Math Strategies For Struggling Students
At Chicago Home Tutor, we get a lot of requests for math tutoring. Today we’re excited to learn some math tips from learning specialist and long-term CHT team member, Dara Bayliss.
Show your work and keep it organized
Showing your work is such a quick and easy way to catch errors and to keep track of what you are doing. Many students strive to "do it all in their heads," but this can backfire, especially if you're working on something new or more challenging.
Personally, I always write out each step to a problem and do my best to keep it ordered and not cramped. Why? So that I can follow my work, review what I've done, and catch any errors. Checking your work is such an important step in math, and you can't do that successfully if your work is a jumble of chicken scratch all over the page! This step is especially important for kids with executive functioning challenges.
Make it relevant
If you are helping anyone understand a complex or abstract concept, the easiest way to help them to catch on is to make it relevant to their lives.
One trick I like to use with students when we're learning new math vocabulary is to connect it to words they may know from their everyday life. The median in math is the number that is in the middle of a sorted list of numbers. The median on a highway is the strip of cement in the middle. The slope in math is how steep a line is. The slope of a hill describes how steep the hill is.
Relating new math vocabulary to existing concepts is a really helpful tool to give the words and concepts meaning.
Break the problem down into smaller parts
Even the most complex math problems are just a series of smaller, less complex problems. Looking at a multi-step word problem can be really overwhelming, even for students who aren't struggling in math. I like to take bigger problems and break them down into their pieces. It's easier to navigate and gives you little wins along the way.
Circling back to tip one, it also helps you keep your work organized, as you're solving each part step by step, instead of randomly tackling the problem as a whole. Doing this, you can also try to eliminate the unnecessary parts of the problem, such as extraneous information or lengthy and unneeded background information about the word problem.
Breaking down a problem into smaller parts is probably the most important skill for being successful at math - from simple math to complex problems (and this is another one that is extra important for kids who struggle with executive functions!)
Even the most complex math problems are just a series of smaller, less complex problems.
Practice, practice, practice
It feels tedious, but a lot of math fluency is really just down to how much you've practiced it. Find a fun online math game or program that allows you to keep practicing the same skill (or set of skills) over and over. Compete against yourself to try to solve the problems faster or with more accuracy.
Anyone you see who is quick with their math skills, has practiced those skills over and over. Even just five minutes a day can make a huge difference.
Once you've mastered a skill, don't forget about it. While you're working on a new skill take some "breaks" to review previously mastered skills. Just like with anything, if you don't practice your math skills, you won't remember them. No one ever went to bed without knowing their multiplication facts and woke up having them mastered!
It's okay to use your fingers (or other manipulatives)
I saved this one for last because I feel so strongly about it. It is okay to use your fingers. It is okay to make hash marks on scratch paper. It is okay to use counters. With more practice, you may need to use them less, but even if you always count on your fingers, that is okay as well! I've been teaching and tutoring math for over 15 years now. I still sometimes use my fingers or tap my pencil on the paper as I'm counting/adding something.
For reading on how tutoring can help with math, read how 5th grader Lucy discusses some tips she’s learned from math tutoring and 8th grader Ellie shares how math tutoring helped her in unexpected ways.
About the author:
Dara has her Master's of Education and is licensed by the Illinois State Board of Education as a Learning Behavior Specialist. She has been working in education for over 10 years and was one of CHT’s early tutors! She has tutored many students in math over her time with us and we have received fantastic feedback about her work.
