Let's say your child is adding 1/3 and 1/4 and getting 2/7. Even if he's producing incorrect answers, your child is employing some kind of thought process, and understanding it is the key to providing help. Assume there is some logical thinking your child is employing.
If you're dismissive of something, there's a chance your child will be, too.ģ. Math instruction today might look very different from when you were in school. NSF-supported researchers and other scientists are producing findings that change the way we understand learning and how we teach. Don't just come in with an explanation of how things should be done.Ģ. In some cases, your child might be able to answer her own questions. When your child is working out a math problem, ask her to think out loud, to say what she's doing and why. Try as hard as you can to understand what your child is saying. Here are a few tips from what we've learned:ġ. On lunch breaks in the past, a group of us gathered to help our NSF peers with their own questions about how to help their kids learn math. We support scientists across the country who study learning and education systems. The National Science Foundation (NSF), where I work, is dedicated to research. What I've learned through my own experience - as a teacher, a researcher, from helping my own children, and now watching my daughter work as an elementary school mathematics teacher - is that communication is (excuse the pun) the common denominator when it comes to making math homework a positive experience. Homework doesn't have to lead to unpleasantness, though. Whatever the case, math homework can leave parents feeling every bit as frustrated as their children. Maybe you're a skilled mathematician, but don't know how to explain what you're doing to a child. Maybe you haven't seen an algebra formula in years, and weren't that comfortable with them when you were a student. "Math anxiety" isn't something only kids experience.
If you've ever had to help your child with math homework, you really appreciate their teachers, who do it every day. She previously served as assistant director for NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate and is a nationally recognized leader in mathematics education. Author Joan Ferrini-Mundy is acting chief operating officer at NSF.
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