Top tips for helping your child with maths

When it comes to helping your child with maths, there may be times where you feel lost. It is important to remember that you are not alone and that there are many who sometimes feel daunted by maths. The maths curriculum is constantly changing and is most likely not the way you remember it to be when you were at school. For many, the sorts of problems and strategies that are provided and taught in maths right now can seem almost impossible to understand. But don’t be scared! There are many ways to understand maths and be able to help your child when it comes to their studies. Here are some top tips from this boy’s school in Hertfordshire on helping your child with their maths.

The first step is to stay positive. If your child comes to you with struggles with their maths, telling them that it is okay to be bad at maths the same way you were, you may end up passing maths anxiety onto your child which will only lead to a downward spiral when it comes to their education. Even if it is how you firmly feel right now, remember to bite your tongue and steer away from negative comments towards maths. Focus on how difficult it might be for your child and remind them that you know how they feel right now. Reassure them by telling them that it is okay if they need to put in a little more effort when it comes to their maths as it will only lead to success at the end of the journey.

Make maths something you talk about regularly at home. This doesn’t mean you have to discuss simultaneous equations on a regular basis or include fractions in your day-to-day life. Talking about maths can simply be about guessing the distance of a journey or counting the number of stars in the sky. This is important for young children as they need to be able to feel comfortable about thinking about maths and connecting it to the real world. Depending on how old your child is, find ways to incorporate maths in two different topics in your everyday life. This could be asking them questions such as ‘What would half of that look like?’

Remember to work at a pace that works for your child rather than what works for everyone else. Maths is a subject that usually takes a bit more time and effort to get the hang of so keep in mind that what your child learns at school may not always click well when it comes to them individually. One way to help your child learn maths well is to connect it to something that interests them. Do they like cars or animals? You can ask them questions such as counting how many animals they can see in the zoo or how many cars they can see on the road. In order for your child to learn maths well, they need to enjoy it as well.

If you find that you are struggling to help your child at home with their maths, consider hiring a private tutor to come in a few times a week to aid your child with any struggles they may have. Not only will your child be getting the help that they need, but this one-to-one support will build confidence in your child and help them catch up to speed with the rest of their classmates.

Be sure to provide your child with the love and support they may need once they are on this journey. If anything, your child needs someone to cheer them on as they overcome a difficult part in their academic life.