How did you come to know that your child is weak in maths? Oops !! Did you get this conclusion from the marks? Are you also mistaking poor outcomes as an inability to do maths?
Over the years, it has been found that out of all subjects, mathematics is one such subject which remains a challenge for the majority of children. You may commonly observe that going to maths tuition has become evident to more than 75% of the students.
Have you ever thought, if your child was weak in Maths, how would the child grasp the subject with some extra coaching? Hmmm, that makes sense. This situation indicates the hidden potential of your child.
You might be wondering by now, where is the mistake happening?
Let’s look at the beauty of nature – every child learns to walk someday somehow. The only difference is in the pace of learning.
So the thumb rule is, where there is potential, it’s evident to get the results. Now the question is, how?
The secret to improving at Maths is the PROCESS
Sometimes, we are in a judgemental state of mind and ignore our actions. Of course, if the desired result is missing, we need to improvise our actions. It’s time to assess whether our efforts are enough to excel, or there is a scope of improvement.
It’s quite natural to want our child to excel in academics, especially in mathematics.
Here are a few reasons why your child is weak in Maths
1. Jump into the conclusion
99% times we make the mistake of considering the child weak in Maths only based on his performance and results obtained. Don’t jump into the conclusion so fast. This is the best gift you can give to your child. Believe in his potential. Your faith in him helps you and your child to keep confidence in place.
If the roots of faith are fixed right, then you will have the approach to see the possibilities. Not every child has the same pace to learn. Keep patience and allow the child to explore his potential. Your role should be to help your child in fixing his belief in himself.
“Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can learn and count. It is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace that is right for each child. Earlier is not better.” – Magda Gerber
2. Fear Factor
We tend to compare our child’s performance with how others are performing. The moment we discover that others are doing better, we become insecure. This insecurity is the worst thing to happen to you as a parent. Don’t enter into fear mode.
Every child is unique and has something special to offer. Our role as a parent is to help our child to discover his or her exceptional talent. While this process takes place, your child ought to do his best in other areas as well.
“Don’t let the fear of what could happen to make nothing happen.” – Doe Zantamata
3. Lack of Daily Practice
Before we label the child “Weak in Maths”. Encourage your child to do 7-10 questions every day. On average spending, 20-25 minutes daily for a primary class student is good enough. You must include repetitive questions. This will help in retaining whatever the child learns.
Solving problems every day will give a lot of opportunities to make mistakes and overcome those mistakes. Eventually, your child will master the concept.
“Consistent action creates consistent results.” – Christine Kane
There is an indirect benefit of daily practice. Your child will learn the quality of commitment.
“Commitment is an action, not a plan.” – Unknown
4. Lack of Exposure causes difficulty at Maths
If a child solves a variety of questions every day, he or she learns a lot of tricks involved in mathematics. Remember, in mathematics, if we change the value of numbers in a question without making any other change, it may have an impact on the difficulty level of the question. So it’s highly beneficial to do varying difficulty levels of the same concept.
Sometimes, it may altogether alter the approach of solving the question. Though two questions may look similar but can have very different methods to solve.
Don’t skip similar-looking questions. Encourage your child to attempt these questions. This way, a lot of exposure will help the child develop application skills.
5. Comprehending Language
I have observed many times that children do well in Maths as long as it’s about making calculations. As parents, we often think only fast calculations will make the child excel in maths. Now, these children show good scores in primary classes. But as they progress to higher classes, their scores start showing downwards trend.
The reason behind this is lack of understanding of word problems. In higher classes, the questions become more language-based than numerical. How is it possible to solve a question without understanding it?
It is essential to pay attention to the role of language in Mathematics.
6. Lack of Critical Thinking
Now, you should understand that maths questions are not lengthy. They are short 2-3 lines questions. How well the child is able to derive information from the problem, matters a lot.
The way we deal with problems in our life. We look at what is available and what is to be found. Then we apply our skills to find the desired results only from the resources available to us.
This is precisely needed to do in maths. Indirectly, it makes the child a better thinker too.
7. Test Anxiety
You must have experienced that the child is well prepared but still the child do not perform well. This happens due to anxiety. Firstly, the more and more you as a parent work on point no 1 and 2, you will find improvement in the mental state of your child. Secondly, I would recommend, give a lot of practice to your child to face a test at home.
Make your child appear for tests at home. Almost like role play. You and your child will be able to analyse the shortcomings after each test. Treat low scores as an opportunity to improve rather than a failure.
What Can You do if your child struggles in Maths
1. Develop a habit of book reading from the very beginning
“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax all you need is a book!”
– Dr Seuss
You will see the magic of reading happening in mathematics too.
2. Encourage your children to play board games to improve in Maths
Why? because they are fun and the child doesn’t feel judged. Play board games like Chess, Monopoly etc with your children. Sit with them to solve puzzles etc. These activities will help the child develop critical thinking.
Mathematics cannot be learnt in isolation. There are supporting activities required in your child’s daily routine.
Is it not exciting to avail these opportunities and make improvements to excel?
Overall I would say – it’s the kind of mindset you have which defines the outcomes. Only a growth mindset leads to growth. Every parent must help their children to develop the growth mindset. Learn to see the POSSIBILITIES…… Conclusions means the END.