There’s just no way to avoid math word problems in school. Fortunately, even if your child finds them daunting at times, learning to solve them is far from impossible. Better still, not only are problem-solving skills useful in many other school subjects, but they can also help your child become more resourceful and better equipped to face the challenges they encounter throughout school and into adulthood.
What child doesn’t like a good puzzle? Solving puzzles is a simple activity that can be easily adapted to your child’s age. Plus, with countless puzzles available online, you’ll never run out! There are many ways puzzles can help improve your child’s math skills. Here are just a few:
You can find suitable puzzles in many different places:
SMART goals are a great strategy for achieving all kinds of objectives. SMART stands for the following:
SMART goals won’t necessarily teach your child how to solve math problems, but understanding the principles behind this concept may make them a little easier. For example, instead of seeing a math problem as an insurmountable (and therefore scary) obstacle, your child can break it down into smaller, more specific goals that allow them to eventually solve the problem as a whole. Learning to divide tasks into smaller steps may also help your child feel less stressed when faced with a seemingly impossible situation.
While adults generally excel at seeing patterns and repetitions in the world around them (e.g., seeing faces in inanimate objects, making connections between events, seeing shapes in clouds), this skill is sometimes more difficult for children. However, pattern recognition is essential for solving math word problems: it’s what will allow your child to see the similarities between the problem they need to solve on a test and the one they recently did in their homework. Games are an effective way to improve your child’s ability to recognize patterns:
Critical thinking is another skill that helps improve problem-solving. To learn more, read our article on how to help your child develop critical thinking skills.
If your child loves books and can describe every twist and turn of their favourite story in great detail, why not take advantage of their love of reading and their creativity by turning math problems into stories? For example, the story can begin with all the information your child has at the start. Then, they can list the next steps to solving the problem as a sequence of events in their story. This way, instead of viewing those steps as abstract components of a mathematical problem, your child will see them as a series of plot points leading to the final answer!
Did you know that one of the biggest obstacles to solving math problems is the anxiety they cause? It’s true! When faced with a complex math word problem, many children simply freeze, becoming so overwhelmed that they’re unable to concentrate. Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with this kind of stress. For example, your child can try the following strategies:
Writing : The Alloprof Parents' team