Have your kids been struggling with math despite spending tons of time doing homework?

Over the course of my 18 years as a high school math teacher, I come across parents time and time again who are baffled as to why their child isn’t doing well in math even though they are trying so hard.

I have found that study skills play a big role.  Does your child know how to study and review for a quiz or test? Do they know how to study in order to get those “ah-ha” moments where things “click” (understanding vs memorizing!). Are they doing their homework in the most beneficial way?  

Here are my top tips to help your child get the most “bang for their buck” when doing their homework (and how you can help):

Tip #1: Reading over notes before they begin the assigned homework for the day.

Often, students are so focused on just “getting their homework done”. Homework is a tool to help them really understand the material AND reach a level of proficiency with it.

So, before they begin tackling the questions, have them take even 5 minutes to go over the lesson from that day:

  • Were there any concepts they did not fully get at the time? Can they get help with that (from a friend etc.)
  • Are there parts of the lesson they took particular note of to “remember for next time”?
  • Do they remember the overall idea/point of the lesson?
  • Are they understanding vs. memorizing steps?

Why take the time to do this?

  • This will ultimately save them time –  they won’t need to go back into their notes as often for help.
  • Builds confidence since they aren’t relying on their notes as often.
  • Builds proficiency – instead of using the homework questions to relearn concepts and refresh their memory (this was done in the 5 min review before they started!), they are now using the questions to build proficiency and iron out misunderstanding.

Tip # 2: They should always check their homework answers (immediately after EACH question).

When kids make it their goal to “just finish” their homework, they often don’t even check their answers to see if they were right!

I tell my students to check their answers after EACH question. Do not wait until they have done all the questions to check them all at once. 

If they had a misunderstanding and made a mistake consistently throughout their homework, they have now become an expert at making that mistake. It will be that much harder to unlearn and wrong and replace it with the right.

On the flip side, if they are checking after EACH question, they will catch any mistakes or gaps in understanding immediately.  Then, when they encounter a similar question, rather than baking in the wrong method/understanding, they have a chance to practice and retain the correct one.

Tip # 3: When they get a question wrong, DO NOT MOVE ON to the next question right away.

Since math mastery and understanding is the goal, when they have uncovered a mistake, they have struck Learning Gold! They should spend time with that question/mistake and mine as much understanding as they can from it. The following questions may help:

  • What did I do wrong? Was it a simple careless mistake?
  • If it was a careless mistake, is it one I make often? If so, what steps could I take to reduce the incidence of those mistakes?
  • Was the mistake due to a misunderstanding of the concepts? If so, they should spend time and effort identifying the incorrect piece of understanding and then actively try to replace it with the correct one (e.g they can annotate their homework page, go back and highlight something relevant in their notes, talk it through out loud (to you, a friend, a sibling, and imaginary pet, it doesn’t matter!).

Tip # 4: If they get a question right, but weren’t sure when they were doing it, DO NOT MOVE ON yet.

Similar to Tip # 3, this is an opportunity for them to shore up their correct mathematical understanding. 

While it’s a great feeling to be getting all the answers correct with little effort, what is valuable is learning from mistakes (see Tip #3) and getting immediate feedback when you do a question right, so you gain confidence that you are on the right track and learning the right concepts.

How can you help your child?

  • Go over these tips with them and see what they think.
  • Have them choose one tip they want to commit to trying this week.
  • Check in with them to see how that change is going. Has it made a difference yet?
  • Once they feel comfortable with that one change, they can choose another etc.
  • Be their audience.  When students speak concepts out loud it does wonders for their retention AND it also helps them to identify and “blind spots” in their understanding. Being a supportive and encouraging audience can really help them here.

I hope you have found some tips here that may help your child. If you and your child try any of these tips, I’d love to hear comments on how it has been going, or any follow up questions you may have.

Take care and keep doing what you’re doing. Your kids are lucky to have you!

If you would like a Poster/Infographic that lays all these tips out in a Flowchart format, visit my store to purchase an instantly downloadable PDF. It also comes with a student worksheet that walks your child through self-reflection of their current homework practices as well as through the information presented in the poster.

Want a Handout that presents this as Flowchart?

Visit my store to purchase an instantly downloadable PDF, that comes with a student worksheet .

By Study Skills