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The following Frequently Asked Questions are the most often asked questions about our Math Program. If you need additional information, please reach out to the district Math Specialists- Mr. Steve Rohn (Butz & NAIS) or Mrs. Jennifer Pettinelli (Shafer & Lower Nazareth).
How can I as a parent help my child improve in Math?
Parent Strategies for Improving Your Child's Math
Ideas on how you can incorporate learning math in activities at home. If you want to encourage your child to enjoy math, this site is for ideas on how to show your child real-life uses of mathematical thinking in your home.
My Child Has Problems With Math! How Can I Help at Home?
https://www.handyhandouts.com/pdf/92_ProblemsLearningMath.pdf
Suggestions on how to help your child at home with math. If your child is struggling to learn math, this PDF has recommendations on how to reinforce what is being taught in math class at school.
How do I support my child’s math development if I don’t feel confident about math myself?
Make an effort to engage in and talk about math with your children in a positive way. If you make a mistake while doing math, demonstrate a positive attitude toward correcting your mistake and problem-solving to find the correct answer.
How can I help my child learn to like math?
Children develop attitudes about math by watching what their parents say and do. You can learn to enjoy math yourself when you discover that it’s fun, useful, and important! These articles can help you with strategies for modeling positive math attitudes. These blog posts show how you can incorporate math in fun ways using games or by playing cards.
How Can I Help with Math Problems?
What is the problem asking?
This might seem rather basic, but it is surprisingly effective. Asking your child to identify the goal of the problem will help them to frame it correctly in their mind, which can turn what looks like word soup into a reasonable problem. This is especially helpful with wordy questions.
What do you already know?
Establishing what they already know should also help your child to situate the question within content from class. They may realize there are vocabulary words from that day’s lesson, or numbers that lend themselves to a particular formula. This question is helpful with lengthy word problems and for problems that contain complicated diagrams.
Where have you seen something like this before?
In class and homework problems often look nearly identical. Have them look for similar phrases, graphs, or word problem structures. Taking time to make connections will not only help them to figure out what approach to use, but will also help them to have a deeper understanding of the material. I recommend asking this question about problems with visual components or algebraic equations.
Can you brainstorm 5 different ways you could try to solve this problem?
Sometimes students are paralyzed at the start of a problem because they are worried they’re not doing it the ‘right’ way. Remove that pressure by just asking them to list lots of ways they could start working on the problem. Some ideas might be tedious, some might require luck, and some might just be silly. The point is to loosen up your child’s thought process. This allows them to ponder the question in a less intimidating manner, which should help them to discover that they know something useful. This is especially helpful for problems that look particularly novel to your child.
Can you make a guess? How would you know if it was right?
Guessing the answer, and then checking that guess, has many benefits. First of all, it’s an approachable way to start thinking about a problem. Coming up with a reasonable guess might even be enough for your child to recognize the underlying mathematical concepts. If it’s not, the checking process lets your child walk through the problem with a concrete number, instead of with an abstract variable, which is often much easier. In some cases, your child might even guess the correct answer, or something close to it. Guessing and checking is especially useful for word problems and just about any other problem that has a number for an answer.
