ways that it can be broken apart into easier problems that you already know how to solve."

For instance, you can multiply by 8 by doubling three times. So instead of trying to figure out 12x8, just double 12 three times: 24, 48, 96. Or when multiplying by 5, I start by multiply by 10 since it's easy, then divide by 2 since that's also usually pretty easy. For example, for 5x18, calculate 10x18 instead, and divide by 2, where 180/2=90.

Use Scientific Notation For Unreasonably Large Numbers

When calculating large numbers in your head, remember that you can convert them into scientific notation first. What's 44 billion divided by 400,000? A simple way to deal with this is to convert 4 billion to 10 ⁹, and 400,000 to 10 ⁵. We can now express this as 44/4 and 10 ⁹/10 ⁵. As Greenberg points out, the rule for dividing exponents requires us to subtract them (easy!), so we get 11 x 10⁽⁹⁻⁵⁾= 11 x 10 ⁴ = 110,000.

The Simplest Way to Calculate the Tip

Finally, some advice on how to calculate a tip in your head. If you can calculate a 10 percent tip in your head (easy), then you can calculate both a 20 percent tip and a 15 percent tip.

When calculating a 10 percent tip for a meal that cost $112.23, just move the decimal point one space to the left, giving you $11.22. When calculating a 20 percent tip, do the same thing, but simply double the answer (a 20 percent tip is twice as much as a 10 percent tip), which in this case is $22.44.

For a 15 percent tip, once again calculate the 10 percent tip, and then add half (the additional 5 percent is just half of the 10 percent amount). So $11.22+(11.22/2). Don't worry if you can't get the exact answer. If we don't fuss too much with the decimal points, we can quickly calculate that a 15 percent tip of $112.23 is $11 + 5.50, which is $16.50. Close enough. Add a quarter or two if you're worried about lowballing the server.
Please share other cool tips and tricks in comments!

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10 Tips to Improve Your Mental Math Ability

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Calculators are awesome, but they're not always handy. More to the point, no one wants to be seen reaching for the calculator on their mobile phone when it's time to figure out a 15 percent gratuity. Here are ten tips to help you crunch numbers in your head.

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How to score Good Marks in Math? | 8 Tips to Study Math | Letstute

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How to score Good Marks in Math? | 8 Tips to Study Math | Letstute

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How to score Good Marks in Math? | 8 Tips to Study Math | Letstute

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How to score Good Marks in Math? | 8 Tips to Study Math | Letstute

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For Jim Dykstra..

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For many, math is like a malfunctioning Platform 9 ¾ - no matter how hard you try, you just end up running into a wall that puts you flat on your butt. There are those who are "blessed" and there are all the rest, struggling with simple arithmetic while the advanced mathematicians go on to earn six figures with trophy husbands and wives, fast cars, and gold-plated abacuses.

Yet, some argue that math ability is simply something to be learned through hard work and practice. At the very least, there are things anyone can do to improve their basic math abilities, and they start with basic, foundational skills. For example, Sciencing tells us to start with memorization, such as multiplication tables. Sure, it helps with basic stuff, like how many pieces of toast you need per year for avocado toast, but more importantly, it shortens the process of performing more complex equations, allowing you to take on more complicated problems. Having to calculate 6 x 5 every time you needed to would be like typing out an entire URL, "https://" and all, rather than just getting straight to the "www."

Think about any action or skill you've learned. Do you think about all the individual processes required to walk down the street? Do you think about lifting one leg after another, bending at the knee while swinging your arms side to side? Of course not. You just walk, because your mind has grouped the basic processes into one fluid action. This is why memorization and rote repetition in math is so important. It helps transform a bunch of overwhelming, complicated actions into one smooth, beautiful motion.

Learning the language of math

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Like when you learn a new language, or how to walk, you also need to practice whatever math skill you're going to use. According to American Scientist, many well-regarded scientists actually consider mathematics a language, all the way back to Galileo, who said "[The universe] cannot be read until we have learned the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language."

This article by Barbara Oakley, author of A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) points outs that American mathematics education emphasizes active discussion over repetition, which is the equivalent of learning a large vocabulary of words in a foreign language but never trying to speak fluently. We look down on countries with education systems that make students spend hours going over and over problems. But the difference is that this model of learning is emphasizing fluency, which ultimately helps your brain group more complex problems and equations into "chunks," the same way we learn letters, then words, sentences, and paragraphs.

Using these methods, Oakley went from a 26-year student of foreign language who avoided math at all costs to a college professor of engineering. Her story is proof that you don't have to limit yourself based on what you think you can and can't do. Immersion is the quickest path to fluency, and if we consider math a language, immersion is essential.

The secret is simple: math practice makes perfect

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So how can we begin to immerse ourselves in math, day to day? Start by removing your math crutches, like digital clocks and other tools that perform simple calculations for you. Your brain is a muscle and it needs to be worked out.

Be accountable. Do your homework, not because you have to, but because it is what will give you the experience needed to actually become fluent in the language of math. And when you get a question wrong, rather than beating yourself up, figure out why. By doing this thoroughly, you'll ensure that mistakes aren't repeated, and that your skills grow over time. When all else fails, don't be ashamed to ask for help. Education.com also emphasizes the importance of being willing to ask for assistance when stumped. If not, your misunderstanding will snowball over time. There's nothing to be ashamed of when trying to learn, and questions are the most direct route to understanding.

Performing the basic skills of memorization and repetition in a way that helps you "chunk" your learning will help form a foundation you can build upon over time, ensuring you're never limited by your math ability. It's worth it.

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For many, math is impossible. Yet, some argue that math ability is simply something to be learned through hard work and practice. There are things anyone can do to improve their basic math abilities, and they start with basic, foundational skills. Here's the secret to becoming good at math.