If you are a parent reading this post, it must be incredibly important to you that your child performs well in math. What, though, is your understanding of the term “math performance”?
According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessments), for a parent to say their child is performing well in mathematics, their child should be able to “formulate, employ and interpret mathematics in a variety of contexts to describe, predict and explain phenomena “.
To put it very very simply, they need to be able to understand how math works to the point that they are able to reach certain conclusions on their own and explain why certain things happen the way they do in math. They see the bigger picture in certain math topics and when asked, they can explain it to others in a way that makes sense.
This, then, simply means that you cannot measure your child’s performance solely on their grades. One of the best ways of knowing whether your child’s performance in math is good is if they are able to explain math topics in a sensible and logical way. If you ask them a question that tests, not just their knowledge but their understanding and they are able to answer it, that’s a big green flag.
So then, how can you help your child improve their math performance and maintain a good performance in math?
- Firstly, since math performance is all about understanding, your child needs to study a lot of the theory in mathematics.
Math has both a theoretical side and a practical side. To do especially well on the practical side, calculating and solving problems, they need to do well on the theoretical side, the principles and concepts that govern math. Your child should never be in a position where they are unable to explain to you why they are solving a problem in a particular way because that means they don’t understand what they are doing. Therefore, encourage them to study math to understand the “why” behind it. That way, their understanding will improve and so will their math performance.
- Secondly, you need to teach your child how to study math.
I find it so interesting that most people, myself included, are never taught how to study a subject such as mathematics. I’ve been taught how to study theoretical subjects. Most of it is all memorization techniques but unfortunately, many young people try to implement that kind of study method when studying mathematics.
They try to memorize the problem-solving methods, math tricks and shortcuts they learned in class, but these are not enough because that’s not what they are going to be tested on in a test or exam. Again, math performance is all about understanding, and your child is going to be tested on their understanding of math. Therefore, to improve their understanding, they need to know how to study math the right way and you can show them how to do that.
If you want to know more about what it means to study math correctly, feel free to check watch this video for more information..
- Thirdly, encourage your child to practice as much as possible.
Encourage your child to practice often. Keep in mind that there is no point in practicing if they aren’t doing it correctly. They should never solve problems with methods and tricks they’ve simply memorized. That form of practice will not get them anywhere and will not improve their math performance. They need to understand all the steps in their calculations. Everything they do needs to have a reason.
Also, encourage them to do a lot of complex word problems. Why? The following images illustrate the value of word problems
You are currently looking at a basic multiplication sum.
The average fifth grader should know a method they can use to solve this problem because they do so many of these sums in class. So in this case, they should not have to think very hard about how to solve this problem.
The next image, however, is an example a word problem.
This is not a straightforward sum like the one before. To solve this problem, your child would have to sit and think about what they need to do to solve it, which is exactly what helps children improve their understanding of math.
This is why word problems are an essential part in your child’s practice.
In summary parents, to perform well in math, your child needs to be able to make sense of it. To make sense of it, they need to know and understand math principles and concepts which is only possible if they know how to study math well and if they practice math many times, both math sums and word problems.
