October 15, 2023
Daily Life Skills That Can Better Arithmetic Skills In Young Minds
Children who are being taught math have an opportunity to strengthen their arithmetic skills through varying activities and daily tasks that require similar skills that their lessons do.
The spectrum of comprehension in young minds is truly boundless, but every student needs a little extra boost from time to time.
The content of mathematics only gets more difficult as the education continues. Therefore, it’s important to recognize that children will need resources and help to supplement their in-school work. This can be represented through homework, in-class reviews, tutoring, and even fun online games.
Beyond the actual extra math help and skills to better their learning, there are things others can do at home. Guardians, tutors, babysitters, and other adults in a student’s life can aim to incorporate real-life scenarios that’ll have children subconsciously strengthening their arithmetic.
You can accentuate the arithmetic in various life skills, and it’s easier for the student to comprehend because it isn’t on a worksheet staring back up at them necessarily; it’s an activity they may want to participate in and not realize it uses some of the same skills they learn at school.
Children best explore and absorb their learning through play and hands-on activities. So, utilize their preferred playtime activities to exemplify easy math problems and solutions so they’re more inclined to take on the challenge!
It’s essential to remember that every age has a different level of basic knowledge and skills to have, so be sure to calibrate your arithmetic strengthening activities with the actual coursework the child is working on in their academics.
Here are some ways to better your student’s arithmetic skills:
- Include them in household activities that require numbers or quantitative measuring! This can take on the form of measuring baking ingredients, counting toys out of a toy box, grouping small amounts of objects, and more! If your child is older, start adding basic subtraction or addition into playtime to encourage organization, but also give them the sense of control they like to have over their choice of play!
- Yes, technology can sometimes have its benefits when exposed to young minds. There is a wide array of math and learning-oriented apps and games to download, especially with characters and storylines your child may adore! If you find one your child pays utmost attention to, allot a little bit of time every day (no more than an hour) for them to play the math game. Including a fun concept, the child grasps will further motivate them to participate in the arithmetic work.
- This may be a bit of a given, but never stop remaining in contact with the child’s teacher! If they have separate teachers for separate subjects, be sure to get the direct contact information to ensure direct communication. You can even update the teacher on what work is done at home to reiterate that you want to be on the same page as the child’s school happenings!
- Timekeeping is essential in maximizing time and work management, but you can even include it in playtime! Depending on how young the student is, distinguish the numbers the big and small hands should be on when their playtime begins and finishes. That way, the child is learning basic time-telling and utilizing their surroundings to construct a happy productive environment. Setting time boundaries also encourages young students to complete their work more efficiently.
Now, there are some older students beyond basic arithmetic in their schoolwork that they may not need to count blocks or toys to strengthen their skills. However, arithmetic is all around us and should be worked on a little bit every day regardless!
If your child is in an upper elementary or middle school grade, money is a great real-life example of basic arithmetic. It also gets them to grasp a very prevalent life skill they’ll eventually handle on their own in adolescence and adulthood!
This would be a great opportunity if the child earns allowance for small home chores and tasks; at the end of a month or week, lay out the allowance and group together the currency by the amount and that’ll incorporate basic multiplication!
Regardless of the age or level of skill, there is one simple task that’ll overall strengthen their confidence in completing math. No child learns the same way, or the same place, so it’s very important that you are NOT comparing the student to others’ successes and failures.
There is such a thing as healthy competition, however, a child may not grasp the concept as effectively if they’re focused on simply “beating” another kid out when they do not have to. A child’s mind is elastic but can grasp even the smallest of negative behaviors, so constitute a constructive yet positive environment so they not only better their math but their human skills!
July 9, 2023
How The Use of Daily Math Practice Can GREATLY Benefit Someone’s Ability to Perform and Retain Their Learnings
Let’s face it, math is HARD. It’s harder for some than others, and that is okay. But no matter where you or someone else on your math journey, you can never go wrong with some daily practice.
Daily math practice has proven significant results, nourishing many skills and traits that can pour into other realms of knowledge. It doesn’t have to be too hard or extensive, but just enough to keep the learning productive and challenging enough for optimal retention.
Below are some core benefits of daily math practice and even some TIPS to help you and others get started on building this daily habit!
Benefits of Daily Math Practice
Builds Confidence in Students: It’s easy to get caught up in the frustration of a mentally taxing task, which can turn someone off from doing the work entirely. That’s why it’s useful to make math practice a regular thing- it establishes the space AND time to work on the tough stuff! The frustration will slowly diminish over time as the practicing becomes more consistent. Not only that, but building the confidence in their intellectual capabilities can carry into other realms of education, improving overall performance!
Less Room for Forgetfulness: The stress and anger towards math ruminates most likely due to the misunderstanding or disconnect from the content itself. When a student is unable to remember key factors in the math they’re learning, they probably won’t grasp the lesson at all. With a steady approach, students can retain what they learned in smaller time frames and build as they go.
Decreases the Likelihood of Strenuous Test Prep: Everyone HATES nasty amounts of prep the night before a big exam, right? It’s probably because of the sheer quantity of how much being asked to remember AND solve, which is difficult for a dense subject like math. When you categorize math that’s eventually going to be assessed, there’s more room to focus on precise objectives for each of the lessons. It’s much less arduous to break it up for specialized focus than dumping it all on one person to figure out!
More Meticulous Tracking of Progress: Instead of experiencing overwhelming or massive stress at the lack of positive change, daily math practice will give smaller chunks of progress to assess! This is especially helpful to educators, tutors, even guardians helping kids with their math. Fixed evaluation makes someone’s educational experience more digestible and easier to modify, which is beneficial for both students AND their educators.
The Scores will Show the Work: The more practice, the better the outcomes! This can be heavily applied to many processes of learning: sports, art, music, and more importantly SCHOOL. Math is one of those topics that many young people are not immediately affluent in, which makes assessment that much more draining. Providing a framework of steady studying will allow these students to enter this opportunity with a much less pessimistic attitude than if you were to let them drown in the overwhelm.
Implements Growth Mindset: There is such a thing as intelligent failing for optimal growth. If you’re not familiar with a growth mindset, it’s allowing someone to experience obstacles in an area of learning to actively retain useful lessons from. In math, it’s important for students to LEARN from their mistakes; this helps them to relearn what they didn’t previously remember or recognize, thus helping them develop stronger problem solving skills!
These are just some of the infinite benefits to making math practice a daily habit- and if you’re compelled to make this a routine in YOUR life or someone else’s, great! There are, however, some key factors to consider when formulating your own approach to this discipline.
Tips For Math Review for RESULTS
Consistency is KEY: This NOT one of those things you can do for a few days then pitter out and expect drastic results. The key to unlocking REAL change is the continuation of the habit itself, and focusing on QUALITY rather than quantity. Start out with five to fifteen minutes per day before increasing the volume of the math practice; this will help build a strong foundation for the daily ritual without starting off so strong you intimidate someone out of it with stress.
Provide a Strong Foundation or Framework: If you’re helping a young child or student out on their math journey, you might want to consider their own level of math understanding first! It would be silly to just dive head first into a topic they haven’t even heard of, you know? So, start by observing and gaining useful insight into their level of difficulty, efficiency, etc. so you can give them basic rules, formulas, and resources that’ll guide them.
Communicate for Deeper Insight: It’s IMPORTANT to keep an open line of communication about many things here. Expectations, objectives, goals, and more should not be automatically assumed when entering this educational space- and this is something that can be built upon! And it’s crucial to let the student or young child know they are heard, seen, and validated for the perspective they have. Nurturing their progress with honesty and respect can go a LONG way.
Integrate Test Prep Into Routine Coursework: There are such things as standardized tests and entry exams, which is something to consider! This may be on an individual or school basis, so gain grounding in upcoming exams (even in just regular school) to help you articulate the necessities for daily practice.
Provide FUN + New Ways to Practice: Many people, especially kids, respond well to fun & pleasure! In terms of daily math practice, incorporate a fun trivia question or three question entry or exit assessment to refresh their knowledge from the day or lesson prior. You can go even bigger by doing weekly review games as a way to keep the kid(s) energized and actually excited about showing off what they’ve learned!