Math is one of the essential subjects during the academic years and in life post that. Every Math lesson from the basic addition and subtraction to trigonometry and Pythagoras theorem find their applications quite frequently in our day-to-day life. For instance, common activities such as shopping, travelling, budgeting, etc. require Math skills. Having said that, Math is also one of the toughest subjects – and that may be the reason why most students fail in the subject or loathe its existence. And it is not just students, most adults today used to hate the subject in equal amounts, back in their academic days. However, Math, as much as we try to deny it, is essential to one’s success in his/her life. And thus, if your child is struggling with the subject, find the required help. Because there’s no way around it.
Now, to be able to help your child conquer his/her math phobia, you must understand the root cause of the fear. As seen in most cases, the fear arises from the lack of understanding of the concepts. Most schools follow a ‘one size fits all’ approach for teaching, which is not correct. Each child is unique in terms of his/her learning abilities. They have their own pace of learning. Some grasp the concepts taught almost immediately whereas others take some time and require repeated explanations. Traditional schools are not prepared for this varying speed of learning. They might not be able to offer your child the required support. You as a parent need to intervene and help your child.
How?
Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Scientia potentia est” which, in English, translates to “knowledge is power”. Quite sure, you’ve all heard this phrase time and again, in movies, TV shows, etc. In practical life, this means, when we fail to understand something completely, we start fearing the thing. The same goes with your child and his/her fear for math.
You can help your child by enrolling him/ her into an effective After School Math Programme. These After School Learning programmes such as Kumon Math Learning Programme are designed to help kids identify their unique learning abilities and conquer the subject at their own pace, solving one problem at a time. Taking Kumon Math Learning Programme as a reference, below is how it will help your child take control of his Math phobia and excel in the subject.
- Identifying the unique learning ability: Through the initial assessment test, the instructors at Kumon learning centres will identify the unique learning abilities of your child. This will help them understand their weaknesses and strengths, further enabling them to design the right learning schedule for your child.
- Setting up the just-right level to get started: Once the instructor knows your child’s abilities, he/she will plan and find the right level for your child to start. The objective is to offer your child an easy level to get started, build his confidence and then attempt harder problems. This is done by using worksheets with problems that your child is already aware of and comfortable with. The difficulty increases with time.
- Employing the power of Repetition: Kumon follows a unique learning approach wherein the child is asked to repeatedly solve a single problem in a worksheet, until the point he/she has mastered the concept and is ready to move on to the next one.
- Encouraging self-learning: Kumon has always been and always will be about transforming students into individual learners or self-learners. Why? When your child takes the initiative to learn without you pushing him/her, he/she takes the charge of his/her learning. And such children don’t have to be pushed or motivated to learn ever again.
- Providing ‘just right’ level of guidance: As said above, the goal is to turn students into life-long self-learners. This won’t be possible if parents and teachers keep on intervening and helping the child with a problem that he/she is stuck with. They need to retrace the concepts learnt and find the answer to the problem on their own. An adult’s involvement should be limited to guidance only. That is what ‘just right’ level of guidance is all about, encouraging students to cross every hurdle on their own while just pointing them in the right direction whenever they get stuck. 5 Reasons the Private Tutoring Is Highly Popular in 2021
Apart from enrolling your child into a learning programme, as parents, you can do a couple of other things to make Math interesting for your children. There are several blogs online that talk about different games and activities you can use with your kids to make Math a fun thing for them. Do take a look and follow the steps. Let us know if you have any other suggestions.