Did you know that only around 33% of eighth-graders in America test proficient in math at grade level in? Or that almost half of the U.S have math anxiety? Needless to say, if your child is struggling with math, they’re not alone.

Giving your child math lessons may anxiety-inducing if you had your own struggles at school. However, there are a few key ways that you can help your kid with math whether you’re a whizz with numbers or not. Keep reading to find out how.

Take It Slow When You Teach Math

Your child likely has a math lesson at school every day. When they get home they may be frustrated and tired – this is not a good cocktail for learning. So, first thing first is to take it slow. Don’t power through different tasks or load too much on your child. Take breaks and appreciate that everyone has a different pace of learning.

Rather than focusing on too many things at once, choose a specific calculation that they struggled with that day and spend time learning it in its entirety. This is a good way to enhance a mathematic foundation.

Help Your Child by Being the Student

A creative and effective way to help your kids learn math is to get them to teach it to you. Transferring knowledge is a great way to make it stick. Teaching something to someone requires in-depth and consolidated knowledge. It also encourages your child to explain it in new ways.

Challenge your child to figure something out well enough that they’re able to teach it to you. This is always a better method than simply providing them with the answer.

Use Resources for Math Tutoring

Perhaps you’re a math whizz, able to come up with relevant exercises on the spot. Or perhaps you’re teaching simple mathematics to a young child and these subtraction and addition activities come easy to you. However, if you’re teaching your pre-teen or teenager math, you likely haven’t done this sort of work for decades.

There are plenty of awesome resources to help you out. Download pre-algebra worksheets, find geometry-based games online or head over to Youtube for educational videos that you can watch with your kids.

It’s better to admit you don’t know something fully than to try and teach your child with scant knowledge.

Encourage Your Child to Find Problems That Interest Them

Math can be an absolute headache for children when they find it difficult and uninteresting. Perhaps your child prefers problem-solving math questions or calculus to algebra. Try to help with math by cultivating an interest in it. Free yourself of worrying about whether the math question is the correct difficulty level or part of the curriculum and encourage your children to bring your questions that they’re interested in.

Working on these problems contributes to building a sturdier math foundation and expanding overall knowledge. Similarly, try to connect math problems to their interests or daily lives to make them relevant and fun.

You’re Ready for Successful Math Lessons

You’re now armed with the resources and knowledge you need to provide your child with successful math lessons. Try to make these lessons fun and relevant. Most of all, remember to be patient and take it slow — they’ll get there!

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